While rugged mobile computers were once used primarily by military personnel, today's rugged computer is for people who perform normal job functions in demanding environments.

Protection is needed against water, dust, shock, vibration and temperature extremes.

Many workers also need to be able to view the display in direct sunlight.

So, when selecting a ruggized mobile computing solution, it is important to leverage a level of protection for the specific environment in which the computer will be deployed.

Now, even though categories terms such as "semi-rugged," "rugged," and "fully rugged" are often used, they are not easily defined.

A good ranking metric is ingress protection, which is used to gauge specific performance criteria.

We interview Bob Fowler to gain DRS Technologies' perspective on rugged mobile computing.

Bob is a Sr. Product Manager at DRS Technologies.