New solution for updating equipment and products in the field

Kanda have produced a new miniature programmer in a key fob case that is small, easy to use and portable. It allows firmware upgrades to be carried out by unskilled staff and helps to eliminate operator errors. It can be used in all industries to reduce the cost and hassle of equipment updates.

If you have products or equipment out in the field, you will be aware of the problem of doing firmware updates in a simple way. Although dedicated phone lines and Internet connections can be used in some applications, most upgrades require a visit from an engineer but the Kanda key fob programmer or hand held programmer provide an answer that avoids this visit or simplifies it.

This programmer comes in a car key fob case with a single button and it is very small, light and portable as well as being incredibly easy to use. You just plug it into the board that needs the upgrade and press the button and the firmware is re-programmed. A green light means success and a red light means try it again. It really is that easy.

As the key fob programmer is so easy to use, unskilled people can use it without any training and this gives you new upgrade possibilities. Instead of needing to send an expensive engineer to a site, you can mail a key fob and a lower grade maintenance person or unskilled end user can do the job.

Once a particular upgrade is finished, the key fob programmer can be reloaded from a PC and used for a different firmware update. This process is straightforward using the loader software and the keyfob can be reloaded hundreds of times. The key fob programmer will retain its data for years and versions are available for PIC, AVR, ST7 and COP8 microcontrollers plus EEPROM memories.

This mixture of simplicity, reuse and portability makes the programmer perfect for any business that has to upgrade firmware. It is currently being used in all types of industry from security to medical equipment and environmental control. It is literally being used as a field upgrade tool for electric fence controllers. It also has a place on the production line to eliminate errors, customise software and reduce skill requirements.

Here are a few comments from our customers about the key fob programmer:
"The major benefit of the keyfob programmer is it is so simple to use" - Rasmus Bo Jensen, Hamann Electronics, Denmark
"We can upgrade an end user by mailing a keyfob" - Mike Tailor, Denham Security, USA
"Easy to do a field upgrade as it does not need a notebook and programmer" - Ching Chi Fai, C & M Engineering, Hong Kong
"We have sent keyfobs to our non-technical distributors to do upgrades" - Soren Mac Larsen, Semila, Denmark
"Our remote monitoring systems are programmed using a key fob as the skill level of the person doing the programming can be much lower (you can't make a lot of mistakes if you just need to push a button)" - Paul Van Zyl, SDG Technologies, South Africa

For more information click here.