Switch Automation Chooses ZYBRID® for Patent-Pending Intercom Door Station

Zytronic’s projected capacitive technology (PCT™)-based ZYBRID touch sensor has been chosen by Switch Automation for use in its patent-pending IP-Touch intercom door station. ZYBRID® provides a highly dependable, low-maintenance and durable user interface that offers unrivalled protection against physical, mechanical and chemical damage.

Switch Automation, based in New South Wales, Australia, designed the IP-Touch interface system in conjunction with its development partners – Arbor Technologies, a leading provider of embedded and network computing and JEA Technologies, Zytronic’s Australian distributor. The system enables full two-way communication with any voice or video device that uses the open standard Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

Operated via an interactive touch display, the IPTouch is designed for use in access control applications including campus-type facilities, gated communities, multi-residential apartments, hotels and businesses. It provides a complete solution that can be scaled to any size, enabling communication via Ethernet or the Internet, and facilitating flexible routing of calls, should a particular user or device be unresponsive or busy.

Zytronic’s PCT™ uses an array of micro-fine capacitors deposited in an X-Y grid array and laminated behind a protective front surface. Depending upon design, the capacitors may be up to 20mm below the touch surface, providing unrivalled environmental and damage resistance which is essential in outdoor, unsupervised or public applications such as those for which the IP-Touch is intended.

The use of PCT™ allows the 12.1-inch ZYBRID® touchscreen used within the IP-Touch to be actuated with gloved and un-gloved fingers even through its protective cover panel. The pure glass-fronted touch sensor also delivers superior sunlight-readability than that of many alternative touchscreen solutions, which tend to reduce the amount of light transmitted from the screen due to their conductive surface coatings. Furthermore, PCT™ also helps to significantly reduce maintenance costs because it does not suffer from drift problems and therefore needs no recalibration.

“The IP-Touch offers a unique combination of high technology and outdoor durability,” says Deb Noller, Director, Switch Automation. “We needed a touchscreen solution that could withstand all the elements, be able to operate in different ranges of lighting conditions and ultimately, protect our device while still working with the resolution we required through glass. Only ZYBRID® touch sensors allowed us to craft an access control solution that can become an integrated part of the design of the building in which it is used.”

IP-Touch has recently been selected for use at the Tennyson Reach Project, a development by property group Mirvac on the banks of the Brisbane River. From January 2009, IP-Touch will enable intercom communications with 115 apartments, accessed via four main entry doors.