Apple’s iPad Is A Perfect Fit For Controlling This Futuristic, Next-Gen Rock Quarry [Case Study]

The iPad, more accustom to flinging angry birds than multi-ton slabs of rock, turns out to be the perfect tool for the modern quarry. Indeed, designed for the road warrior, Apple’s tablet seems at home with the rock warrior.

Huntsville, Ohio-based Duff Quarry has long been a pioneer. Begun in 1950, the business has kept pace with the latest technology, including the move from laptops to tablets. The quarry recently adapted the iPad to run much of the operations, finding the Apple device well-suited to the work environment.

“The set-up allows the plant to actually be at the plant and not stuck in a control room,” Ross Duff told industry publication Rock Products. The tablet also increases site safety, providing controllers a better view of the gigantic machinery used to process rock.

Turns out, no fancy customization is required to get the iPad into a quarry. The business uses the free iRdesktop app and the $29.99 LogMeIn Ignition, permitting access to the distant control room. To boost the wireless connection, Duff even added a Wi-Fi router directly in the quarry. Such easy-to-find solutions makes the iPad very cost-effective, he adds.

“The iPad is basically a touch-screen remote for the main control computer running XP,” Duff told the magazine.

Although it’s not practical to control the operation via an iPhone (mainly due to the limited screen size), the plant can use the Apple handset for emergency shut-downs.

Unlike previous laptops, which after time in the dusty environment would have vent openings and keyboards plugged, the iPad is the perfect electronic tool for a rock star. Duff likes the iPad so much, the business has two tablets used in the quarry.

Ed Sutherland

Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.