The MANTA KVM Operator Station solves a fundamental problem in process industries: how to put a modern, high-resolution HMI in a Zone 1 or Zone 2 hazardous area without bringing an explosion-proof PC into the classified zone. The core concept is KVM extension — the display, touchscreen, keyboard, and pointing device reside in the hazardous area inside an IP66 stainless steel enclosure, while the host PC (DCS operator station, SCADA server, or PLC engineering workstation) remains in the safe-area control room. All signals — video, USB for keyboard/mouse/touch, serial, and audio — are transmitted over a single multi-mode fibre optic pair (up to 550 m) or CAT7 copper cable (up to 150 m). The operator interacts with a full HD 1920 × 1080 display in real time, with no perceptible latency, as if the PC were local.

Why KVM extension rather than an explosion-proof PC?

Explosion-proof PCs require certified enclosures, intrinsically safe power supplies, and restricted upgrade paths — every component change (more RAM, new OS version, additional software) potentially triggers recertification. With KVM extension, the PC in the safe area is a standard commercial machine — it can be upgraded, patched, or replaced without affecting the hazardous-area certification. The MANTA station is OS-agnostic: it works with any DCS (Yokogawa CENTUM, Honeywell Experion, Emerson DeltaV, ABB 800xA), any SCADA (Wonderware, WinCC, Ignition), or any engineering tool (TIA Portal, Studio 5000, EcoStruxure Control Expert). The hazardous-area certification covers only the KVM station — the display, keyboard, touch, and fibre-optic interface — which has a much simpler certification boundary than a full PC with its operating system, software stack, and change management lifecycle.

What are the touchscreen and environmental options?

Two touchscreen technologies are offered: foil touch (5-wire resistive, 3H pencil hardness) for indoor control rooms where operators use gloved fingers or styluses at moderate frequency, and glass touch (9H pencil hardness, Mohs >5) for abrasive environments where chemical splash, frequent cleaning, or heavy use would quickly scratch a foil surface. Both are tested to 36 million activations. For outdoor or unheated installations, the O30 heater option extends the cold-start temperature from -10°C to -30°C — critical for arctic oil and gas, Canadian mining, or Scandinavian chemical plants. The cleanroom-compliant CFR enclosure variant features a front-opening design that prevents contaminant ingress into the clean zone during maintenance access.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if the fibre optic cable is damaged?

The KVM link over fibre optic is a point-to-point connection — if the fibre is cut, the display goes blank and the operator loses control. However, because the host PC continues running normally in the safe area, the process is not interrupted — the DCS continues executing control logic, alarms are still logged, and operators at other stations retain full visibility. Replacing a damaged fibre is a standard maintenance procedure that does not require opening the hazardous-area enclosure or affecting the MANTA station's certification. For critical installations, some sites install redundant fibre pairs in separate cable trays so that a single mechanical incident does not take the station offline.

Can I connect multiple MANTA stations to one PC?

The KVM-DVI3 architecture is designed for one-to-one connection: one MANTA station to one host PC. For applications requiring multiple operator stations in the hazardous area — for example, a local operator station at the reactor floor AND a supervisor station at the mezzanine level — two independent KVM links are needed, each with its own host PC in the safe area. Both PCs can run clients of the same DCS or SCADA system, providing redundant access to the same process data.