Rockwell Automation Offers Free Access to FactoryTalk Software During Pandemic
Rockwell Automation and software expert, PTC, jointly announced they will provide Vuforia Chalk, a collaborative remote assistance tool, for free until June 30, 2020.
The promotion comes in a time of global emergency caused by the novel COVID-19 and will help with social distancing established by many governments to combat the virus’s spread.
Through Vuforia Chalk, manufacturers will be able to keep their processes running and to mitigate disruptions provoked by the pandemic.
Vuforia Chalk Adapts
Many businesses are being affected by the current extraordinary circumstances, and that is particularly true when looking at industrial companies requiring special expertise to be deployed for specifically on-site tasks.
Operating or repairing heavy machinery remotely was quite difficult until a few years ago, but today, with technologies such as augmented reality, tasks like this are becoming increasingly more feasible. Vuforia Chalk is one such example.
A technician and an engineer using the Vuforia Chalk App. Image used courtesy of Vuforia.
The software utilizes AR technologies to connect on-site and offsite employees in order for them to collaborate on the operation, maintenance, and repair of industrial products.
Through Vuforia Chalk, technicians and experts can draw digital annotations on a mobile screen or desktop in real-time. These drawings will stick to 3D physical objects and allow the expert to guide the technician through a step-by-step process.
The app is available on AR-enabled iOS 11 or later devices and Android 6.0 or later devices. PTC recommends a 2.0 Mbps connection for the best video quality on local capture devices.
Extraordinary Circumstances
PTC and Rockwell Automation began their partnership in June 2018. The move saw Rockwell Automation making a $1 billion equity investment in PTC.
At the same time, Rockwell Automation’s Chairman and CEO, Blake Moret, became part of PTC’s board of directors.
During the last two years, the companies have collaborated on a series of projects and bringing Vuforia Chalk under Rockwell Automation’s FactoryTalk Innovation Suite of products was the latest one.
A woman using the Vuforia Chalk App. Image used courtesy of Vuforia.
While PTC and Rockwell Automation do not provide public pricing information for Vuforia Chalk on their sites, the software is usually available to industrial clients for free for a 30 days trial only.
The trial traditionally features all commercially available features of the app, including access for up to 50 team members, administrative access for user management and PTC community support.
After the trial, users will have to either pay to keep using the app or delete it. Control.com has reached out to Vuforia for pricing information but has not received an answer yet.
If you are interested in Vuforia Chalk, however, you can follow this link to take advantage of it for free for almost three months.
Rockwell Automation said the program will be available for free until June 30. The company hopes people will be using it to ask for expert guidance or training on their products, or simply to talk with their service technicians remotely.
Are you going to take advantage of this promotion? Do you see other companies following suit with similar promotions?
