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Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about the usage
How does the social distancing functionality work?
When one user is too close to another, a warning signal is given. Your bracelet alerts you by vibrating and through a red light. The alarm stops as soon as both people move back to a safe distance from each other. No personal data is shared or stored in the cloud.
Rombit devices intentionally warn through vibration and light only. Our research and user testing have shown that for these purposes audible alarms are counter-effective in the long run because they tend to distract and annoy users.
How does the contact tracing functionality work?
The contact tracing add-on can be purchased and activated at any time.
When active, a designated and authorized person can consult the encounter registry. They can identify the bracelet ID of an employee that is presumed to be infected after written consent. A list of bracelets that have been too close to this user can be generated. The physician can then inform users that have been in close contact with the infected employee.
The storage of all personal information is fully encrypted and compliant with GDPR guidelines. All contact tracing data are stored for 14 days, the typical incubation period of the COVID-19 virus.
How do I wear the Rombit wearable ONE™?
Rombit wearable ONE™ can be worn on either your wrist, arm, ankle or helmet.
How can I activate additional functionalities such as Personal SOS Alert, Collision Warning... ?
The Rombit wearable ONE™ device can be upgraded with any of the available Romware functions, such as ‘Personal SOS Alert’, ‘Man-Down Alert’, ‘Collision Warning’ and more.
Consult your Rombit representative to discover what hardware is the best choice for your current and future requirements.
How loud is the alarm of the Rombit wearable ONE™?
The Rombit wearable ONE™ does not rely on sound to notify the user.
This is intentional. User testing shows that noisy alarms tend to be either too quiet or too loud for their environment, distracting the user or going unnoticed.
As both add to the risk of ignoring alarms altogether, we designed Romware around haptic feedback and easy-to-understand light cues.
What safety level / performance level does Rombit provide? Can Rombit be used as a safety component / safety interlock / emergency stop?
Our current offering is intended and marketed as Assistive technology. It is a system intended to help warn users of potentially unsafe situations and to raise awareness of the risks involved. As such, it is NOT intended to be used as a safety component of a machine setup as meant in article 2(c) of the European Machine Directive 2006/42/EC.
The current Rombit suite is not considered a ‘machine’ as defined by the European Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC):
- It does not contain moving parts, nor a driving unit.
- It is not considered a safety component as defined in Article 2(c) of the directive.
- As Safety Integrity Level (SIL) EN IEC 62061, and Performance Level (PL) EN ISO 13849-1 are norms used to implement this directive, they are not relevant to the current Rombit suite.
In a number of cases, Rombit products can directly control a vehicle on a hardware level. An example is the Credential-based vehicle access solution. These products are designed to prevent unauthorized starting of the vehicle, not to intervene with the vehicle controls. A sudden change in movement, unanticipated by the driver, could create a more dangerous situation than it was meant to prevent. Therefore, Rombit products only intervene by giving the user auditory, visual and haptic alerts, not by controlling the vehicle in any way while it is in use.
The Rombit suite is designed to be integrated. When directly connecting Rombit products to existing machinery, it is the responsibility of the system integrator to assess the suitability of the Romware products for a particular setup.
Rombit is not intended in any way to function as a safety-stop or safety-interlock function of the vehicle. Any integrations that use the system as such are not supported by Rombit.
Is the Romware wearable sensitive enough to discern a mimimum distance violation for social distancing?
All Rombit physical distancing products measure distances using UWB (Ultra Wideband) technology. Independent studies acknowledge that UWB is the only available technology that is accurate enough for a reliable social distancing solution.
What's the typical battery life of the Rombit wearable ONE™?
Rombit wearable ONE™ has autonomy between charges between 10 and 18h. As with all mobile devices, autonomy depends on cell coverage, conditions such as temperature, and the number of activated features.
A charging cable is included that can be used with standard USB charging adapters, such as a mobile phone charger.
How do I charge the Rombit wearable ONE™?
Rombit devices can be charged using the included cable. The charging cable can be used with standard USB charging adapters, such as a mobile phone charger.
How does the Rombit wearable ONE™ alert the user when the battery is low?
A blinking LED and vibration alert the user when the device needs to be recharged soon.
How can I charge many devices at once?
Rombit wearable ONE™ is delivered with a USB-compatible magnetic charging cable.
For charging multiple devices at once, it is possible to use available multi-port USB chargers.
A dedicated mass charging and storage solution for deploying large sets of wearables is scheduled for a Q4/2020 release.
What's the expected lifetime of Rombit wearables? How long will the battery of Rombit wearables last before wearing out?
Both Rombit wearable ONE™ contains a rechargeable Lithium-polymer battery. This battery is optimized for continuous use in an industrial environment.
In normal use, a useful lifespan of 4 years is to be expected until the battery capacity is significantly reduced. To keep Li-ion batteries in optimal condition, charge your device whenever convenient. Avoid completely discharging too often or keeping the device in extreme heat or cold (such as a parked vehicle) for prolonged periods, especially while charging.
Rombit Wearable One™
Health, hygiene, and safety
What is the risk of getting stuck in machinery or equipment?
The Rombit wearable ONE™ is designed to the highest safety standards. This allows their use in environments that typically do not permit bracelets or jewelry worn on fingers, wrist, or neck.
The wrist strap of Rombit wearable ONE™ is designed and tested to disengage at 50N of pulling force, to minimize the risk of getting caught in for example rotating equipment.
Based on our extensive research, the compact wrist-worn design of Rombit wearable ONE™ offers the best balance between accuracy, worker safety, and user comfort.
Does wearing the device impede or hinder the user from accomplishing normal work activities during a typical work shift?
When a person is expected to pay attention to messages in addition to the task at hand, the risk of being dangerously distracted increases significantly. This phenomenon, called inattentional blindness, is known to be increased by pop-up messages like those on cell phones and smartwatches.
This is the reason that from a safety standpoint, the use of these devices is heavily discouraged or even forbidden during high-consequence activities.
The Rombit wearable ONE™ helps in minimizing this risk of distraction, using alarms that are designed to be concise and not dependent on reading screen messages.
Can the device be used while using medical devices such as pacemakers?
All Rombit devices are tested to be compliant with FCC, ETSI and the CE Radio directive to minimize the risk of interference with other equipment. As a precautionary measure with all radio devices, consult with a physician before using Rombit for persons using medical devices such as a pacemaker.
Can Rombit wearables be easily cleaned or disinfected against COVID-19?
COVID-19 related viruses are known to withstand more than 48 hours on surfaces under certain conditions. As a precautionary measure, Rombit recommends following this guidance for cleaning and disinfecting both the casing and strap, especially when passing on the product to another person.
– Wipe the device and strap thoroughly with a 70% v/v solution of isopropanol or ethanol, with a clean soft cloth. Using disposable individually wrapped isopropyl alcohol wipes is a good method for preventing cross-contamination.
– The efficacy of disinfectants is reduced on dirty surfaces. When the device or strap is visibly dirty, clean it first with a mild soap solution and rinse with water before disinfecting.
This guidance is based on the latest recommendations of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control at the time of writing (Interim guidance for environmental cleaning in non-healthcare facilities exposed to SARS-CoV-2, technical report 2/2020). As the effectiveness of certain cleaning products and disinfectants against COVID-19 is not yet fully known by health authorities, Rombit recommends checking the latest guidelines, which can be found on http://www.ecdc.europa.eu.
Are there allergy concerns regarding the use of the Romware wearable ONE™?
The Rombit safety wearable is designed to the highest safety standards and manufactured from high-purity materials. The wrist strap is designed to eliminate skin contact with known allergens such as nickel, is latex and BPA-free, and is food-contact safe.
As with all things worn close to the body, it is not good for your skin to wear a wet or dirty wristband for extended periods, as moisture and bacteria can cause irritation. We recommend cleaning the band and wrist regularly, especially after intense sweating or working in very dirty environments. Do not use aggressive products to clean the wristband, as residue could get trapped underneath and irritate the skin.
Be aware that products such as lotions, perfume, soap, or insect repellants are known to get trapped under items, such as jewelry and wristbands and cause irritation. Therefore, it is always a good idea to take off the safety wearable when not working, to allow your skin to breathe.
Is the strap material of the Rombit wearable ONE™ certified for hazardous materials?
The strap of Rombit wearable ONE™ is manufactured from a high-grade silicone elastomer. It was independently tested to be compliant with legislation, being free of hazardous substances such as heavy metals, halogens, PBBs, and PBDEs.
Is the strap material of Rombit wearable ONE™ certified for use in a food-contact environment?
The strap of Rombit wearable ONE™ is manufactured from a food-grade silicone elastomer. This material is compliant for food contact applications as specified by:
- FDA CFR 21 §177.2600 (US, Rubber articles intended for repeated use in contact with aqueous and fatty foods)
- BfR XV (DE, Silicones in food environment)
- KTW BGBl. 28, Nr. 12 (1985), classes C, D1, D2. (DE, plastics for contact with drinking water)
- DVGW Worksheet W270 (DE, additional requirement from KTW)
Additionally, the strap material was tested by an independent party for compliance with RoSH 2011/65/EU Annex II and amending directive (EU) 2015/863 for Cadmium, Lead, Mercury Cr(VI), PBBs, PBDEs, DBP, BBP, DEHP and DIBP.
Are there health concerns concerning electromagnetic radiation? What is the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) of the Rombit wearable ONE™?
Romware ONE™ has been fully tested, meeting all applicable legislation for radio frequency (RF) exposure.
To indicate the rate at which the human body absorbs RF energy, the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) is measured for radio-emitting devices. This device has been tested to determine SAR in each band of operation of that model, the highest measured value is noted below. Please note that not all bands are available in all areas, as they are dependent on the cellular network of your provider.
The highest SAR values are as follows:
- Romware ONE™- EU version (model RW-E1): Max. Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) is tested for LTE FDD Band 2 Cat. M1 at 0.48 W/kg (10g).
- Romware ONE™- US version (model RW-U1): Max. Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) is tested for LTE Band 3 at 0.769 W/kg (10g limb).
SAR limits and the way of calculating them are different for certain regions. The SAR limit is 2.0 W/kg (averaged over 10 grams of tissue) in countries that follow the Council of the European Union limit, and 1.6 Watts per kilogram (over a volume containing a mass of 1 gram of tissue) in countries that follow the United States FCC limit. During testing, radios are set to their highest transmission levels and placed in positions that simulate use on the body.
Is the Rombit wearable water and dust resistant (IP67)?
Yes. The Rombit wearable devices are IP67 rated, meaning they are fully water and dust-proof.
Can the device be worn in ATEX zoned areas?
The current Rombit wearable ONE™ is not ATEX/IECEX certified yet.
An ATEX/IECEX version will be available soon.
General Rombit Devices
Privacy, regulations, and certifications
Is Rombit GDPR compliant?
Yes, the entire Rombit suite is fully GDPR compliant.
Considering the GDPR as a mandatory requirement to work in Europe. Do you have any limitations or restrictions to work in EMEA, ASPAC, LATAM, NA?
Rombit has been designed to protect user privacy at every level. The entire Rombit suite has been independently audited to be fully GDPR compliant. As such, there are no known legal limitations for using Rombit on a global scale.
What about the regulatory compliance (CE and FCC)?
The entire Rombit suite is fully compliant with applicable European and worldwide regulations such as product safety and radio interference.
It is CE and FCC compliant. For more information about regulatory compliance for specific cases, please consult your Rombit representative.
Does Rombit Social Distancing track my movements?
Our social distancing functionality has been developed using Privacy by Design principles and does not capture or store location or other privacy-sensitive data. The entire Rombit platform is fully GDPR compliant.
General Rombit
Commercial questions
What is the enterprise license structure & cost?
Rombit can offer a range of flexible CAPEX and OPEX models for the Rombit suite. This includes the purchase or rental of wearable devices, service and support, and license models for the software platform and cellular network providers’ costs.
Consult your Rombit representative to discover what hardware is the best choice for your current and future requirements.
What is the implementation cost?
Cost per device is determined by purchase volume and the desired functionalities. For smaller volumes, turnkey packages are available. Consult your Rombit representative to discover the best choice for your current and future requirements.
What are the maintenance & support cost?
Every Rombit purchase includes two years of remote support during business hours (09:00am – 05:00pm CET by best-effort principle).
Additionally, SLA contracts and extended support packages are available.
How long has the Rombit wearable ONE™ been on the market?
The Rombit wearable ONE™ has been available for sale since March 2020, after 3 years of development and closed trials. During this period, thousands of hours of field testing were conducted at various industrial sites worldwide.
Technical questions
What infrastructure do I need for social distancing and contact tracing?
The Rombit wearable ONE™ are both plug-and-play solutions if it comes down to social distancing; no additional infrastructure is needed.
The Rombit wearable ONE™ uses public connectivity whenever data needs to be logged or registered; no additional infrastructure is needed either.
What hardware and sensoring does the Rombit wearable ONE™ contain?
Rombit wearable ONE™ contains:
- LTE cat. M1 + NB2 (cellular communications)
- UWB (distance measuring and data exchange between devices)
- GNSS (global positioning)
- NFC (access control module)
- IMU (Gyro + compass)
- Wrist sensor
- Led indicator
- Vibration feedback
How many UWB anchors does my area need for indoor positioning?
For indoor positioning, a number of UWB anchor devices are installed at strategic positions.
The number of UWB anchors needed for a specific site is highly dependent on a number of factors.
Consult your Rombit representative to calculate a site infrastructure that provides sufficient UWB coverage.
Where can I mount UWB anchors?
UWB anchors are typically wall-mounted and connected via Wifi or Ethernet to a local network for indoor localization setups.
For mobile setups, anchors are mounted on the front and/or back of a vehicle, depending on the best line-of-sight between the vehicle and its surroundings.
It is important to note that installing a fixed UWB anchor infrastructure outdoors is subject to local legislation.
What server software do we have to run on our equipment?
The Rombit solution is SaaS-based. No additional server infrastructure is required. On-premise deployment is available as a custom project; please consult your Rombit representative.
How does the device communicatie to the platform?
Rombit wearable ONE™ supports LTE-M and NB2. These are low power, low bandwidth protocols that allow the device to communicate effectively and cost-effectively with a cloud platform, without the need for any supporting infrastructure on site.
Rombit wearable ONE™ is available for 2 regions, each equipped with the required region-specific antennas: EU + APAC (Model RW01-E1): LTE-M or NB-2 bands 3, 20 US + Australasia: (Model RW01-U1): LTE-M or NB-2 bands 2, 4, 12
How long can Romware ONE™ and Radius™ temporarily hold data when a data connection is not available?
The Romware Radius™ can cache more than 2,000 encounters before it requires to upload the data to the Romware platform via a UWB anchor.
Can the data on Romware ONE™ and Radius™ be imported for data analysis and processing if required? Are APIs available to support integration with existing enterprise systems?
The Romware suite contains an extensive API and export possibilities for interfacing with other systems or data processing.
The storage of all personal information is fully encrypted and compliant with GDPR guidelines. Privacy legislation may limit export functionality to authorized persons such as company physicians only. These restrictions can be enforced through the platform.
What is the technical architecture of the Romware solutions?
This information is available in the Romware Technical Resources Knowledge Base.
For more information, please consult your Rombit representative.
How many wearables can identify each other at the same time? If I approach a large group of people, will the wearable identify them all individually?
Romware ONE™ and Radius™ are designed to identify every other device coming into range.
Even within large groups of people, the number of persons that are physically able to stand close enough together to be within somebody’s personal distancing zone is unlimited.
In real-life testing, Romware is fully able to identify these devices and correctly add them to the contact tracing manifest.
Will the device interfere with sensitive electrical equipment found in manufacturing, laboratory, and office envionments?
All Romware devices are tested to be compliant with FCC, ETSI, and the CE Radio directive to minimize the risk of interference with other equipment. No interference is expected or has been reported in field testing with typical equipment in a manufacturing or laboratory environment.
Will the system interfere with other equipment such as Wi-Fi, GSM phones or Bluetooth devices?
Romware devices are designed for reliable use in harsh industrial environments.
They are fully tested for interference with other equipment and are compliant with CE and FCC RF regulations.
For environments known for extreme RF interference issues, a site survey can be helpful to assess suitability and possible measures. For more information, please consult your Rombit representative.
Can the device be administered and configured by our own personnel?
Both device management and settings can be managed by a site administrative person. Activation or deactivation of additional safety functionalities and firmware updates can be done over the air.
Does the device needs calibration?
Calibration is done at the factory and is valid for the lifetime of the device. No additional calibration is needed by the end-user.
Can the time delay to initiate a proximity alert on Romware wearables be customized?
User feedback given by the Romware devices is pre-configured to a delay and intensity curve that has proven to be the most effective in user testing. For specific cases, this delay and intensity curve can be customized on demand by Romware.
When using the prevent module, platform administrators themselves can choose delay/intensity curves tailored for an office or industrial environment per device.
Is the 1.5m perimeter adjustable? Can the perimeter be customized?
Yes, the detection perimeter can be configured by Rombit on request.
The COVID Radius™ functionality is preprogrammed for the site regulations and applicable laws the device is meant to be used in.
About our company
How long has Rombit as a company been operating?
Rombit was founded in 2012, and has been growing substantially since.
How many staff members does Rombit employ full time?
Rombit currently has 65 active FTE.
Where is Rombit based geographically?
Our head office is located in the beautiful city of Antwerp, Belgium. We have a satellite office in the Port of Antwerp and we work with partners across the globe. Click here to discover our international partner network.