Once upon a time, individual machines were stranded on an island, or just linked to other machines using a few discrete I/O and dry contact relays. Then came machine-to-machine data links such as a proprietary PLC-based network. Today, and certainly in the future, machines are being linked to IT systems.
There are many ways to irritate an operator working with automated equipment and a bad human-machine interface (HMI) implementation is right up there with the worst of them. Following these guidelines can help you pick the right HMI for your application, keep you on the good side of your operators and engineers, and also help ... Read More
Do you have an HMI project coming up? Here are some tips for you to remember during your planning and implementation. The following four design principles are a great start for any design project (and the four letter acronym is nothing if not memorable): Contrast – Make sure that items which are different stand out ... Read More
HMI Recipes used in production processes are stores of data, specific to a particular product, which can be called up on demand and then implemented to produce the product. Each recipe includes a set of parameters important to the production process. For example, if a bakery is making ten different products, each will have its own ... Read More
When searching for a touch panel HMI, there are lots of options. And while there are certainly differences in the available hardware, many of the available panels on the market have similar hardware capabilities. But the capabilities of the HMI software, and how easy it is to use, can make a huge difference for your ... Read More
Most every industrial plant or facility, including probably yours, has PLCs and other controllers of varying makes and models. There are a few ways to link them, but using the HMI is usually your best bet. The simplest method is hard-wiring one controller to another, but it’s also the most limited. Connecting inputs and outputs ... Read More
Here at AutomationDirect our number one priority is customer service and satisfaction. We strive every day to meet the wants and needs of our customers and we welcome any feedback. Let’s take a look at our C-more® HMI and what you had to say about our recently released EA9 series touch panels. In regards to Value… ... Read More
The new C-more HMI configuration software version 6.0, from AutomationDirect, delivers more functionality, more usability and more value to our popular C-more HMIs. The new software offers more alarm and recipe features, additional math and tag logic, plus improved Windows compatibility. This newest version is compatible with all previous C-more projects. Improved features include: new ... Read More
There are many ways to develop human machine interface (HMI) screens for machine automation and related applications, but effective implementation requires discipline in design. The look, feel and ease-of-use of an HMI can vary widely with all the tools, object libraries, animation and colors available with modern HMI software—but there are some HMI best practices ... Read More
Opening the hood of your car will reveal a mass of cables and hoses running around the engine block. Somewhere in there is an alternator, which helps keep your car supplied with electric power when it’s running. When an alternator goes bad, most mechanics will replace it with a used unit that has been remanufactured, ... Read More
