Human Machine Interface

Human Machine Interface aim at a better Human-machine interaction. Any

automation system is said to be blind without HMI. HMI gives the ability to the
operator, and the management to view the plant in real time. Add to that the ability to
have alarm management that can warn the operator of a problem. It cam even log and
print all the alarms in real time, which can help the management to improve the
production and efficiency.

Today there exists many Human Machine Interface softwares that could be used to
monitor, supervise and control process. What we are presenting here is just an
overview of what could be achieved with most of these softwares.

So what are the main functionalities of an HMI. Well the HMI's main functionality is
to monitor, supervise, and control processes. This could be used in a variety of
industries such as food processing, sawmills, botteling, semiconductors, oil and gas,
automotive, chemical, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper, transportation, utilities, an
more. HMI software provides the process knowledge and control needed to perfect
the products companies make and the processes they manage. It is said that a control
without an HMI is a blind control.

Human Machine Interface can display texts, pictures, bar graphs, bitmap and
animated pictures. More importantly it can also display System messages, reports,
alarms, trends and manipulate string values and calculate boolean operations and
more complex math operations. This flexibility reduces the task that the PLC

More and more manufacturing designers are recognizing the benefits of using Human
Machine Interface to control and to operate their controls.

Typical Applications
Machine monitoring and control
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)
Control Center Monitoring, Tracking, and Control
Building Automation and Security
Electrical Substation Monitoring
Pipeline Monitoring and Control
Transportation Control Systems
Batch Process Monitoring and Control
Continuous Process Monitoring and Control
Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning
Statistical Process Control (SPC)
Telecommunications
Discrete Manufacturing and more...

Functionality

Representation of a plant in real time.

Trending (Real-time / Historical)
Alarms (Real-time / Historical)
SPC (Statistical Process Control)
 Recipes
Reports
Lop Events
Historical Data Logging and Browsing
SQL Server 2000, Oracle, Sybase, ODBC support
Networking and Redundancy
Math and Logic
Password protection and more...

Softwares

Wonderware (Intouch)
Plantscape (Honeywell)
FactoryLink
Panel mate (Cuttler Hammer)
RSView (Rockwell Automation) and more...
WinCC HMI Siemens

Human-machine interface
Jun 1, 2007 12:00 PM

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HOW DOES THE CHOICE OF HMI AFFECT HUMAN PRODUCTIVITY
WITH REGARD TO THE DESIGN AND OPERATION OF INDUSTRIAL
MOTION SYSTEMS?

Marc • B&R: The machine designer must be very intimate with the actual operation
of the machine from an end-user's perspective. At the end of the day, it's an operator
who runs the machine day-in, day-out — not the engineer who designed it. The
designer needs to have insight into the mind of the end-user in order to develop a
machine and an interface that truly meets the demand for highest value. All too often
the end-user is forced to try to recreate the thought process of the designer.

Roy • GE Fanuc: HMI systems can take many forms, from dedicated panel devices
to higher-level PCs running Windows and HMI software. On PC/Windows platforms,
basic HMI functionality may be augmented with high-level analytics and data
acquisition, features more often thought of as SCADA (supervisory control and data
acquisition). In the more general case, where the HMI functions as the machine
controller and operator interface, the emphasis is more focused on running machines
more effectively, measuring performance, and managing downtime more efficiently.

The greater the role of the HMI, the more important it is to select one with a high
degree of scalability — one that provides operator controls and connectivity to
supervisory systems. In motion applications, HMIs must also be able to respond
quickly to commands as well as unanticipated situations requiring complex
maneuvers.

To maximize productivity, HMIs should display information in the context of the

machine state. It's not the job of an operator to navigate to the correct screen at the
correct time; it's the job of the HMI to react to machine conditions (the machine
context) and deliver displays appropriate for the current state.

Today's HMIs must also deliver a wealth of information, from operation manuals to
troubleshooting guides. They should not only run, but also help maintain a machine.
They should track downtime history and capture reason codes, and take responsibility
for the lifecycle of the equipment.

Eyal • Unitronics: From the operator's point of view, the HMI is the communication
focal point, the “ear and mouth” of the machine, accepting commands and directions
while displaying processes, values, results, errors, and other status messages. This
calls for an intelligent interface with built-in diagnostic qualities and immediate
access to real-time information required to troubleshoot common machine problems.
From a PLC hardware perspective, this means having access to internal registers and
program variables.

The right HMI implementation provides not only built-in diagnostics — eliminating
the need for external testing equipment during troubleshooting — but also increases
the operator's overall productivity:

• It may replace most printed documents, providing online help, operation

“wizards,” and even tutorials
 • It allows international implementation of a system by using more graphics and
less text, being less language dependent
• It facilitates operation using color-coded icons, values, and gauges, guiding
the operator within the normal operation envelope
• In a well-designed system, it consolidates all relevant information to one
screen, popping up only the values and statuses that need immediate attention
• Using a combined HMI and PLC can save development time, wiring, and
component cost as well

In the most basic sense the graphical Operator Interface is very similar to the simple text display type.
You still have a keypad or on screen pushbuttons to take the place of physical pushbuttons. Instead of
a text messages such as “Valve Open” from our text display example, you might have a picture of a
valve. On color displays this valve might show one color for closed and one color for open. Chances
are there is room on the operator interface for many more keys. Your control options might include
pressing a key that selects the valve on the screen. This would lead to additional information on the
screen tying other buttons to functions such as “open valve” or “close valve.” With the touch screen
option, the operator would touch the valve on the screen. This could pop up a window with open and
close pushbuttons on it that would allow the operator to open or close the valve by touching these
buttons.

Making all this work with the PLC would be similar to the text display. The push button elements are
linked to PLC memory locations and the Operator Interface is able to manipulate the values in those
locations. A simple pushbutton would just toggle a bit on or off. However, Operator Interfaces usually
will have the capability to manipulate the bit in several different manners. The bit could have a
momentary action that could operate directly with the operator’s actions. If the operator pushes the
button the bit changes to a 1 – when he releases it the bit returns to a 0. The operator may press too
quickly in this case not allowing the bit to perform its required operation due to communication delays
or a slow PLC program. In this case the pushbutton can be setup to have a minimum on time or a
minimum off time. It may be set up to normally set the bit to a 1 and reset it to a 0 when pressed.
Finally it might toggle the bit so that the value changes from 1 to 0 or 0 to 1 depending on the value of
the bit when the button is pressed. So all this bit discussion may lead you to believe that Operator
Interfaces are only good for discrete applications. Not so. They are capable of grabbing and inserting
information of all types from the controller. A PLC may have a temperature probe hooked to an analog
input card that allows it to turn on a fan if the temperature goes too high. The Operator Interface can
be configured to get the temperature information and display it on the screen. It might have a graphic
of a vessel with a fan and the temperature shown next to it all. The operator could select the vessel
bringing up an input screen that would allow him to enter a temperature setpoint. This information
would be pushed down to the PLC where it would act as the point at which the fan would turn on. The
operation of the fan could be shown on the screen to indicate that it is running. In fact using animation
techniques the fan might even look like it’s running on the screen. The variations are endless.
Human machine interface (HMI) touch screen panels limit and/or remove the need for
pens, typing, and mouse click interaction with computers. These types of applications
are making there way into individual, commercial and governmental operations on an
increasing basis. At first the benefit of such computing may seem superficial or
redundant, however it is clear the benefits of such computing are quite significant.
HMI touch screen panels are currently used in a number of places including those
provided below:

*Airport electronic ticket issuers

*Self Checkout counters
*Pin code payment pads
*Business computer applications
*Government recording and data management
*Interactive Educational tools

COST EFFECTIVENESS OF HMI TOUCH SCREEN PANELS: