What is HMI development?
Human-machine interface development is the software development of human/machine relationships. Basically, HMI stands for any software that allows a human to interact with a machine.
This can be as simple as a simple touch display mounted on a machine or as advanced as a multi-touch control panel or even mobile technology such as smartwatches and smartphones.
The most valuable asset of hmi development is its ability to monitor production and spot changes in production demands accurately. As a result, this leads to less downtime and increased efficiency. These benefits are a result of improved monitoring and diagnostics.
So we’ll help you by giving a few tips as to how you can make the best of hmi development. Doing so will increase your value as a developer or a company. So let’s begin!
Tips for HMI development
Still wondering how you can use hmi development to your advantage? Here are a few ways how:
Consistency
If there are other HMIs available, then you should start with that one. In most cases, you should model your HMI to be consistent with the functionality and look of the other HMIs used in the facility or plant.
Consistency is key, from machine to machine, from screen to screen. If the menu is placed on top of the HMI’s, then you’ll need to follow that format. For instance, if there’s a color format that uses particular functions, you need to adhere to this as well. Uniformity is important for employee training and the ability for operators to move new equipment as needed.
Creating an HMI is a new enhancement for a facility that allows the developer to be creative. You’ll have to rely on your experience with HMIs that were used for similar applications. However, you need to still have consistency from screen to screen to the menu to menu.
Color
If your development facility has a standard for color, then you should adhere to it as closely as possible. However, you have to limit overusing color in order to attract the operator’s attention.
Older HMIs used to have a bright blue or black backgrounds; the new trend uses a light gray background to reduce the amount of glare. Colors that are made for alarms need to be used for that purpose only and not reduce their significance.
Don’t let color be the main discriminator of an important status condition. You should also use text to describe what it is. For instance, use “STOP” to complement the red color of the alarm. For faults and alarms, a blinking light will draw attention to it.
You’ll also need to take colorblindness into consideration. People afflicted with colorblindness don’t know the differences between colors that are obvious amongst everyone else. Red-green colorblindness is common, and blue-yellow blindness is ranked after that. To solve this, mark one dark shade and a light shade to ensure that everything is intact.
Conclusion
To conclude, hmi development is a highly growing skill within the IT world. It has the ability to make technology more responsive to our commands and easier to use. Thus, you should consider learning it in order to improve the value of you and your company.