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Portals FactoryAutomation HMI&OITs Top5problemswithHMIs

Top 5 problems with HMIs

February26
2015
GOTOWEBSITEFORMOREINFORMATION

ByJonathan
Wilkins,
European
Automation

Thestatic
daysofthemonolithicmonitorare
beginningtomakewayforsmaller,
portableinterfacesthatprovidethe
userwithmuchmorefreedomand
problems.

Thewaythathumansinteractwith
machinesischanging.Thestaticdays
ofthemonolithicmonitorare
beginningtomakewayforsmaller,
portableinterfacesthatprovidethe
userwithmuchmorefreedom.Aswe
allknow,freedombringsopportunity
andwhenpresentedwithsuch,
humanshavetheabilitytoprosper...
orflounder.

Withtheintroductionoftabletsinto
automatedprocessesformonitoring,
managersarenolongertiedtotheir
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12/3/2015 Top5problemswithHMIs|Automation.com

desk,butfreetoroamaroundsafein
theknowledgethatallthenecessary
informationisnowcarriedwiththem.
However,thisundoubtedlyaddsan
elementofdistractionthatwasn't
presentbeforeandthechanceof
humanerrorincreases.

Wearenowalsowitnessingacultural
trendtowardswearabletechnologies
andinterfaces.Whetherornotthese
willfindtheirwayintotheautomated
workplaceisyettobeseen,butwith
peoplealreadybeingtreatedfor
internetaddictionwhenusingGoogle
Glass,thiscanonlyaddanother
brightlycolouredlayertothe
distractionsandwich.

Backlitvillains

WhenchoosingaHMI,parameters
suchasdisplaylife,picturequality,
anddisplaybrightnessallneedtobe
factoredintotheprocessin
correspondencetotheapplication.
There'snoneedtogetasuperbright
andorhighqualityinterfaceifit'sonly
usedrarelyorformenialtasks.

Brightnessoftenmeansheat.What
youhavetorememberisthatheat
seriouslyaffectsthelifeofabacklight
and,althoughsomeHMI
manufacturerstrytomakebulbseasy
toreplace,itismorecommonforthe
entireunittobereplacedinstead.This
isobviouslymorecostlyandsoefforts
toreduceoverheatingandoveruse
shouldbemade.

Gentletouch

Increasingly,HMIsnowfeaturetouch
screentechnologyand,aseveryone
withatouchscreenphoneortablet
knows,scratchesandgeneralwear
areaconstantworry.Oncescreens
becomewornorheavilyscratched
theirresponsivenessisdiminishedand
thisgenerallyleadstoangryfingers
pressingharderandharder.

Whereappropriate,screenprotectors
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12/3/2015 Top5problemswithHMIs|Automation.com

shouldbeusedtoreducethechances
ofdamage.

Inanindustrialenvironmentitmaybe
bettertogoforaresistivescreen,asit
doesntcontainglass,unlikea
capacitivescreen,whichdoesnt
featureaglasselement.Theverybest
andmostmodernhardenedresistive
screenscanbeusedwhilstwearing
glovesandoffersomeofthemore
advancedfunctionalityofcapacitive
screens,suchasbetterdisplays,
swipetotouchandimprovedresponse
speeds.

Simplethings

OnerecurringproblemwithHMIsis
design.Oftendifficultiesarisebecause
theengineersinthedesignprocess
aren'tendusersandsodisplaysand
functionalitycanbeconvoluted.Bright
colours,flashinglightsandmountains
ofnumericaldataallservetodistract
andconfoundoperators,whereaslow
contrastgreybackgroundswith
minimalcolour,portrayingsimple
graphsoranalytics,havebeenfound
tobemostuseful.

Commongrievancesalsoinclude
difficultyaccessingdata,poor
ergonomicsandevenimpractical
displaymethodswe'veseen
problemswherebyfontsweretoo
smalltobelegible!
Poorchoice

Asalways,therightHMIfortheright
jobneedstobechosencarefully,with
allthefactorsthatwevetouchedupon
heretakenintoconsideration.It'seasy
toblamecomputerswhenthingsgo
wrongatthemomenttheydon'thave
therequiredintelligenceorthe
persuasivenesstodefendthemselves
apartfromSiriperhaps.

Ultimatelywhatyouneedtoconsider,
isthatifyoubuythewrongkey,
unlockingthepotentialofhumansand
machinesworkinginharmonicunity,is
goingtobeincrediblydifficult.Andit
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12/3/2015 Top5problemswithHMIs|Automation.com

mayevenleadtoworkplaceviolence
betweenthetwo.

AboutEuropeanAutomation:
EuropeanAutomationstocksandsells
new,used,refurbishedandobsolete
industrialautomationspares.Itsglobal
networkofpreferredpartner
warehouses,andwhollyowned
distributioncentres,enablesittooffer
auniqueservicewithintheautomation
industry,spanningtheentireglobe.It
providesworldwideexpressdelivery
onallproductsmeaningitcansupply
anypart,toanydestination,atvery
shortnotice.

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