HMI's

Good morning

I have been working with and writing code for PLC's on simple projects for years also I have been maintaining and fault finding on larger systems to so I've gained a reasonable experience of the kit.

I'd like to widen my abilities to HMI's but don't know the best route to take-
there are a few courses offered but most are tailored to meet the needs of people with existing kit.

can i just go out and buy some kit and work it out for myself?

any recommendation on Brands?

Thanks


Mike

You will get as many recommended HMI's as there are stars in the sky..... but they all work more or less the same.
You want to put a button on the screen? It will ask you which internal bit of the plc do you wish to use - what font for the words on the button - do you want the button to be momentary or toggle on off etc
You want to put a value on the screen? again... which data register do you want to show - can the operative change the value yes/no etc

You probably don't need a course..... you will find your way through by trial and error.

The hardest part to learn is organising your screens in a logical order and laying them out properly.

I learned on Automation Direct C-More and Proface. Later I took a training course on Panelview. The C-more's are relatively inexpensive and have drivers for most PLC brands. The software is a bargain at the price. The best way to learn I can offer is hook up one on a test bench and play with it. I have several test set ups on my bench here at work.

Good luck

Ronnie Sullivan said:

You will get as many recommended HMI's as there are stars in the sky.....

Click to expand...

Boy thats the truth...

If I were doing it all over again, I would look to use one that has good support, supports many different protocols (built in) and has a good price, that said... I would look at Red Lion, you can buy a 307k and learn on your own for the most part or come here for support, the price is good and they look nice and free software

Hello,

any recommendation on Brands?

Click to expand...

Or if you have a PC running MS Windows, go the software HMI route and PeakHMI might be a good fit.

+1 for Red Lion.

You can download the software and use the emulator for free. If your PLC supports Ethernet communication (and sometimes with RS-232) you can even communicate to your PLCs with the emulator and fully test your design without spending a penny on software or hardware.

We use a lot of the G304K2 units (Kadet) and the G07 and G12 for higher end systems (Graphite series).

Start with the free one on here:

http://www.plctalk.com/qanda/showthread.php?t=42656

This is always an interesting question.
It depends.
I have used Red Lion, Beijer, IDEC, Omron, Siemens, Schneider and plenty of others over the years.
The reason I comment it depends is it depends what you require. There are also other issues that need to be considered.
For example mounting the Red Lion G3 is a PITA - you have to drill holes for the screws and also cut out sections for the serial connections.
I chose Beijer for sunlight readable and they are not - in the high light in northern Australia anyway. Useless.
Sometimes I just need a cheap screen for a job that does not have a huge amount of capability and there are plenty of cheap screens out there but often the programming software is difficult to use and non intuitive.
Most of my jobs require animation, alarm screens and alarm history screens these days and if they are not included with the screen and software constructing one is a PITA.
Moving alarm banners are fairly useless and distracting - better to have dedicated pages.
Currently my preferred option is the Omron NS series as it has fairly good animation capabilities and also has alarm and alarm history screens. These are also quite configurable. I have not used the newer NA series as they do not have some of the things I require but they do have much greater capability for things I do not require - it is relative.
Long life of the screens is also important - I have only seen 2 Omron screens fail in the last 10 years - 1 from an operator using a screwdriver to operate it and the other got drowned with a mixture of water and cement dust - read sulphuric acid.
They also come with a 2 year warranty in Australia.
Some screens are known to fail in a rather short period as well - I will not name them but I can assure you I will never use them again.
It depends.

Ronnie Sullivan said:

You will get as many recommended HMI's as there are stars in the sky..... but they all work more or less the same.
You want to put a button on the screen? It will ask you which internal bit of the plc do you wish to use - what font for the words on the button - do you want the button to be momentary or toggle on off etc
You want to put a value on the screen? again... which data register do you want to show - can the operative change the value yes/no etc

You probably don't need a course..... you will find your way through by trial and error.

The hardest part to learn is organising your screens in a logical order and laying them out properly.

Click to expand...

There are three HMIs that I would recommend you try out, in this order (basic to advanced):
1)Weintek - free
2)Red Lion - free
3)Beijer - 30 days

You don't need to buy the HMI; just download their software and use the PC emulator.
That will give you a very good idea of what HMI software can do today.

BobB said:

I chose Beijer for sunlight readable and they are not - in the high light in northern Australia anyway. Useless.

Click to expand...

I know it's off topic, but which HMIs do you use for outdoors?
IDEC and Red Lion have some fairly bright displays.

arlenjacobs said:

1)Weintek - free
2)Red Lion - free

Click to expand...

Yes I forgot about Weintek... but make sure you get a english version, we sell MT8101iE and MT8071iE both are compatible with the EasyBuilderPro, if you get the wrong one it will only work with the Chinese software and great HMI for the price

Beijer have ace on-site tech support and would probably offer some training from my experience. Pm if you need contact details

Another option is using AdvancedHMI. This will run in visual studio and all of the source code is available.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/advancedhmi/

http://accautomation.ca/create-a-plc-with-hmi-training-and-learning-environment-free/

Regards,

Hallo guys
I'm working with HMI's for years
my experience is use the one from the PLC supplier
Siemens -> WinCC
Modicon -> Panel Mate
Allen Bradley -> Panel View
......
this way 90% of the job are done for you
the reference tables usually update them self's
you only do your graphics and Alarms

Just new to PLCTalk.net. One other HMI brand to throw in the mix is the EZAutomation.net EZTouch. Has all the drivers for all major PLCs, 7" Widescreen for just $399, and Made in the US!

http://www.ezautomation.net/ez3series/ez3series.htm

P.S. If I have a question on PLC talk.net, how do I know when someone has replied, does it go to my email? Or do I just need to check the thread everyday?