preferable HMI+software

Lamps, gauges, buttons and knobs. They're a breeze to troubleshoot and you don't have to worry about windows, virus, comms or my favourite, aspect ratios...

Although I haven't worked with their latest and greatest, iFix can be fiddly as hell to downright dangerous like pop-ups that do the opposite of what they say and pop up windows on which the Ok, No and Cancel buttons all do the same.

The other bad thing about iFix is that you can make it by programming in VB... which a lot of companies do and it is a nightmare to support because it isn't standard across the project.
 
Red lion is a favorite of mine, but Other than the price I like Allen Bradley Panelview. The software to develop with is outlandishly expensive Created by Rockwell Software but in my experience, it is as rock solid stable as any windows program I have used and the HMI’s are solid also and so is the support I have gotten from AB and Rockwell.

Cost is really high but you have to decide what you can afford and the long term stability. In my experience you can’t beat AB for solidly reliable hardware.
 
C-more from Automationdirect was super easy to use, works great with allen bradley PLCs, but I had someone show me how to use it. Didn't look at any manuals, he just showed me how to use it and I picked it up from him teaching me. There forums are good place to ask questions also, people respond pretty fast there too.
 
"Easy" is what you already know, and how you already think.
"Hard" is trying to change that. So if you want easy then just pick an HMI that already matches how you think.


Maple Systems = Weintek. They are the same hardware and software. If you think in bits and words, lamps and buttons, then that is probably more for you.
That is good when you are old school PLC programming focused.

I like Red Lion as a step up from that, which uses tags (instead of bits and words). They rely heavily on the HMI tag database for their features.
So, if that thinking works well for you then Red Lion is great.

Beijer is better suited for PC programmers who think in .Net and XML.
If that scares you then avoid Beijer. I think they have the best collection of features (not counting their past issues).


No one mentioned Proface?!? huh. Either no one likes them or no one is responding from Asia-Pacific.
 
Big fan of Maple systems. Affordable, and they have a ton of features. You can get a bigger screen for less and not skimp on features.

The Allen Bradley stuff works, but it's pricey. I avoid them unless it is customer spec.
That being said - the 800 series of panel views aren't too bad to work with - but the software isn't quite there yet. There are some work-around features that are there; but not easy to find. (for example - copy/paste from excel to the tag list)

I've used Ez-Automation a few times. They are ok.

No HMI is really great, though. They all have their quirks, IMO.
 
When I first started out I found Red Lion's software the most user friendly for a noob. As many people have mentioned you can dig deeper and do more programming within it if you prefer to go beyond the basic drag & drop buttons/displays.

I do a lot with Delta screens and I'd put them a step below Red Lion in terms of the "ease" of use factor. Unfortunately my customers mostly spec AB so I'm tied to that most of the time.

I hear a lot of good things about Maple and reading this thread reinforces that. If I were to start out and had my own choice I'd try Maple first.
 
"Easy" is what you already know, and how you already think.
haha, wise words. I want to post something like that every time a question is asked on which ### programming environment is the best. I also realized by using certain programming environment, it affects how one thinks about a project even before one opens the laptop cover to start the programming process.

For panels, I found the old Panelbuilder (Panelview) very easy to navigate. the new PV+ is actually quite good but very pricey and they made their lines of panelviews way way too confusing.

For PC based system, WW > iFix. I also used RSView SE which can be very good but it got a heavy backend IT requirement. I think the future is web-based graphic like Ignition which is no longer very unique and I just seen a whole bunch of those at a conference.
 
I think Redlion, Proface and C-More are all pretty easy to learn. I think C-More is the cheapest.
 

Similar Topics

I have an application with sixteen 3 watt proportional Belimo LMB24SR actuators that can be powered by either 24v ac or 24v dc. If I want to fuse...
Replies
14
Views
6,975
Back
Top Bottom