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Industrial machine user interface Controller solution

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Simon:
I'm looking at what solutions are available for a machine user interface controller for machinery. Essentially a custom user interface using a screen and buttons. This will communicate with the machine ECU.

It's the sort of thing that feels like it should be the smallest single board computer that can hack it to drive a screen, something like 800 pixels wide will do.

I don't know if there is something off the shelf designed to do this sort of thing, if I am using a SBC it feels like I need to be prepared for supply chain issues and only use things that are standard enough to connect to standard hardware or use software that is not over specific for a particular board.

Is an android tablet an option?

SiliconWizard:
To find an appropriate solution, more context would be needed. Like:
- How many of those controllers would you be building? Would they be one-time "prototypes" or manufactured in small, medium, large quantities?
- Who would be writing the software/firmware?
- Would there be a particular language required for this, should the development be accessible to a large audience or specialized embedded developers?
- How would the controller communicate with the machine ECU?
- What kind of display should it be? Any specific requirements apart resolution? (Like brightness, being sunlight-readable, having a specific interface - HDMI, LVDS, parallel, SPI, whatever) Should it have a touch panel?
- What maximum acceptable delay between power-on and the user interface usable?
- Any particular operating temperature requirements?
- Any minimum required lifetime for the device?
- Would it be connected to some network or only to the machine ECU?
- Would it have to be easily replaceable?

And probably more stuff that I'm missing.

nctnico:
Budget?

That is a trick question. Cheap hardware is likely to need lots of development time where a ready to go (PLC) HMI costs a lot but takes a relatively small effort to develop. The biggest challenge for these kind of projects is to find the sweepspot between number of units to be sold, purchase costs, NRE costs and support/maintenance costs. Some make the mistake to only look at purchase costs and call it a day.

Simon:

--- Quote from: SiliconWizard on June 21, 2023, 10:58:05 pm ---To find an appropriate solution, more context would be needed. Like:

And probably more stuff that I'm missing.


--- End quote ---


- How many of those controllers would you be building? Would they be one-time "prototypes" or manufactured in small, medium, large quantities?
Lets say 100 a year

- Who would be writing the software/firmware?
Me

- Would there be a particular language required for this, should the development be accessible to a large audience or specialized embedded developers?
As this is a new area I am looking into there are no specific requirements.

- How would the controller communicate with the machine ECU?
Serial port

- What kind of display should it be? Any specific requirements apart resolution? (Like brightness, being sunlight-readable, having a specific interface - HDMI, LVDS, parallel, SPI, whatever) Should it have a touch panel?
Well as i said I would rather use as standard stuff as possible, HDMI seems to the the minimum standard, I've seen the hassle of transferring a DSI display from a RPi to a Rock4, we lost dimming capability, screens could be from 400pixel to 1000, depends on the machine.

- What maximum acceptable delay between power-on and the user interface usable?
What a silly question ;), instantaneous of course! OK, less than 1 minute, there comes a point where you have to say, look, cheap and slow or fast and fooking expensive, you choose boss/customer

- Any particular operating temperature requirements?
Nothing that a consumer device can't handle, I don't do that military shit anymore :)

- Any minimum required lifetime for the device?
5 years, it will probably get bricked before then, these users and the sort that throw their machines around, if it can break it will at some point.

- Would it be connected to some network or only to the machine ECU?
Only the machine ECU, at some point it would be nice to do some clever industrial 4.0 stuff but I'm not going to make the unlikely impossible at the start.

- Would it have to be easily replaceable?
Yes, I mean this sort of thing can be build into a box that screws to the frame with a 4 pin plug.

coromonadalix:
you call them HMI      Dwin is a good one, graphical interface designer free software

Stone    etc ...

a few of them mimic Dwin ...

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