In the field of automation, an HMI is touchscreen that provides a interface for a human operator to control and monitor a machine.

Traditionally, user interfaces were comprised of panels with buttons and lamps similar to that pictured below.

These hardware buttons and lamps can now be replaced with a single HMI touchscreen where all controls are emulated by widgets on a screen.

HMIs provide the following benefits:

1. With the modern software tools, interfaces can be creating quickly and easily by simply drawing on a computer screen.
2. By adding labels and tooltips to the user interface, the operator can intuitively learn how to operate the controls.
3. Features and upgrades can be easily added or removed without making physical changes to the hardware.
4. With text, lamps and many other output widgets, operators can monitor the status of a machine in great detail.
5. Because all features for controlling and operating a machine can be added to a single touchscreen, control panels can be made significantly more compact.

Back