Operator Interface

With an Operator Interface you can give your application a centralized unit of control which will allow you to make decisions based on real time events in a visual manner. Operator Interfaces are used in various industries across the globe such as; sheet metal industry, pick and place production, food industry, automotive industry and in the medical field as well.

Though you may not know everything you may need to know at the beginning of the design process you should know that an Operator Interface generally falls into three categories; the pushbutton replacer, the data handler and the overseer. Before Operator Interface products came about controlling automation lines was no easy tasks with sometimes thousands of push buttons and led’s all meaning and performing different tasks. With the integration of PLC’s and Operator Interface technology, they have virtually eliminated the use of push buttons and LED’s because any function that a pushbutton or a LED could perform can easily be done with an Operator Interface plus it is all in one centralized location. Often times you may need constant feedback from your system or printouts of the production reports, here is where the data handler is a perfect fit. You have to make sure that you have a big enough Operator Interface for things such as; graphs, visual representations and production summaries. This type of HMI would include functions such as recipes, data trending, data logging and alarm handling/logging. For the Operator Interface to work as a Data handler you have to consider memory because performing these tasks can be very memory intensive. When your application involves SCADA or MES the appropriate Operator Interface could be extremely beneficial. With these types of applications you will need an Operator Interface that will run windows and has several Ethernet ports also know as the overseer.

When considering which programming software to use there are three main categories that to choose from; proprietary, hardware independent and open software. Proprietary software is the software that the manufacturer provides which is normally fairly easy to use and allows for quicker development. The drawback is that your proprietary software will only run on that specific hardware platform. Hardware independent software is third party software developed to run on several different Operator Interface hardware. This type of software gives the developer much more freedom for the Operator Interface selection. The downside to hardware independent software is that it is not as user-friendly as the proprietary. Open Software is the last type and this is for the advanced programmer this allows the developer complete openness in the design process.

The operating environment should always be accounted for because if you are in a warehouse that has excessive noise or vibration you might decide on a heavy duty Operator Interface. If you are in the food processing industry or somewhere that might need to be washed down every day you will have to think about a water-protected Operator Interface. You may also want to consider temperature as a factor in your selection process because if you were to be in a steel plant and next to a furnace you would want something that can withstand those temperatures.

How many different Operator Interface types do we offer and what are the major differences?
With just Kinco we offer three different types of Operator Interface starting with the MT4000 which ranges in sizes from; 4.3" to 12.1" but only have a 400 MHz processor as opposed the MT5020 and MT6000 which both contain a 520 MHz processor. The MT5020 series comes standard with etherenet capabilities along with more ports than the MT4000. The MT6000 is the complete package, although it has the same processing power as the MT5020, this Operator Interface comes standard with Windows CE and it's own SDK which allows you to use your favorite programming language to build your application.

What are the benefits of using an Operator Interface and PLC as opposed to just a PLC?
The benefits to using an Operator Interface along with a PLC are substantial. PLC's tend to be very messy beasts that have so many wires connected to them that it might be impossible to find the correct input to manually toggle. With an Operator Interface you can toggle PLC's through memory as opposed to having to re-wire. Operator Interfaces also provide a real time view of your system, so if recipe memory in your PLC was to max out, you could easily wipe it's contents without having to disconnect the PLC.

What is a Baud Rate?
Baud synonymous to symbols per second or pulses per second often times referred to as the unit of the symbol rate. It is the number of distinct symbol changes made to the transmission medium per second in a digitally modulated signal or a line code.

What communication protocols are applicable to our Operator Interface line?
RS232
RS422
RJ-45

Which PLC unit do I select if my PLC is not listed under compatible PLC's?
If they are using our EV5000 software than they should select the Universal option.

What is Windows CE and what is the Codesy's packt?
Windows CE in an embedded operating system, which translate to a very stripped and minimalistic copy of windows for smaller devices such as Operator Interfaces and cellular phones. The Codesy's packet is a proprietary third party software which will give allow you to program your Operator Interface and PLC.

What type of touch panel do these Kinco Operator Interfaces use?
TFT which stands for Thin Film Transistor

What programming language does the EV5000 come standard with?
ANSI C89

An Operator Interface is a big purchase so it is necessary to know exactly what it will be used for. An Operator Interface is used for three primary roles including a pushbutton replacer, data handler, and overseer. The pushbutton replacer takes the place of LEDs, On/ Off buttons, switches or any mechanical device that has some control over the unit. The elimination of these mechanical devices is possible because the Operator Interface can provide a visual representation of all these devices on its LCD screen while performing all the same functions. The Data Handler is used for applications that require constant feedback and monitoring, oftentimes these Data Handlers come equipped with large capacity memories. The last of the three types is referred to as the overseer because it works with SCADA and MES which are centralized systems which monitor and control entire sites or complexes of large systems spread out over large areas. An Operator Interface is usually linked to the SCADA system's databases and software programs, to provide trending, diagnostic data, and management information.