The difference between human-computer interface and touch screen_ Basic knowledge of human-computer interface application technology
1. What is the difference between a human-computer interface (HCI) and what people commonly refer to as a "touchscreen"?
Strictly speaking, there is a fundamental difference between the two. A "touchscreen" is merely a hardware component that may be used in a human-computer interface (HCI) product; it's an input device installed in front of a display screen, not a mouse or keyboard. An HCI product is a human-computer interaction device that includes both hardware and software. In the industry, people often refer to HCI products with touch input functionality as "touchscreens," but this is inaccurate.
2. What are the differences between a human-machine interface (HMI) and configuration software?
Human-machine interface (HMI) products, commonly referred to as "touchscreens," include HMI hardware and corresponding specialized screen configuration software. Different manufacturers typically use different screen configuration software for their HMI hardware, and the primary device type they connect to is a PLC. The configuration software is a general-purpose utility software product that runs on a PC hardware platform and Windows operating system. It can also be integrated with a PC or industrial computer to form an HMI product. General-purpose configuration software supports a variety of devices, such as various PLCs, PC boards, instruments, frequency converters, modules, etc. Furthermore, due to the powerful performance of the PC hardware platform (primarily in terms of speed and storage capacity), general-purpose configuration software offers many more advanced functions, making it suitable for large-scale monitoring systems.
3. Do human-computer interface products have an operating system?
Every human-machine interface (HMI) product has a system software component. This system software runs on the HMI's processor and supports multitasking. The processor requires a small operating system to manage this system software. High-performance HMI products based on tablet computers commonly use general-purpose embedded operating systems such as WinCE and Linux.
4. Can the HMI only connect to a PLC? Touchscreen industrial panel PC product 1
That's not true. Human-machine interface (HMI) products were developed to solve the human-machine interaction problem of PLCs. However, with the development of computer technology and digital circuit technology, many industrial control devices have serial communication capabilities. Therefore, any industrial control device with serial communication capabilities, such as frequency converters, DC speed controllers, temperature control instruments, and data acquisition modules, can be connected to HMI products to achieve human-machine interaction functions.
5. Can the human-machine interface only connect to other devices via a standard serial communication port?
In most cases, this is indeed the case. However, with the development of computer and digital circuit technology, the interface capabilities of human-machine interface (HMI) products are becoming increasingly powerful. In addition to traditional serial (RS232, RS422/RS485) communication interfaces, some HMI products now possess data interfaces such as Ethernet ports, parallel ports, and USB ports. They can connect to industrial control equipment through these interfaces to achieve human-machine interaction.
6. Are devices with communication capabilities always connected to the human-machine interface product?
That should be the case. Because general-purpose HMI products offer a large selection of commonly used device communication drivers; typically, simply selecting the corresponding communication driver for the connected device in the HMI's configuration software is sufficient to establish a communication connection between the HMI and the device. If the selected HMI product's configuration software does not include a communication driver for the device to be connected, the user can inform the HMI product manufacturer of the communication port type and protocol of the device to be connected and request the manufacturer to compile a communication driver for that device.
7. With a PC and touchscreen, can the HMI function be completed by direct communication with the PLC?
Of course, it is possible. However, only by developing the corresponding HMI software can a PC become a true HMI product.
8. What are the future development trends of human-computer interfaces?
With the development of digital circuits and computer technology, the functional divisions of future human-machine interface (HMI) products will become increasingly blurred, and HMI functions will become increasingly rich. HMI products larger than 5.7 inches will all feature color displays with longer screen lifespans. Due to the reduction in computer hardware costs, HMI products will primarily be high-end products using tablet computers as their hardware, as these high-end products have significant advantages in processor speed, storage capacity, the types and number of communication interfaces, networking capabilities, and software resource sharing, representing the future development direction of HMI products. Of course, smaller-sized HMI products (display sizes less than 5.7 inches) will have advantages in size and price, and with further functional enhancements (such as the addition of I/O functions), they will be widely used in human-machine interaction applications for small mechanical devices.
