HMI programming: screens that tell the operator what to do next
Panels and software
| Weintek | Weintek panels in EasyBuilder Pro, including cMT models with the built-in CODESYS PLC. |
|---|---|
| Delta | DOP series in DOPSoft. |
| Siemens | SIMATIC Basic and Comfort panels in WinCC, inside TIA Portal. |
| Omron | NB series in NB-Designer; NA series in Sysmac Studio. |
| Another make | Tell us the model and its software, and we say whether we take it on. |
The pages a machine needs
Every page carries the same header: the machine state, one message that tells the operator what to do next, the first alarm, and RESET and STOP. Under it:
- AUTO. The step the machine is in and the result of each part. A result is never shown without the reason behind it.
- MANUAL. One button per actuator. A move that would crash the fixture is refused, not executed.
- SETTINGS. Every parameter with a default and an allowed range.
- ALARMS. Each alarm with its cause and what to check, not a bit number.
- I/O and DIAGNOSTICS. The live state of every input and output by name, and which condition the sequence is waiting for.
- MAINTENANCE and CALIBRATION. Counters, and the checks a machine that measures has to pass.
The rules the screens follow
- Buttons are requests. An HMI button asks; the PLC logic decides whether the move is allowed.
- One name everywhere. The tag on the screen is the tag in the PLC program and on the electrical drawing.
- Specified before it is built. Screens are written down page by page, object by object and tag by tag, and you read that specification before anything is drawn.
- Handed over open. The specification and the editable project go with the machine.
What we take on
- Screens for a new special purpose machine, test rig or cell.
- New screens for an old machine: alarms with causes, manual pages, counters.
- Replacing an obsolete or failed HMI with a current panel on the existing PLC.
- Recipes for part variants, and settings with limits.
- Counts, cycle times and results sent on for OEE dashboards and traceability.
Need the PLC program as well? Send the machine's sequence and the PLC program is free for CODESYS, Delta, Siemens and Omron controllers. The screens are then quoted on top of it.
How an HMI job runs
- STEP 01What existsThe HMI model and software version, the PLC program or its tag list, and photos of the present screens.
- STEP 02Screen specificationEvery page, object and tag written down. You read it and change it before anything is built.
- STEP 03BuildThe pages are built in the panel's own software, in your version.
- STEP 04Try itAgainst the PLC program in simulation where the software allows, then on the machine: by remote session, or on site.
- STEP 05Hand overThe editable project, the specification and the tag list.
Send photos of the HMI pages and name the panel and the PLC. We reply within one working day with what is realistic; the quotation is a fixed price.
HMI programming questions
Are HMI screens included in the free PLC program?
No. The free offer covers the PLC program and, if you ask, the electrical schematic. HMI screens are quoted separately: tick HMI screens on the free-program form or ask here, and you get a fixed price before any work on them starts.
Can you redo the screens on a machine without changing its PLC program?
Often. New screens can read the tags the program already has. Where the program has no alarm bit or status for something you want shown, a small addition to the program is needed, and we list those additions before quoting.
Our HMI is obsolete or has failed. Can you replace it?
Yes. The screens are rebuilt on a current panel and connected to the existing PLC. If the old project file is lost, they are redrawn from photos of the old screens and from the PLC program. We do not break password protection on someone else's project.
Which HMI makes do you program?
Weintek in EasyBuilder Pro, Delta DOP in DOPSoft, Siemens SIMATIC Basic and Comfort panels in WinCC, and Omron NB in NB-Designer and NA in Sysmac Studio. For another make, tell us the model and its software and we say whether we take it on.
Do you work remotely?
For HMI work, yes: with a backup of the PLC and HMI projects and a remote session to a PC connected to the machine, where your plant's IT rules allow it. A new machine, and anything that moves for the first time, is commissioned on site.
What do we get at the end?
The editable HMI project in the panel's own software and in your version, the screen specification it was built from, and the tag list. Nothing is locked.
Have a job that a machine should be doing?
Send the part and the target output. You get a concept, a sequence and a budget range back — free, and with no obligation to build it with us.