Topic: HMI Software

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White Papers: In Depth Research

Eliminate Software Disasters With a Self-Repairing OS
Author: Sun Lee, Product Manager and Bruce Chen, Project Supervisor for Moxa
Posted: 01/07/2013
Without software, computers are useless. Unfortunately, the more functional software gets the more complex it is, and the chance it will eventually encounter a crash increases in step. This is true regardless of where a computer is used, whether in homes, offices, or even in tiny embedded applications. System failure can occur at any point in the system at any time, and a big part of planning for such disasters includes preparations for a timely recovery from catastrophic software failures. With a little ingenuity and automation, business losses due to software failure can be practically tossed aside as a thing of the past.

Although reliance on computers is now ubiquitous, in industrial contexts these machines are literally of capital significance. Automated system crashes due to software failures are not mere annoyances; they are destructive events that cost money and may threaten a business' survival. Failures in large, networked systems may even spread, increasing the costs and danger. For these reasons, system recovery has become a pressing concern for any business that relies on extensive automation, but is of the greatest importance in remote installations like oil or gas pipelines, mines, offshore environments, or power substations. In places such as these, timely arrival at the equipment site may be difficult or even impossible, so effective disaster recovery plans that take these limitations into account are imperative. For software failures, automation is the answer. The key is to streamline system recoveries so they are rapid, simple, and reliable–particularly for mass deployments–and do not require the on-site presence of maintenance staff.

This white paper shows how just how easily an automated software recovery system can be implemented by exploring how it is designed and operates.

Key Components Enhance the Human Machine Interface
Author: Joseph Torzillo, VP Sales, HMI Components and Lance A. Scott, President, EAO Switch Corporation
Posted: 07/30/2012
Electromechanical devices, including switches, keypads, keyboards, pointing devices and other elements such as indicators and alarms, are critical aspects of the human machine interface (HMI) for controlling equipment and systems. HMI Component technology has undergone major changes over the years to serve the increasingly specialized needs of industrial, transportation, telecommunications, audio/visual, public access/security and lifting/moving applications.

Designers today face a truly astonishing range of choices in electromechanical components that encompass not only the type of device, electrical specifications, environmental sealing, and mounting and termination styles, but also ergonomic considerations such as configuration, size, illumination and tactile feel.

This white paper discusses how these electromechanical devices work and how they can help users meet their requirements when incorporating them in advanced HMI systems.

Probability and Redundancy
Author: Kristen Barbour, Pepperl+Fuchs
Posted: 03/30/2012

Process plants are striving now more than ever to reduce operational expenditures while increasing productivity and efficiency. Today's process engineers place a tremendous amount of emphasis on system integrity requirements. Why? Because it's a variable that can be controlled when the right equipment is in place.

System Integrity Requirements
System integrity: State of a system where it is performing its intended functions without being degraded or impaired by changes or disruptions in its internal or external environments.

System reliability is a calculation based on estimates. Certain procedures and component evaluations are used to predict the integrity of a given system or individual component. Each component of a system is evaluated individually and its probability of failure is estimated. The manner in which components are connected will influence the integrity of the system. For example a system component connected in series will have more probable impact on the system integrity than a more reliable parallel connection. Each component estimates are combined to provide an over all estimate to the probability of failure for a given system. Redundancy is used to add to the systems overall availability and reduce a given systems probability of failure.

Parallel Redundancy
Two or more system components are operating simultaneously. Only one component is required to be working for the system to operate, and it should continue to function at acceptable performance levels after the loss of any component. Both components must fail in order for a system failure.

Download the entire white paper to learn more.

Is Cloud Computing Right for You?
Author: IDC Manufacturing
Posted: 10/03/2011
Drawing on the manufacturing-specific responses from a broad IDC survey, this report details the trends surrounding cloud computing in the industry. The report looks at adoption rates, important characteristics, and business benefits and how those factors will impact manufacturing IT budgets in the next two years.

In our 2011 predictions for manufacturing, we discussed the growing business need for dealing with complexity. We noted that survey work indicated that CEOs wanted to "capitalize on" complexity rather than simply reduce it. This wording provided a nuanced but important distinction between unnecessary complication or waste that must be eliminated and the unavoidable complexity of sophisticated products produced in elongated supply networks and sold into global markets. The impact of complexity was further magnified by the volatility of macroeconomic conditions, raw material costs, and consumer confidence.

Capitalizing on complexity in a volatile context requires sufficient information and adept analysis - normally good news for IT investment. However, manufacturing IT organizations established an excellent track record of improving IT productivity in the decade from 2000 to 2009, when IT spending as a percentage of revenue improved some 25%. So the need for new IT capabilities in the complex context is couched in an expectation that productivity improvements will continue. And cloud computing is the most important productivity platform for the next decade.

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