HMI Approaches Commodity Status (Part 1)

Although major control equipment vendors always try to keep their operator interface hardware and software as proprietary as they can, the rush to use COTS (commercial off the shelf) equipment is forcing nearly all suppliers into the same technology corner.

In other words, most HMI hardware and software come with the same Intel and Microsoft logos. In fact, few vendors even bother to list details about the COTS systems that form the base of their products. They may list details about the HMI screens, or the number of I/O you can connect, but few bother to tell you that their basic hardware is a PC, the software supports Windows, .Net and XML, and the system has Ethernet ports and a web server. That is all but assumed, because HMI systems are becoming commodities.

Although HMI hardware and software is approaching commodity status because of the COTS platform, what OEMs expect from that commodity is getting extremely complex. The first HMI vendor who can offer a reasonably priced product that does everything a machine builder has come to expect may run away with the market.

Meanwhile, the products that follow illustrate a representative selection of the latest HMIs and OIs from industrial hardware and software vendors.

Gray Terminal Gets Bright