Delta motion control protocol...

The HMI now supports the Delta motion control protocol (DMCP) using TCP and/or UDP.

All registers are accessible and multiple register writing is supported. One write call can write up to 1024 registers for TCP and 256 registers for UDP.

The HMI can also collect plot data from the controller using “Method 2: Advanced”.  Using this method allows the HMI to collect all 8 plots (0-7) and the plot size is unlimited. The captured plot is rendering in an X/Y chart and a picture of the chart can be included in a generated report. The data can also be exported to CSV file.

HMI and PCCCOPC update...

We released a maintenance update for the HMI and PCCCOPC programs.

An issue was discovered with I/O reads for the SLC and MicroLogix. The two I/O systems are similar but the differences were not fully addressed in the programs.

Support for using a NET-ENI with a SLC PLC was added to the HMI program.

The alarm panel unused area color is now configurable.

Work is under way for supporting native communications with Delta Motion Controllers, DMCP protocol.

SMS...

Email notifications when an alarm occurs, with/without acknowledgements, tiered users, repeats, etc. has been a part of the HMI for some time.

As of today the HMI now has SMS as a notification option with the same features as Email notifications. Both Email and SMS can be enabled concurrently. Plus, at runtime the user can be presented with a form to enter and send an SMS to one or more users. Also, a fixed SMS can be sent to one or more users via scripting.

 

A bug, "406 Not Acceptable", with the "Check for update..." feature, that appeared recently, has been corrected.

 

New gauge...

The latest HMI release has a new gauge graphic element. It has many configurable settings, up to 3 needles, 3 sections, opacity, etc..

 

Drag and drop...

Before today importing graphics into the graphic editor was via the clipboard. Some external program (MS Paint, Photoshop, etc.) copied the graphic to the clipboard and the HMI could then ‘paste’ the graphic from the clipboard and convert it to an internal HMI graphic element for display.

The HMI graphic editor now supports drag and drop for graphic files.

PNG                Portable Network Graphics       

GIF                  Graphics Interchange Format
JPG/JPEG      Joint Photographic Experts Group
WMF/EMF   Windows Meta File/ Enhanced Metafiles
BMP               Bitmap Image File
ICO                 Icon

The file name extension is used to determine the file type. The clipboard can continue to be used to import graphics. The nature of WMF/EMF files might require a particular file to be imported via the clipboard.

User/operator log...

The HMI now has a runtime user/operator log. This provides for the entry of text into a log during runtime. For example, a machine stops running. The operator can add a log entry as to why the machine stopped.

The log entries are stamped with a date/time and the current user name as well as an optional category.

The log entries can be viewed at runtime and/or only log entry is allowed. The log can be exported to a text file or printed at design time or runtime.

This is a screen shot of the configuration window.

New HMI feature...

The HMI graphic animation configuration is a very easy “point & click” feature with many options. The configuration of graphic animations does not require scripting.

Sometimes, a need arises to render graphics in such a way that no amount of “built in” animations can cover all the possible situations. In these cases the option, before today, was to use the HMI scripting engine and store scripting results in one of the internal tags. Then the graphic animations would reference the internal tag.

As of today, graphic elements provide, as one of the animations, a script animation. Built in animation and/or scripting can be used for the same graphic object.

Here is a screen shot of the script editor with a simple script: