New graphic HMI integrates video capabilities

Maple Systems supports video feed for process analysis, surveillance; record and watch in real time.

April 21, 2011

Maple Systems, a leading manufacturer of industrial operator interface products, has just released a powerful new graphic HMI (human-machine interface) video capability that could advance control and monitoring processes for all types of manufacturing.

The company says this goes far beyond still imagery or the primitive animations available on most HMI platforms. From general surveillance of your plant to capturing important process imagery when alarms or triggers occur, you can now integrate both live and recorded video into your HMI application. And this imagery can then be stored on a removable device (SD card, USB Drive), and then later reviewed for analysis.

Video integration with HMI applications offers exciting possibilities. You can connect a camera to your Maple HMI to view or record live video of your process in NTSC or PAL formats. For more coverage, you can connect two different cameras and import video on two different channels.

For example, you could aim one camera on an entire bottling machine while another camera records close-ups when a bottle is incorrectly filled.  You can even capture video when the viewing windows on the screen are closed — allowing you to use another screen of your HMI application — even though video is being recorded.

Maple’s video feature works hand in hand with the Maple Media Player for functional image review. Use it to incorporate video tutorials for operational procedures, show important messages, exhibit crucial warnings, display advertising, use as an analysis tool for quality control, or customize the feature to work for your unique control challenge.

Just like a DVD player, the media player has functions for reviewing footage including: forward, reverse, play, pause, zoom, next, previous, and volume. You can even customize it to match the look, feel and design of your application. Supported file formats include: mov, mpg, mp3, wmv, flv, avi, and wav.

Your Industrial Control Solution | Maple Systems

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Edited by Peter Welander, pwelander@cfemedia.com