User Interfaces and Industrial IoT - Hands-On
The Industrial IoT (IIoT) has its own set of challenges as it often involves mission-critical components. In many cases this includes the device's ability to be operated by a user or to locally display status or data. In our lead-off class we will look at some of the more common application areas of the IIoT and some of the common user interfaces we may be tasked with developing.
Many off-the-shelf microcontrollers include human-machine interface (HMI) circuitry to enable ‘simple' inputs and outputs such as touchpads and segmented alphanumeric displays. However, implementing these features is not always easy or even straightforward. In our second class, we will look in detail at some of these features and how to overcome some of the common obstacles that developers may face. We will also begin the process of downloading and setting up the development environment for the hands-on portion of the class.
The complexities of some IIoT applications require sophisticated user interfaces beyond the simple inputs and outputs that we covered so far. Integrated touch-screen graphical LCDs now allow us to effectively build a tablet or mobile handset into our devices, but developing these can be daunting without acquiring and mastering the right tools. In our third class, we will look at an application that will use a self-contained demonstration board, the NXP OM13092, that includes a touch-screen LCD, as well as a number of useful ports and I/O. We will make use of the free MCUXPresso development tool, as well as a demonstration license of the Draupner Graphics TouchGFX design tool. We will set up the design environment and look at how the tool can first simulate then assist us in programming the target board.
In our last class, we will look beyond the traditional built-in user interface to other methods of controlling and monitoring our devices in the IIoT. We will look at methods of providing remote consoles through web page interfaces and even a custom mobile/tablet app.
In our last class, we will look beyond the traditional built-in user interface to other methods of controlling and monitoring our devices in the IIoT. We will look at methods of providing remote consoles through web page interfaces and even a custom mobile/tablet app.
Charles J. Lord, PE is an embedded systems consultant and trainer with over 40 years' experience in system design and development in medical, military, and industrial applications. For the last twelve years, he has specialized in the integration of communication protocols into clients' products, including USB, Ethernet, and low-power wireless including ZigBee, 6LoWPAN, LoRa, and Thread. He has taught classes in these protocols for Freescale, Renesas, various universities and conferences including ESC and Arm TechCon. He has been a design partner with Freescale/NXP, Microchip, and Renesas. He also teaches webinars for various clients on IoT and embedded systems topics. He earned his BS in electrical engineering from N.C. State University in Raleigh, N.C. and provides training and consulting services through his company, Blue Ridge Advanced Design, in Asheville, N.C. He is a licensed professional engineer in NC and a senior member of the IEEE. In his volunteer work at the IEEE, he has served at many levels from local to regional to board committees. He is currently the chair of the IEEE Western NC Section, NC Council and was general chair of IEEE SoutheastCon 1995 and 2017