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SPLat Lowers OEM Costs with HMI430-an Integrated PLC 4.3-Inch Touchscreen
[October 28, 2014]

SPLat Lowers OEM Costs with HMI430-an Integrated PLC 4.3-Inch Touchscreen


MELBOURNE, Australia --(Business Wire)--

SPLat Controls announces the HMI430 board-level programmable logic controller (PLC) with an integrated 4.3-inch colour touchscreen, available at nearly half the cost of previous products with similar functionality. With onboard, ruggedized digital I/O, analog I/O, and the SPLat MultiTrack™ built-in multitasking operating system, the HMI430 delivers professional-quality control that is affordable and easy to program, minimizing development time.

HMI430-Designed and priced for integration

With multiple serial ports, HMI430 offers OEMs an ideal way to flexibly integrate a touchscreen into their solution for small- and medium-sized industrial control applications. The touchscreen-a 4.3-inch 470x272 pixel screen with resistive touch and 64K colours-comes with a repertoire of standard buttons, fonts, and other screen elements. With support for alpha blending, image files, and Z-ordering, HMI430 offers sophisticated visual effects at a price point that OEMs can afford.

"With the advent of smartphones, all controller applications-medical, industrial, building control-are affected by the end-customers' expectation of a GUI-driven interface," noted David Stonier-Gibson, CEO of SPLat Controls. "The HMI430 with an integrated colour touchscreen enables OEMs to respond to this 'iEffect' and provides the innovative edge that helps small- and medium-sized equipment manufacturers make their products smarter and more competitive."

Geared to address a wide range of control applications, the HMI430 offers an ideal control interface for equipment in fields as diverse as HVAC, dairy, packaging, pump control, commercial food processing, mining, health and fitness, and patient care. Early adopters have implemented HMI430 for a microbrewery-bottling machine and leisure spa hydrotherapy tub control.



"Reduction of production costs while maintaining superior quality is an ongoing challenge for a microbrewery," confirmed Simon Ross, of MicroBrewTech Ltd in New Zealand. "The HMI430 enabled me to control and coordinate multiple processes behind an interface that was easy to understand and use. The number and variety of I/O ports all coordinated with a simple multitasking interface enabled me as an application-focused developer to achieve much better efficiency and control. And when I ran into challenges, SPLat Controls offered exceptional customer support guiding me through development and product integration."

The HMI430 uses a 120MHz ARM (News - Alert)® Cortex®-M4F processor with hardware floating point, onboard graphics control and 512KB of flash memory for program storage. The display is supported by 8MB of flash for images and fonts. A 16MB display buffer allows glitch free re-writes. The digital outputs can directly drive relays and solenoid valves up to 500mA at 24V, and the inputs are compatible with industrial NPN type sensors. The two analog inputs provide 12-bit resolution and can measure voltage, current, or temperature. There is also a 0-10V, 10-bit analog output.


Integrated MultiTrack™ operating system

HMI430's MultiTrack cooperative multitasking operating system offers reliable, non-stop operation, free of hazards like resource locking and priority inversion that can lead to unnecessary downtime. MultiTrack's safe, easily understood environment enables OEMs to develop sophisticated real-time applications tailored for small- and medium-business environments. A single unified application program operates both the control and the display functions, ensuring that any updates to an OEM's program only require a single download by the end user.

Communications and expansion interfaces

HMI430 offers one RS485 port and two TTL level serial ports, with built-in Modbus and the ability to implement custom protocols. A serial expansion port supports a range of existing SPLat "Xwire" special function peripheral boards such as pH measurement, Internet connectivity, data logging, and temperature measurement. A new range of matching I/O expansion boards provides additional digital I/O, relays, and analog I/O, and can be linked together via RS485 to create a distributed processing system.

Availability and pricing

The HMI430 can be ordered now in sample quantities from the SPLat Controls website. Pricing starts at $329 for sample quantities, with discounts for larger quantities. Customers can also download the free IDE, SPLat/PC, and find full product documentation with a number of sample projects to get started.

Full programming service with or without ongoing program maintenance options are available. Plus, customers gain access to a clearly defined path to migrate to a more customized controller.

For more information, view the SPLat HMI430 video or visit splatco.com/hmi430_p1.htm

About SPLat Controls

SPLat Controls, Australia's leading maker of programmable controls since 1981, specialises in helping equipment makers integrate the best possible electronic controls in their products. SPLat provides both off the shelf and custom designs as well as full support with programming, product integration, and ongoing servicing. SPLat OEM controllers can be found in the day spa on the Queen Mary II, controlling security turnstiles at the White House, monitoring public space barbecues throughout Australia, and managing thousands of Carrier commercial air conditioners around the world. For more information, visit www.splatco.com

SPLat Controls, the SPLat logo and MultiTrack are trademarks of SPLat Controls, Pty Ltd. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. © 2014 SPLat Controls Pty Ltd


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