Pro-face by Schneider Releases Latest HMIs and Industrial PC Components

Pro-face by Schneider Electric produces human machine interfaces (HMIs) for use in industrial environments. Their products deploy numerous features to help create a flexible platform for advanced interfaces while also providing OT, IT, and IoT integration features. The company claims that many of its products also focus on scalability and customizability to meet almost any application and user. 

 

The FP6000 and PS6000 Series

Pro-face has several product ranges for engineers to make decisions about their HMI selection. Two of those ranges are the FP6000 and the PS6000. The FP6000 and PS6000 are complementary product ranges that divide HMIs into two main components; the compute module (PS6000), and the display (FP6000). 

 

Video used courtesy of Pro-face by Schneider

 

While each of these HMIs can be used independently, the user can also pair them to create more customizable HMIs for industrial applications. 

 

The Industrial PCs 

The PS6000 are a range of industrial PCs with varying capabilities depending on the needs of the application. These low-profile machines are based on Intel processors from Celeron to Core i7. They have a RAM range of 4GB to 32GB, and either integrate an SSD or HDD. Connectivity to these machines is provided via RS232, USB 2.0, USB3.0, Ethernet, and a display port. 

 

The PS6000 industrial PC. Image used courtesy of Pro-face by Schneider

 

Expansion of the compute modules is provided by PCI and PCIe ports on the advanced version of the product line while the standard version does not include any slots. By default, all products in the PS6000 line come pre-installed with Windows 10 IoT core enterprise edition.

 

Flat-panel Displays for Industrial Applications 

The FP6000 range are a series of flat-panel displays suitable for industrial environments. All of the screens use TFT LCD color technology, come in XGA, WXGA, FWXGA, and full HD resolutions. Screen sizes for the displays range from 10” to 22”, and all include touchscreen capabilities. The XGA display uses a resistive multi-touch while all other displays use a capacitive multi-touch. 

Displays that use a capacitive touch interface are configurable to work with gloves and water detection to provide the best operation in harsh environments.

Construction wise, a product in the FPS6000 range has a narrow bezel and slim frame for improved design, while the other features may provide ease of use and visibility. While the FPS6000 is primarily designed to work with the PS6000 range, it can work with any display port compatible device, including Windows PCs and the previous PS5000 series.

 

          

A diagram showing how the FP6000 works with other control systems. Image used courtesy of Pro-face by Schneider

 

The primary purpose of these products is to create customizable HMIs for use in industrial environments. The ability for the FPS6000 capacitive displays to work with gloves and detect water makes it best suited for critical environments where unexpected water on an interface could present dangers. 

The ability of the PS6000 range of machines to provide remote connect, smart maintenance, and simplified field connections make it ideal for any new installation. These abilities also make it easy to maintain over long periods of operation where up-time is essential.

The slim design of the FPS6000 makes it applicable to environments beyond the industrial landscape; environmental controls in large buildings and artistic areas could also utilize the FPS6000. Its slim design also aims to make it easier to mount in space-restricted environments such as a home or office wall.

Pro-face by Schneider continues to release various HMIs and industrial PCs for industrial use. These latest products are designed to help engineers reduce downtime in their facility or industrial environment. 

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