Graphics Design for Operator Interfaces - Practical Applications

Modern industrial control systems are many times more complex and powerful than those of even 5 years ago. The information necessary to allow an operator to properly respond to the process can be overwhelming if presented in a conventional manner using lamps, switches, pushbuttons, meters and the like. The graphic displays, now available, can process the vast amount of information and screen out data which is of little importance at the moment while highlighting process areas demanding attention. This paper will review the techniques that can be used to efficiently provide this data to an operator and the trade-off between system features and development effort.