Platform Supporting Intelligent Human–Machine Interface (HMI) Applications for Smart Machine Tools

Abstract

As the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and the fourth industrial revolution advance, smart factories and machines increasingly gain intelligent features that enable the integration of more sophisticated functionalities. Approaches to achieving this intelligence involve both internal systems, such as human–machine interface (HMI), and external systems, such as big data platforms and cloud services. Although current research leans toward studying external systems, accomplishing intelligent functions through such means poses more challenges in achieving real-time responses during machining processes than using internal systems. When intellectualizing machine tools through internal HMI systems, three critical issues must be addressed. First, HMI functions are structured to depend on the HMI itself, leading to a ripple effect where a problem occurring in one HMI function impacts the entire system. Second, owing to differences in development tools and programming languages, the interconnectivity between functions developed by multiple stakeholders to be loaded onto the HMI may suffer, leading to potential inefficiencies and increased maintenance costs. Third, although various types of computer numerical control (CNC) machines need to communicate with the HMI function, the diverse communication methods and development tools used by each CNC manufacturer result in identical intelligent functions being developed separately for each CNC type. To address these challenges, this study proposes an innovative HMI platform capable of executing and developing various intelligent functions. The HMI platform and its major components are designed and implemented through component-based development (CBD). Subsequently, the performance and effectiveness of the platform are validated using quality attribute scenarios.