Industrial Automation

Human Machine Interface

The Human Machine Interface (HMI) includes the electronics required to signal and control the state of industrial automation equipment. These interface products can range from a basic LED status indicator to a 20-inch TFT panel with touchscreen interface. HMI applications require mechanical robustness and resistance to water, dust, moisture, a wide range of temperatures, and, in some environments, secure communication. They should provide Ingress Protection (IP) ratings up to IP65, IP67, and IP68. The unique capacitive Atmel® QTouch technology, Atmel AT91SAM9 microprocessors, and Atmel CryptoAuthentication™ devices enable designers to meet these requirements and more, with an optimized BOM.

Human Machine Interface

Features and Benefits

  • Supports high source and sink output IO capabilities up to 60mA for direct drive of LEDs.
  • High-speed PWM units enable LED dimming and screen back lighting.
  • Robust touch technology provides reduced wear and increased product lifetime. Due to its superior field penetration, Atmel Touch technology will operate through 6mm thick, non-conductive surfaces.
  • The excellent signal-to-noise ratio of the Atmel QMatrix™ touch technology makes the design immune to water, moisture , or dust and enables operators to use gloves.
  • Capacitive touch eases design of full hermetic or sealed products, while power efficiency minimizes heat dissipation.
  • Free QTouch software library on the Atmel microcontroller lets designers avoid the cost of an additional component.
  • The Atmel touch spread spectrum frequency implementation helps designers meet electro-magnetic emission requirements.
  • The Atmel industrial microprocessor product portfolio with integrated LCD, combined with the QTouch technology, are the ideal candidates for your next control panel design.
  • The CryptoAuthentication family of hardware security devices provides cost effective solutions for authenticated and encrypted communications between HMI and industrial equipment.

HMI Devices

  • LED Indicators and Mechanical Switches are a leading HMI for industrial applications, and Atmel AVRU® and AT91SAM microcontrollers offer a variety of benefits.
  • Capacitive Touch Technology for HMI helps protect industrial interface modules, while increasing design flexibility and enhancing look and feel.
  • Industrial Control Panels with LCD Displays provide the operator an efficient, flexible way to monitor and control increasingly complex automated processes.
  • Hardware Security Products protect firmware integrity from tampering to assure continuous and reliable performance.


Atmel HMI solutions help reduce board space and enable a lower BOM. They do not require a separate LCD controller chip, or an external resistive touchscreen chip. Standard DDR2 external memory provides lower cost and longer availability. Atmel solutions also provide high performance with high-speed communication, and are available with ready-to-use software support. An evaluation kit is available for each Atmel AT91SAM9 with free Linux® distribution and Microsoft® Windows® Embedded CE BSP.

Products

Microprocessor/
Microcontroller		 Touch Memory Secure Authentication
megaAVR: megaAVRxx9x (LCD)
AT91SAM7L (LCD)
AVR XMEGA (SPI/EBI)
AVR UC3 (SPI/EBI)

ARM-based Solutions:
- AT91SAM9263
- AT91SAM9G45
- AT91SAM9M10
- AT91SAM9M11
- AT91SAM9RL64 		Buttons, Sliders and Wheels

QTouch library

maXTouch Touchscreen controller 		SerialFlash

DataFlash 		CryptoAuthentication


Customer Success Stories

Discover how leading Industrial Automation manufacturers are building advanced solutions with Atmel technology.

  • RAFI, a leading company for industrial HMI, is using Atmel QTouch to support its products.

Reference Designs and Tools

Use our reference designs, software tools, and other resources as a starting point to build and design your own solutions.


Enabling Technologies


Learn more about the Atmel solution Application Notes, Devices, and Tools and Software