what is hmi

HMI stands for Human Machine Interface, which is a user interface or dashboard that connects a person to a machine, system, or device. In industrial settings, HMIs are used to visually display data, track production time, trends, and tags, oversee KPIs, and optimize an industrial process by digitizing and centralizing data for a viewer. Operators and engineers use HMIs to monitor and configure set points, control algorithms, send commands, and adjust and establish parameters in the controller. An HMI can range from a physical control panel with buttons and indicator lights to an industrial PC with a color graphics display running dedicated HMI software. HMI software and hardware allow human operators to monitor the state of a process under control, modify control settings to change the control objective, and manually override automatic control operations in the event of an emergency. The HMI also displays process status information, historical information, reports, and other information to operators, administrators, managers, business partners, and other authorized users.