TPT November 2011

S OFTWARE & C ONTROL S YSTEMS

The expression “human-machine interface” was once spoken with awe, as the direction and management of a production run of tube and pipe were being moved from the plant floor to a room with windows, high above “the action.” Now, that interface is taken so much for granted as to have fallen out of the working vocabulary – the universal sign of a rousing success. But the exchange of information between human and machine has the same purpose as when it was a thing of wonder: to facilitate the task of the operator and ensure the safety of the system in all circumstances. Now, as then, it is judged by the ease and speed with which the operator is enabled to detect and understand an event and deliver an efficient response. The companies reviewed here are dedicated to the use of electronics to enhance and customise that quiet but very busy dialogue. Photo: Aicon 3D Systems GmbH