Can Palletizing Line HMI

A system integrator reached out to me about developing an HMI for a can palletizing line. Their controls engineer was well versed in FactoryTalk View but not with View Designer, which is what is required to develop an HMI on the Panel View 5000 that customer wanted on their system. Having plenty of experience using View Designer, I was ready to take on the challenge.

This system was controlled by a Compact GuardLogix PLC that the controls engineer working for the system integrator wrote the code for. Him and I worked together to continue to develop simultaneously and the end result was a satisfactory HMI design.

Below is a development environment, not live, HMI screenshot of the Home Screen. This included pallet locations, step descriptions of each section, each station’s status indicated by color (blue = active, gray = idle, red = alarmed), machine cycle control as well as Auto/Manual control, and a count of active alarms with reset. Everything the operator needs to know the status of the machine is visible on this home screen.

I also developed PLC code to interface with the HMI for recipe handling. While the original recipe code was developed by the system integrator’s controls engineer, I had to make some changes so that editing some recipe parameters was possible from the HMI.

Below is a development environment, not live, screenshot of the recipe screen. From here the operator can select one of 8 stored recipes, view the information of the currently selected recipe, and edit some parameters as needed.

The last screen to be developed allows a user, with administrator login, to edit some system settings. Enabling sections of the system, setting speed, acceleration, and deceleration values for both the conveyors and servo motors is handled here.

Below is a development environment, not live, screenshot of the system settings screen.

This was one of the first projects I took on when I started my business in June of 2024 and I really enjoyed it. Rockwell Automation did a fantastic job with View Designer and how well it integrates with the PLC project programmed using Studio 5000.

My favorite feature of this software is the Add-On Graphics. This allows you to create HMI templates and popups easily by linking them to the AOI type created within Studio 5000. That means all the tags within the AOI are instantly accessible and able to be linked to control/indication items on the HMI.

View Designer comes with a software activation of Studio 5000, so it is not an extra cost, unlike using FactoryTalk View. I think it is a great value for a facility that standardizes on Rockwell Automation software, and much more user friendly than FactoryTalk View. This HMI development environment works with the PanelView 5000 series.

These are also a fantastic option to upgrade an old, obsolete PanelView. Contact me if you would like to discuss upgrading an old PanelView or using a PanelView 5000 series HMI on your new system.