HMI (Human-Machine Interface) is a medium for interaction and information exchange between systems and users. It is essential in fields involving human-machine communication, and can be seen in many industries. As technology advances, HMI continues to evolve. In addition to data collection, control, and display, future HMI will incorporate new interactive forms to enable machines to operate more intelligently and interact more efficiently with humans.

The increasing demand for more intelligent human-machine interactions also raises higher requirements for processors used in HMI applications. In order to assist engineers with terminal development requirements in selecting the main controller, in this article, the author will provide a detailed explanation of the three key elements that will influence the next generation of HMI.

Smarter Interaction

AI support will help the new generation of HMI achieve more powerful functions. For example, AI face recognition can be used to realize human access to devices, and AI gesture recognition can also be used to realize contactless control between people and devices. At the same time, it also allows the equipment to monitor and analyze the current system status more accurately. For example, in the medical field, intelligent HMI systems can allow doctors to interact with medical devices through gestures.

Balance of Power Consumption And Performance

AI function support puts forward higher requirements for the performance of processors, and the high integration and performance improvement of chips will inevitably increase power consumption and generate more heat. In order for devices with limited size to be able to adapt to a more diverse and complex environment, it is very important to have multiple power consumption mode options - the freedom to choose between high power consumption, low power consumption, and ultra-low power consumption modes. This not only allows performance to be properly optimized, but also helps to better control costs, achieving a balance between power consumption and performance.

Enhanced Communication Capabilities

The increase in real-time industrial communication protocols has also brought new challenges to the new generation of HMI applications. For example, the HMI applied in the smart factory not only needs to carry the task of exchanging information between people and equipment, but also needs to complete the function of communicating with other machines and equipments, which means that the HMI needs to have a stronger connection and control function.

FET6254-C SoM launched by Forlinx Embedded not only meets the traditional HMI's human-computer interaction needs but also can realize the three key elements mentioned above, empowering the new generation of HMI.

FET6254-C System on module is built on the TI Sitara™ AM6254 industrial-grade processor, featuring a quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 architecture with a maximum frequency of up to 1.4GHz. It enables edge AI capabilities, making the HMI smarter and more intelligent. During the development process, rigorous environmental temperature testing, pressure testing, and long-term stability testing were conducted to ensure that it can operate stably in harsh environments.

Not only the performance is guaranteed, but also the power consumption can be very low. Through a simplified power architecture design, the AM62x processor exhibits extremely low power consumption performance, with power as low as 5mW in deep sleep mode. With a core voltage of 0.75V, the operating power can be kept below 1.5W, greatly reducing system power consumption.

AM62x processor, as the next-generation MPU product in the TI Sitara™ product line, offers richer resource interfaces compared to the previous generation classic processor, the AM335x. It includes features such as 2 x Gigabit Ethernet with TSN support, 3 x CAN-FD, 9 x UART, 2 x USB 2.0 , 2 x LVDS interfaces, RGB, camera, audio, and more. This enhances the product's scalability and flexibility for various applications.

In addition to the advantages mentioned above, Forlinx Embedded has also ported a Chinese input method for the Linux system on the FET6254-C SoM. This makes it more convenient to invoke applications and helps users simplify their development workload. Moreover, the FET6254-C embedded board supports system burning via USB flash drive or TF card and can replace Uboot, Kernel, and device tree in the operating system, making it easy to achieve remote updates for products and helping users save on-site maintenance costs.

The combination of stable quality and rich functionality allows Forlinx Embedded's FET6254-C core board to demonstrate unique advantages in next-generation HMI applications, empowering HMI across industries such as industrial control, power, transportation, and healthcare. This enables machines to operate more intelligently and interact more efficiently with humans. The above is the HMI solution recommendation based on the Forlinx Embedded FET6254-C SoM. We hope it can be helpful for your product design.