Product of the Week: Artila Electronics’ HC-3120 ARM-based Linux-ready 12" HMI Computing Solution

September 25, 2023

Sponsored Story

Human-Machine Interface (HMI) computing is essential in the design and development of computer systems and software applications, like industrial automation. Both users and organizations that implement and use these interfaces benefit from the enhanced user experience, accessibility, data visualization, remote control, customization, and more.

The ARM-based Linux-ready 12" HMI computing solution, the HC-3120, from Artila Electronics is designed with the aforementioned benefits that are enabled by the TI AM3354 Sitara ARM Cortex-A8 32-Bit RISC processor, the SGX530 3D graphics engine, and the 12" TFT LCD with projective capacity touch.

Artila Electronics’ HC-3120 HMI in Action

The HC-3120’s CPU operates at a frequency from 800MHz to up to 1GHz, and supports 256MB of onboard DDR3 SDRAM memory, which can be expanded or upgraded to a maximum capacity of 512MB. The solution also includes an integrated, non-removable eMMC storage with a capacity of 512MB, which uses NAND flash memory technology.

The graphics engine is compatible with a range of industry-standard graphics and multimedia APIs for graphics-intensive applications and multimedia processing. The APIs include Direct3D Mobile (for Windows-based systems), OpenGL ES (for 2D and 3D graphics), OpenVG (for high-quality 2D vector graphics), and OpenMax (for multimedia processing).

For networking, the HC-3120 features two Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000Mbps), and an RJ45 connector for enabling network connectivity, data exchange, and remote access and control. Additional interfaces include CAN bus 2.0 A/B compliant ports (second is optional) with a speed of up to 1Mbps, a Type A USB 2.0 connector with 2 ports supporting 480Mbps in hi-speed mode, and one microSD socket that is SD 2.0 compliant, supporting SDHC and up to 64G of storage.

The HMI computing solution supports a fanless, rugged design featuring an IP65 compliant front panel that is resistant to water and dust. The HMI also supports simple VESA panel-mounting with no screw hole needed. The HC-3120 is measured at 339 x 270 x 53mm (13.35" x 10.63" x 2.09"), with a net weight of 2.92kg (6.4lb). It also provides a low power consumption of +18~+30Vdc wide range input, operating temperature of 0~50°C (32~122°F), and operating humidity of 25~85% @ 40°C, non-condensing.

Getting Started with Artila Electronics’ HC-3120 HMI

The HC-3120 is designed to run on the Linux kernel version 4.9.x, can boot from either eMMC or SD card using the Barebox boot loader, uses the EXT4 file system, and supports the QT5 library along with 2D and 3D graphics acceleration.

The HMI system utilizes the LXDE desktop environment, provides support for web browsing through Firefox or Chromium browsers, and includes a virtual keyboard for text input when necessary.

The software development environment available for the HC-3120 includes the GCC compiler version 6.2.0 and glibc version 2.24 as part of the toolchain. Additionally, it supports in-place compilation of C and C++ source code. It also supports the use of Debian packages in the "deb" format, and the use of the standard "apt-get" command for managing software packages,

Pre-installed Packages include:

• SSH terminal server, iptables
• Web server (Nginx)
• PHP / Perl / Python / NodeJS
• FSQLite3
• Busybox / vim / nano / sed
• Webmin
• udev

Additional Resources:

• Product Page: https://www.artila.com/en/p_matrix.html#HC-3120
• Product Data Sheet: https://www.artila.com/docs/HC-3120/HC-3120_Datasheet.pdf