MMI/HMI design and integration expertise...

MMI/HMI design and integration expertise reduces costs and time to market, IGT Industries Ltd was formed in 1987. Since then, the company has evolved from being a specialist membrane keyboard manufacturer into a leading subcontract manufacturer supplying high level multi-technology MMI/HMI interface units for a wide variety of industries. In the transport sector, experience gained in meeting the demanding technical and environmental requirements of the rail, marine and aviation industries has enabled IGT to make a significant contribution to their clients' new product development programmes by contributing design expertise, reducing development time, minimising non-recurrent engineering charges and manufacturing fully tested 'ready to run' interface assemblies. IGT first became involved with the GSM-R communications systems some ten years ago, when it was asked to quote on a build to print basis for an existing project because the customer was being let down by an existing supplier. The project was a simple membrane keyboard mounted on a rigid panel. As the relationship between the two companies developed, IGT were able to make an increasingly important contribution into the design process for successive generations of GSM-R equipment, suggesting ways in which costs could be reduced by increasing the level of integration and functionality of the MMI/HMI front panel assemblies, Given the operating environment, the rail industty has developed demanding specifications to' ensure that equipment used in rolling stock is fit for purpose. EN50l55:200l, Electronic Equipment Used On Rolling Stock; BS EN 61373:1999, Railway Applications - Rolling Stock Equipment - Shock and Vibration Tests and EN 50121 - 3 - 2:2000, Railway Applications - Electromagnetic Compatibility - Part 3-2: Rolling Stock - Apparatus are three such specifications. IGT ensure that the sub-assemblies it manufactures conform to all the relevant requirements. GSM-R units manufactured under the supply paltnership arrangement with its customers are used on European, Scandinavian and Middle Eastern railway networks, adding extremes of temperature to the other onerous environmental requirements the assemblies have to meet. IGT's main areas of expeltise include backlighting techniques, touchscreen integration, the combination of tactile and nontactile keyboards, joysticks, rollerballs and glide pads for operator interfaces and the design, prototyping and volume manufacture and test of high level modular sub-assemblies. Backlighting is particularly important in the transport sectors, where rapidly changing ambient light levels require rapid auto-adjustment of the backlighting levels. IGT's recent development in the field is a unique combinations of thin film light pipe and capacitive switching capabilities, which can be embedded in an assembly as part of an multi-technology hybrid intelface unit that could employ traditional membrane technology, capacitive keypad and slider areas, electromechanical switches, displays and other options. The technology is not constrained by having to be mounted onto a flat surface-it can follow complex contours and can be assembled onto any non-conductive material. The ultra thin colour segmented backlit intetface panels give good display uniformity and independent illumination control of closely spaced icons, while in heavy use environments such as railway communications, the intelface can be protected by mounting it below a robust substrate - the capacitive switches operate reliably though 13mm thick glass if necessary. Capacitive switching technology is compatible with most nonconductivematerials, typically glass, plastic, wood or ceramic, giving designers complete freedom in the layout and presentation of an intelface unit.

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