EBPro is the free, full-featured HMI configuration software used for most standard HMI products (panel-mount, headless, and web HMIs). It includes powerful simulation tools that allow users to test projects offline before purchasing hardware.
PLCs are industrial digital computers designed to execute real-time control operations in manufacturing and process automation environments. HMIs are graphical user interfaces that control and interact with industrial automation systems. HMI+PLC combinations are devices that consolidate both control processing and operator interface functions within a single compact unit.
HMI Display systems serve as graphical Human Machine Interfaces that enable operators to monitor and control machinery through real-time process data visualization. Free configuration software like our EBPro, facilitates bidirectional PLC communication for data extraction…
The OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) Model is a conceptual framework that defines how data moves through a network in seven layers — from the physical hardware connection to the software applications users interact with. Each…
ATEX is the abbreviation for Atmosphere Explosible, ATEX refers to the risk of explosion that can occur in environments when flammable gasses or dust are present. Used by the EU Directives meant to regulate devices…
For Maple Systems, OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) represents a key performance metric used to help customers monitor, analyze, and improve manufacturing productivity through their industrial automation products — especially their HMIs, PLCs, and SCADA solutions.…
Read More What does OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) mean to Maple Systems?
Yes, all our HMIs and cMT HMIs support RFID card authentication via the use of a USB RFID card reader. We also have one 10.1″ HMI with a radio frequency identification scanner built into the front bezel.
Read More Do your HMIs have RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) capabilities?
In computer networking, a node is any physical or virtual device that is part of a network. This includes hosts like HMIs and PLCs, as well as devices that help manage network traffic, such as routers, switches, and access points.
A host is any device that connects to a network and can send or receive data. This includes computers, servers, PLCs, HMIs, smartphones, tablets, printers, and much more
Firmware is a type of software that is embedded into hardware devices to control and manage their operations. Unlike regular software that can be easily updated or removed, firmware is typically stored in non-volatile memory,…
Minutes… even seconds! Simply plug it in, power it up, type in IP address of the HMI you’d like to remote into and you’re done.
Read More How long will it take me to setup my cMT iV Display unit?
Backed by strong environmental certifications like NEMA4 and an IP66 rating, you can control your operations in harsh environments, even bad weather by using the cMT iV Series Display with a headless HMI placed in…
Read More Do your cMT iV Display units work in harsh environments?
Even the toughest equipment can break. That’s no truer than with the monitors and panels that controllers rely on for critical information, like HMIs. Screens, especially touchscreens, are the most susceptible to the forces of…
Read More For HMI screens, can a cMT iV Display unit be used instead?
Yes! Adding a cMT Display unit to your existing Headless HMI system gives you an easier view into your HMIs operations.
Read More Do your cMT Display units work with the Headless HMIs?
Using cMT Viewer, a single cMT iV Series Display device can simultaneously connect to up to six cMT and cMT-X HMIs for full access to their projects. Additionally, up to 10 cMT iV Series Displays can…
Read More How many HMIs can I connect to from one cMT Display device?
Our CMT display units come with the cMT Viewer app preinstalled. This app allows you to remotely access any HMI on the manufacturing floor, allowing you to view and modify the project, clear any alarms,…
Read More How will a cMT Display unit save me money? Why wouldn’t I just purchase an additional HMI?
Yes, adding EasyAccess2.0 will give you access to your system from anywhere in the world, not just the manufacturing floor
To disable internet access over the HMI’s ethernet port, set the gateway and DNS addresses of the WAN port you want to disable to 0.0.0.0 in the system settings for your device under the Ethernet port Network settings:
Read More How do I disable the WAN capabilities of an HMI or cMT?
The program will be retained for the lifespan of the HMI. The program is stored in the non-volatile flash memory (solid state memory), which can last anywhere from 10 years to 100 years, depending on…
Read More How long can an HMI hold its program while powered off?
Yes! You can have each LAN port on a cMT or HMI configured for a different network or subnet, in fact, we recommend doing so to keep the ports from conflicting.
Read More Can I have my LAN ports configured to different networks?
The specifics will likely differ based on which device you’re specifically working with, but in general, LAN 1 is the port you’d use for a network connection that goes out to the internet, where LAN…
Read More What’s the difference between the two LAN ports on my HMI/cMT?
When downloading a project using a newer EBPro version or using a particular font you may likely hit the “building font file failed” error message when compiling your project: Certain fonts, such as Bahnshrift, are…
Read More How to fix the “building font file failed” error message?
The string table in EasyBuilder Pro is a centralized database for managing multilingual text used in HMI projects. By pre-configuring texts and their corresponding numbers in the string table, text can be changed dynamically on the HMI.
In EasyBuilder Pro, a WORD refers to the size of the data type configured for the system. This is the standard size used to store data in registers and memory locations within the system. Our LW, PLW, RW, RW_A, EM0-15, RECIPE, RWI, PRW registers store WORDs into addresses.
In a Server-Client topology, a client is a device or application that requests and utilizes services or resources provided by a server. The client initiates communication with the server, sending requests for data, processing, or specific functionalities.
An APIPA (Automatic Private IP Addressing) or Link-Local Address is a self-assigned IP address automatically generated by a device when it cannot obtain an IP address from a DHCP server
Ensure you have an available *.conf file to download onto the HMI. Inside EasyBuilder Pro navigate to the Project tab > Download (PC -> HMI). On the Download window enable “use system settings file”. Next,…
The WATCH feature allows the end-user to view the contents of a register-address in a message of an event. Users may set register-addresses from the PLC, Remote HMI, or Local HMI. The register-address will display…
All OITs are HMIs, but not all HMIs are OITs. OIT (Operator Interface Terminal) usually means a dedicated terminal with graphics and/or text that provides data/control of a local (rather than remote) piece of equipment…
What is an HMI or Human Machine Interface? A Human-Machine Interface (HMI) is a user interface that facilitates communication between a person and a machine, or system. While this can technically refer to any screen…
Using a blanket purchase order is a common strategy for customers with ongoing projects. Often, an OEM solution has continuing needs for regular fulfillment of hardware, and the management of inventories and pricing are critical…
When looking for an outdoor rated HMI, many factors should be considered as outdoor rated can encompass a wide-range of certifications and hardware specifications. Many of our Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs), Industrial PCs, and HMI+PLCs…
FDA 21 CFR Part 11, by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the US government, definesthe criteria under which electronic records and electronic signatures can be treated withsame degree of validity as paper-based records. Since…
Read More How to comply with CFR 211 (FDA 21 CFR Part 11) when using a Maple Systems HMI
To help keep your account secure, starting May 30, 2022, Google will no longer support the use of third party apps or devices which ask you to sign into your Google Account using only your…
When you create a recipe database in EBPro, the recipe data is actually stored in the EBPro project. You can view and edit the recipe data by opening the Recipe Database (under the Data/History menu)…
Generally, “floating point error” refers to when a number cannot be stored in the IEEE floating point representation. Integers are stored with the right-most bit being 1, and each bit to the left being double…
The device polling time, or the time between reads of a single address/tag, is influenced by a variety of factors and is dependent upon the application. From the HMI side, turnaround delay time (time delay between…
No, because the video input is constantly being updated it is not possible to overlay HMI objects on to of a video stream from an IP or USB camera.
Read More Can I overlay objects on a video stream from an IP or USB web camera?
When making any changes to the RW memory area, the changes are stored in RAM memory initially and after 60 seconds, written to permanent flash memory. Therefore, when testing the RW memory, make sure you…
Read More RW Memory is not saved after cycling power on the HMI
An EBPro project file is saved with a *.emtp extension (*.cmtp for CMT Series). This is the development project that can be opened and edited in EBPro. Before you can download a project to an…
Read More What is the difference between a compiled project and a compressed project in EBPro?
Our Macro Reference Manual provides a great deal of information and examples for programming Macros. We highly recommend reviewing the Manual, which can be downloaded from our Support Center here: https://maplesystems.com/support-center/manuals-guides There is also a very helpful tutorial…
The System Shape Libraries in EBPro allow you to customize the colors but only allow for two states. In order to have three or more states with custom colors, you must create a new Shape…
The Standard Series HMIs now support VNC (EBPro v6.03.02.257 or later). Since the B-Series do not have the VNC tab in the System Settings window to enable VNC, it needs to be done with System…
Maple Systems HMIs use the Modbus protocol to communicate with the Scadapack PLC. 32-bit floating point numbers use two consecutive 16-bit registers to contain all 32 bits. The Scadapack stores the high word/low word in…
Read More Scadapack Floating Point values are not displaying correctly on my HMI
In order to enable a VNC connection to an HMI press the System Settings Icon in the lower right corner of the HMI screen and select the gear icon. After entering the correct password, press…
Read More How to allow multiple users to connect to one HMI via VNC
When connecting to your cMT–X Series through EasyWeb, you are able to export data logs, event logs, and operation logs as well as make backups of the database directly to your PC. To connect via EasyWeb, enter the IP address of the cMT-X Series in…
Yes, you can replace the stock antenna with an aftermarket one. The antenna connector on the cMT-SVR is RPSMA Female.
Read More Can I connect a different antenna to the Wifi-capable cMT SVRs?
If your HMI has access to the internet, you can configure the project to sync with an NTP server on a regular basis, which would allow the HMI to automate daylight savings adjustments. If your…
Read More How to automatically update HMI local time for daylight savings.
The Time-based Data Transfer Object (Global) is restricted when transferring bits. It can only transfer bits from a PLC to the HMI. It cannot transfer bits from the HMI to a PLC and therefore will…
Don’t forget your terminating resistors! Both ends of the CAN bus should be terminated with 120O resistors. Forgetting the resistors can result in signal reflection which will corrupt the data packet and ultimately result in…
Read More Troubleshooting CANbus SAE J1939 connection when no data is showing up.
The WiFi spec for the cMT-SVR-200 series is IEEE 802.11 b/g/n. 802.11b/g has a range up to 150 feet (can be affected by building materials). 802.11n has a range of up to 175 feet (can…
Read More What is the range of the Wifi on the CMT-SVR-200/202?
If you are wondering how you can assign tags for dynamic limits in a Numeric Object, take note of the “Usage…” note in the Object Properties window. The Numeric Object uses the tag assigned in…
With the Allen-Bradley Compact/Control Logix “Free Tags” drivers in EBPro, you can import tags using an .L5X project file exported from your RSLogix software. This method is preferred over using a CSV tag file, because…
A VESA mount is a standard hole pattern that allows HMIs, displays, industrial monitors, and panel PCs to be securely attached to mounts or arms. Most Maple Systems devices use either a 75×75 mm or 100×100 mm VESA pattern (check your model’s datasheet for exact details). Compatible mounting options include fixed wall mounts, swivel/tilt brackets, desk arms, and heavy-duty industrial arms, as long as they match the device’s VESA pattern and weight requirements.
In EBPro v6.05.01.565, a variable check is performed when saving and compiling a Macro. This check will trigger a “warning W2: variable not initialized.” for each ‘declared’ variable in the macro which has not been…
Read More Why am I getting a Macro warning W2: “Variable not initialized.” after upgrading EBPro?
If the “Storage Space Insufficient” message pops up on the HMI screen (Window number 8 in EBPro), it is likely caused by not having a USB flash drive or SD card connected to the HMI…
Read More Storage Space Insufficient message pops up on HMI screen
When using a Maple Systems HMI, the project, recipe (RW, RW_A, db), data log, event log, and operation log files are stored in permanent HMI (flash) memory. There are several ways to clear data in…
Yes. You can dynamically change the address referenced by an object using the index feature. This allows you to create and indirect pointer or offset into PLC or HMI memory. In the object properties window…
Read More Can I change what address an object is referencing at runtime?
Since the Settings window for the cMT-FHDX does not have an option to enable the VNC server, you can do it with a System Bit in the HMI. LB-12092 is used to enable/disable the VNC…
This can be done by using a PLC control object (found on the Objects tab in EBPro) select “Type” as “Change window” and select a register/tag on your PLC for the trigger address. When the…
Read More Using the PLC to change screens or windows on the HMI / cMT.
There are several ways to accomplish this. To set a few registers or bits you can place Set Bit or Set Word objects on the common window (window #4). These objects have an option for…
Read More How to initialize data on my PLC from the HMI at power on?
If you open a project in EBPro that was created on another computer and the fonts appear too large, there is a setting in the display properties of the computer that may need to be…
One issue that can cause the HMI to freeze or respond very slowly is large graphics in the HMI program. This requires extra processing by the CPU to resize the graphics when the windows change.…
To display the entire string the number of words needs to be set in the ASCII display object. On the general tab of the ASCII object’s properties window click on the address settings button: Set…
No, the serial number for the HMI is not stored in a system register, and can only be found on the sticker on the back of the HMI. If you would like to have this…
Read More Is there a system register that stores the HMI serial number?
On the Home tab in EBPro in the “Editing” category there is an Find/Replace tool (icon of eye-glasses) that can be used to find and change the names of tags used in the project.
Read More Where are the Find and Replace tags in EasyBuilderPro?
This depends on the driver. Some drivers will allow you to configure the word order globally for the driver. This would be done from a Data Conversion button on the Device Settings window. In EBPro…
Read More Can I reverse the word order for a registers I’m reading on a PLC?
When you want to read 32-bit register using a word addressed protocol like Modbus all you have to to is set the format to a 32-bit format (32-bit signed, 32-bit unsigned, 32-bit float) on the…
Read More How to read a 32-bit register using a 16-bit protocol like Modbus?
Method 1: The GetData and SetData functions can be used to transfer data from one tag to another in a macro. Use GetData to grab the value from one tag and store it in a…
Read More How to transfer data from one PLC to another using the HMI, or from PLC to HMI.
To get the HMI into portrait mode: First, make sure the HMI project was created in portrait mode.Second, go into the System Settings window on the HMI and make sure it is set to 90…
The issue could be related to the firmware version on the PLC. Currently, Get Tag Info seems to work with firmware v20 and v24 but not anything higher. If this is the case we recommend…
Resistive touchscreen surface material is PET (polyethylene terephthalate, also called polyester). Capacitive touchscreen surface material is tempered glass. Both surfaces can be cleaned with the following method. Using a cleaning solution of 75% alcohol or…
If you cant find your HMI Model number in EBPro, you may have an older version. Please download our latest build of EBPro here: Software Downloads If you still can not find your HMI model…
PLW and PLB memory cannot be used in macros. This is because macros only run on the host and do not run in separate instances on each of the clients.
Read More How do I access the Private Local (PLW) registers using macros?
Once you convert your Standard HMI project to a cMT project, or create a new cMT project, it is not possible to convert back to a Standard HMI model. However, Standard HMI projects can be…
Read More Can I convert a cMT model project to a Standard HMI model project?
There are system bits that can be set to delete the event history in HMI memory. For example LB-9023.
Read More How to delete or clear the event HISTORY in local HMI memory or on USB.
To fix this issue, simply open the System Parameters > Extended Memory > click “OK”. Then the project should compile.
Read More How do I fix “Extended Memory X: This model does not support SD cards” compile error?
Our HMI displays do not support the Telnet protocol. However, since Telnet is an ASCII-based protocol, it may be possible to communicate to a Telnet client using the Free Protocol in EBPro. This uses the…
Read More Is there any way to connect to a Telnet client through a HMI?
There is a system register that is used to control pass-through mode, LW-9903. When you write a 0 to the register, it is in normal pass-through mode and the HMI can still communicate with the…
Open up the project in EBPro, navigate to the Home tab. Open the System Parameter Settings and navigate to the System tab. Select the option to Disable sound output. Save the project, compile, and download…
Read More How to turn off Beep sound on HMI (EBPro, EZwarePlus)
When HMI memory is full system bit LB-9035 HMI free space insufficiency Alarm will be set on and the HMI will stop recording data to memory.
A cloud service is any service made available to users on demand via the Internet from a cloud computing provider’s server as opposed to being provided from a company’s own on-premises servers.
Yes, you can connect a barcode scanner (or reader) to a Maple Systems HMI. See Technical Note 5079 – Barcode Scanner & Graphic HMI.
Uploading is the act of taking a project from the HMI and bringing it to the computer.
Modbus TCP/IP uses TCP Port 502 on HMI devices.
Read More What TCP Port on my HMI do I use with Modbus TCP/IP?
Definitely. Simply connect your Maple Systems cMT-SVR to a wireless router and download the cMT Viewer app to a Windows® PC with “Wi-Fi.”
A full-stack cloud platform that spans public, private and hybrid environments. Built with a robust suite of advanced data and AI tools, and draws on deep industry expertise to help you on your journey to…
To calibrate Maple Systems HMIs with four DIP switches on the back: Turn DIP switch 1 to the ON position and cycle power on the HMI. This will cause it to boot into calibration mode.…
Maple Systems Standard HMIs, Advanced HMIs and High-Performance HMIs come with a built-in FTP server that allows you to remotely access data logs, event files, and recipe data via FTP (file transfer protocol). Please see…
Read More How do I log into the built-in FTP Server on my HMI from a PC?
UL indicates that the product has been tested to meet the safety standards of the United States by Underwriters Laboratories. UL adds another layer of assurance and peace of mind for end users seeking product…
Maple Systems has been the #1 authority for Weintek products in the North American market for nearly three decades. We have evolved together over the years to provide powerful controllers designed to implement and maintain…
Read More What is the relationship between Maple Systems and Weintek Labs?
In control systems, protocol is the language the components use to communicate. Example protocols include Profinet and Modbus.
There are times when it is advantageous for the RTC (Real-Time Clock) in the HMI to be synchronized with an external device such as a connected PLC. Also, it may be required to sync the…
Read More How do I synchronize the Real-Time Clock (RTC) on a Maple Systems HMI?
Yes, several Maple Systems HMI displays can be connected to one PLC. The HMIs can also directly share data. You will need to set up a local and a remote HMI in the Systems Parameters…
Yes, adding a Gateway with Serial or Ethernet bridge can upgrade your existing controller and touch panel without the need for modifying the PLC and HMI projects, adding all the functionality of our High-Performance Series…
Read More Can I pair an Advanced HMI with a Gateway Products?
A cloud service provider is a company that offers some component of cloud computing — typically infrastructure as a service (IaaS), software as a service (SaaS) or platform as a service (PaaS) — to other…
HDMI® (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI® compliant source device, such as a display controller, to a compatible…
Downloading is taking a project from the computer and putting it into the HMI.
Transport Layer Security (TLS), and its now-deprecated predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), are cryptographic protocols designed to provide communications security over a computer network.