Austrian HMI designer Candera and Taiwanese edge computing firm Adlink are working together to design user interfaces for the IoT market.

The first example of their collaboration is a fully digital 2D and 3D washing machine GUI in full HD resolution with multi-language support.

Candera’s no-coding HMI design tool CGI Studio is intuitive, scalable and hardware independent. It allows the development of customisable embedded GUIs of all kinds for automotive, industry and home appliances markets.

CGI Studio provides multi language support, including ready-to-use HMI controls and a smart importer for instant combination of designs with logic in only a few clicks. The result are scenes that not only feature pin sharp graphics but can also support 2D and 3D elements and animations.

In the Adlink project – a fully digital 2D and 3D washing machine GUI – the Candera team was able to highlight the advantages of CGI Studio. A 3D start-up and washing-programme animations were developed as well as a 2D progress-bar and time animations, both in full HD resolution and with multi language support. The goal was to provide products they can be implemented worldwide.

The GUI runs on Adlink’s I-Pi Smarc with Rockchip PX30 SoC and Android 64bit operating system. Adlink offers the PX30 ready-to-go IoT prototyping platform based on the LEC-PX30 Smarc module, which combines production-grade components, software portability and Raspberry Pi-like flexibility and upgradability for proof-of-concept designs.

The modules are also available in industrial-grade SKUs with ETT and longevity of over ten years.

“We strive to deliver our customers an off-the-shelf solution for creating rich and modern GUIs with CGI Studio, now also on Adlink’s I-Pi Smarc platform,” said Thomas Kauffmann, business development manager for Candera. “The combination provides an easy access to the GUI tool and absolutely quick results with CGI Studio: There is no coding required from design to simulation to target deployment. Just bring your design to life with a few clicks.”

Intuitive touch feedback of displays and devices is no longer a privilege of the automotive industry, according to the two companies. It has already found its way into multiple application fields such as industry, medicine, entertainment and household appliances. This is why Candera and Adlink invested in this collaboration.

“We developed the I-Pi Smarc platform to provide additional benefit to our customers by reducing project’s time to market and assuring them access to the industrial, production-grade Smarc CoMs to save time and money in later stages of design,” said Henri Parmentier, senior product manager at Adlink. “Smarc clearly stands out as the only truly open, versatile, future proof, low power CoM standard in a highly fragmented market with a multitude of alternative form factors. We saw a perfect fit with Candera’s CGI Studio simplified creation of immersive user interfaces for diverse IoT applications and the continuous focus of both to drive future market innovations.”

Candera is an HMI tool provider and development partner for worldwide automotive and industrial users. It is based in Linz in Austria and in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, and is part of the Japanese ArtSpark group.