HMI with Groov Rio and Epic

groov View
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Hello, my question is a bit extensive since it covers the relationship between groov models and their use for an hmi, not to mention that I am somewhat new to the subject, so I apologize in advance if I ignore something basic and that is that I think that after Having read so much I’m a little confused.

Let me explain, I was thinking of using a “groov Rio” to display something as simple as the level of some water tanks. The idea is to design a simple HMI that can be displayed on a 21" device or similar with IP65 for example.

Now, initially my idea was to use the internal firing edge of the “groov RIO MM2” to design the HMI, but my doubt arose when it came time to get the 21" device, as I understand from all the videos I watched, to Accessing the designs either from “Ignition Edge” or “Groov View” is by pointing to the URL in a browser. For this reason I rule out the use of HMI screens with firmware from their manufacturers such as “PanelView” or “Simatic”. They have a browser, but yes, designers like “The studio 5000”, I also thought about industrial monitors, but these don’t have access to a browser either, you have to stream video to them and Groov Rio doesn’t have HDMI, so I finally thought about a PC panel. with its operating system and a web browser, but that would be somewhat redundant, right? After all, I could use a “Groov RIO MM1” model and the Panel PC with an Ignition Edge installed on it, right?

Finally I thought about the possibility of using the Groov View of a Groov Epic, now, I have seen that an HDMI can be connected to see the EPIC screen on another device, but I can make it only show the designed HMI and not the Login. Groov Manage? I saw videos where they literally achieve what I propose, showing a custom HMI on a 32" screen but I can’t find where they explain this connection.
Then I got into a circle of confusion where I’m not sure how to use Groov to create my own HMI from a tool like Ignition or Groov View.

The idea is simply to create a screen that constantly shows the level of a tank without needing to log in or something similar, so if you could explain to me what devices I could use for this case, it would be a great help.

Again I apologize if I am asking something very basic.
I appreciate any explanation.

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Hi Bruno. Welcome to the Opto22 forums!

Thanks for doing a ton of reading, sorry its not all that clear. (I need to think about a ‘quick start guide’ or something).

RIO does not have groov View and does not have an HDMI port.
So you are correct. You will need a panel PC with a browser. There are a ton of them out there. Most run Android and are very affordable.

If your analog input needs are fulfilled by a RIO, then use that. It’s way more cost-effective for a small tank farm than the EPIC if you just need a few points.

The RIO (like the EPIC) has the option of choosing the ‘first run’ application when someone logs in. In the case of the RIO, it will be Node-RED. You can build some really nice small HMIs in Node-RED and easily show tank level in a few different ways—filled tank, numbers, or a graph etc.

If you have a bunch of tanks, then the EPIC with the right signal modules would be fine as well.
In that case, you’d use groov View as you can build HMI screens very easily in that, and again, you can have that as the first run app. No need for Ignition from what I am seeing in your post.

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Hello Beno, it’s a pleasure, I really appreciate the help and that you can clarify these details for me, thanks to some key words that I got from your comment I was able to find more readings on the subject, I saw some designs with Node-RED and others with Groov View. Obviously Groov View makes designing an HMI much easier, with Node-RED the same process should take a little more effort to implement CSS, in addition to having a slightly more limited animation but both cases they are useful for what I am looking for, i guess in the end it could depend on the budget.

However, I had a couple of doubts after reading about these topics, I understand that I can tell Groov which application to start after logging in, it means that for example if I have an application developed in node-RED and this option points to it. When I log in, the HMI I designed in node-RED will open directly, right? If I’m not mistaken, it would work the same way with the Groov view. So if I wanted to revert this modification and reconfigure access to Groov Manage upon login, how would I do it? since this option is configure in Groov Manage.

I’ve also read a bit that I can create different users and assign them different permissions. Could i then indicate that, depending on the user who is logged in, Groov redirects to one application or another? like admin user can access groov manage and other user “x” can only access node-red application.

Finally, in my first consultation I had mentioned Ignition Edge simply because I am more familiar with its designer, but as I read it cannot be used as an initial application, so in the case of EPIC it would not work with an HDMI. However, in the case of RIO with a Panel PC ican access the power edge project directly by pointing to its URL, is this correct?

Again, thanks for the help with these somewhat basic questions.

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No CSS is required. (Well, you can, but it’s not required). For what you describe, it should only take a few minutes to build in either Node-RED or groov View. Both would have animation without a lot of work.

Correct. Yes. groov manage log-in will redirect you to groov View or Node-RED, depending on which option you select.

Once you log in, just change the URL and your in groov Manage. (ie, just remove the /view or /nodered/ui part of the URL

No, it’s a global redirect for all users.

You can use Ignition, its just a different URL and port number, use it to go directly to that HMI.

It seems the scope of work has moved away from your OP. Are you not planning on using a central web touch screen anymore? Was it even required to have a touch interface? It seemed to be a view-only tank-level display.

If the goal is to have a central screen, once you log it in, you can just walk away. Done. There are no accounts or user levels, etc, to think about.

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