JZUS - Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE

Frontiers of Information Technology & Electronic Engineering 2018 Vol.19 No.5 P.604-625

An embedded lightweight GUI component library and ergonomics optimization method for industry process monitoring

Author(s): Da-peng Tan, Shu-ting Chen, Guan-jun Bao, Li-bin Zhang
Affiliation(s): College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, China; more
Corresponding email(s): shutinren@163.com
Key Words: Embedded lightweight graphic user interface (GUI), Quasar technology embedded (Qt/E), Industry process monitoring, Multi-thread, Ergonomics performance

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Abstract: Developing an efficient and robust lightweight graphic user interface (GUI) for industry process monitoring is always a challenging task. Current implementation methods for embedded GUI are with the matters of real-time processing and ergonomics performance. To address the issue, an embedded lightweight GUI component library design method based on quasar technology embedded (Qt/E) is proposed. First, an entity-relationship (E-R) model for the GUI library is developed to define the functional framework and data coupling relations. Second, a cross-compilation environment is constructed, and the Qt/E shared library files are tailored to satisfy the requirements of embedded target systems. Third, by using the signal-slot communication interfaces, a message mapping mechanism that does not require a call-back pointer is developed, and the context switching performance is improved. According to the multi-thread method, the parallel task processing capabilities for data collection, calculation, and display are enhanced, and the real-time performance and robustness are guaranteed. Finally, the human-computer interaction process is optimized by a scrolling page method, and the ergonomics performance is verified by the industrial psychology methods. Two numerical cases and five industrial experiments show that the proposed method can increase real-time read-write correction ratios by more than 26% and 29%, compared with Windows-CE-GUI and Android-GUI, respectively. The component library can be tailored to 900 KB and supports 12 hardware platforms. The average session switch time can be controlled within 0.6 s and six key indexes for ergonomics are verified by different industrial applications.

面向工业过程监控的嵌入式轻型图形用户界面构件库与人机功效优化方法

摘要：面向工业过程监控的嵌入式轻型图形用户界面（GUI）构件库开发具有较高难度，当前方法在实时任务处理与人机功效等方面存在不足。针对上述问题，提出一种基于嵌入式Qt技术（Qt/E）的轻型GUI构件库设计方法。根据工业过程监控需求，建立构件库实体-关系（E-R）模型，定义系统功能构架与模块数据耦合关系。考虑嵌入式目标系统差异，搭建交叉编译环境以实现Qt/E共享库文件的按需裁剪。基于信号-槽通信接口，提出一种无需回调指针的消息映射方法，优化系统上下文切换性能。结合多线程控制技术，面向数据采集、计算与显示的并行任务处理能力得到强化，从而提高系统实时性与鲁棒性。通过滚动页面方法优化人机交互过程，并利用工业心理学方法验证系统人机功效性能。数值实例模拟与工业现场实验结果表明，与Windows-CE-GUI和Android-GUI相比：实时读写正确率分别提高26%与29%；构件库最小可裁减至900 kB，并可支持12种嵌入式硬件平台；系统平均会话切换时间可控制在0.6 s以内，关键人机功效指标可满足不同工业应用需求。

关键词：嵌入式轻型图形用户界面（GUI）；嵌入式Qt技术（Qt/E）；工业过程监控；多线程；人机功效

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