RELEASE
Revision B1
©Serious Integrated, Inc.
7
INTRODUCTION
The SIM535 family of Serious Integrated Modules is a series of complete intelligent 7.0” WVGA
graphic front panels, some with touch capability.
These cost-effective modules are designed for use by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs),
custom design shops, and hobbyists to add sophisticated and user-friendly graphical user
interfaces to their products.
USAGE MODELS
In most cases, you will be adding a SIM to a system that already has an MCU, I/O, power conditioning, and other custom
interfaces. Perhaps your system already has a membrane keypad and a 2x16 character display or indicator LEDs. Your
current MCU software in your existing system controller manages all aspects of your device, including (as applicable)
belts, pumps, motors, servos, indicators, etc.
Rather than completely redesigning the hardware and software of your existing system to create a merged
hardware/software architecture (LCD front panel plus system controller all-in-one), it is far more common to partition
the problem by retaining your existing system controller and software and using the SIM as an intelligent stand-alone
front panel.
Therefore SIMs typically most often used as stand-alone front panels responsible for managing just the Human Machine
Interface (HMI) in a larger system. The existing, separate, device-specific system controller continues to manage the
main functionality of the system. SIMs are equipped with several methods for simple interconnect to the external
system controller, getting power from that external system, and communicating via a serial type link (SPI, UART, USB) to
that controller to exchange data and commands.
Using the
Serious Human Interface™ Platform (SHIP)
, the software team can leverage the power of the
SHIPTide
rapid
GUI development tools from
Serious
, developing a user interface in as little as a few hours and a few dozen lines of code.
The
SHIPEngine
runtime firmware pre-installed on all SIMs takes care of all the drivers, rendering, communications, and
event handling for the user interface, leaving the GUI development process to be focused on look and feel and
differentiation of your device. You never need to write C code or use a JTAG debugger with a SIM to develop a modern-
looking user interface.
SHIP software and development tools are available at no-cost for users of Serious Integrated Modules.
See
www.seriousintegrated.com/SHIP
for details.
Adding a simple software protocol driver to your system controller on the other end of the communications link allows
your controller to communicate with the front panel. You can then architect inter-board messages such as “pump is on”
which could be sent over the UART/SPI/etc. causing visual indicators to appear or change on the display. A GUI on the
SIM535 could change user preferences, for instance, sending back messages such as “pump on days: MWF” which the
system controller may store in its configuration EEPROM.
The possibilities are endless: the SIM535 module contains not only a powerful MCU but also a suite of hardware features
that are commonly needed in many designs. An alarm panel, for example, could be as simple as a SIM535 connected to
another PCB with a $0.20 MCU, a few relays and a battery.
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