像素之前：模块化工业仪表盘

像素之前：模块化工业仪表盘
Before pixels: Modular industrial dashboards

原始链接: https://unsung.aresluna.org/before-pixels-modular-industrial-dashboards/

作者回想起在德国和波兰的博物馆中见到的模块化工业控制面板，如今这类实体控制系统大多已被软件取代。过去，它们被用于空中交通管制、地铁和有轨电车监控以及发电厂运营。其模块包括发光状态指示器、计数器、按钮、标签、开关和可拆卸面板，融合了工程学、交互设计和字体排印之美，尤其是 DIN 字体与类似 Dymo 标签字体的对比。慕尼黑、斯图加特、纽伦堡、华沙和多特蒙德也曾出现过类似系统，但其具体用途往往并不清楚。按钮可能可以操作，灯光用于传递状态信息，标签或许标示着维修情况；大型开关可能用于切换昼夜模式，也可能只是吸引人们去拨动它。作者分享这些例子，是为了提供背景、消遣和灵感，同时向那些令人难忘的实体交互界面致意。

Hacker News 讨论了《像素之前：模块化工业仪表盘》，重点介绍历史上的铁路控制面板，以及它们以触觉为基础、面向安全关键场景的设计。德国 SpDr 信号箱面板使用模块化按钮和指示器来表示信号机、道岔和进路。操作员按住起始信号，再按下对应的目的信号来选择进路；随后，基于继电器的联锁系统会调整所需道岔，锁闭相互冲突的进路，并开放信号机。面板上可见的部件大多是连接至独立安全逻辑的模块化安装组件，而不是具备自主功能的模块。“Rotte”表示被维护作业人员占用的轨道。讨论还提到了斯温顿和迪德科特铁路中心保存的实例、 domino 式面板拼块，以及 Denshi Blocks、博朗 Lectron 和 Snap Circuits 等相关模块化教育系统。评论者赞赏这些面板的真实性、易读性、实体感和令人满意的机械反馈，并将其与经常变化的触摸屏界面作了对比。讨论还延伸到复古工业开关、联邦快递采用魔术贴的飞机公告板、现代铁路地图，以及为什么实体控制装置在飞机、铁路、游乐设施和其他任务关键系统中仍然具有重要价值。

In my recent visits to German and Polish museums, I noticed a recurring theme: modular industrial dashboards, which I imagine have by now been all replaced by software.

I don’t know much about these – please write me if you do – but I wanted to share them anyway, perhaps for context, or amusement, or inspiration. They’re interesting design systems, and interesting interaction systems as well.

This was a very cool physical display for air traffic control, at the The Deutsches Museum in Münich:

At Fernmeldemuseum Stuttgart, these were used to monitor subway trains, or light rail. I do imagine these panels must have been interactive with all the buttons?

I like that they light up to show status:

One of the modules was a counter:

And I believe this was a way to annotate that something was… fixed, maybe? Or on its way to being fixed?

A railway museum in Nuremberg used what looks like the exact same system, and I spotted a few modules with their plates removed:

And, here’s a similar panel shown in a tram museum in Stuttgart, filled with an incredible typographical tension between DIN and the German equivalent of Dymo:

Warsaw’s train museum had a slightly different system, but similar in look and feel:

This big industrial switch toggled between day and night. I don’t know if it changed the operation of the system, or is just switched on some sort of a dark mode for the panel itself: