IIC Journal of Innovation 5th Edition | Page 17

Device Ecosystem at the Edge – Manufacturing Scenario much more equipment than the set shown here. Let us take an example of a Workflow Modeler of a Smart Factory solution. It allows users to incorporate rules like these. For example, #4 is enforced by adding a relay in the machine start circuit. This relay is controlled by HMI based on machine status and user input. Another example is #5 – minor stoppages are captured by the Edge software and sent to the server. The server analyzes the data stream and raises alerts based on the rules configured by user. IIoT HMI The workflow described in the previous section requires shop floor users to interact with the system and provide real-time inputs. How do they interact with an IIoT system without affecting their productivity? Also, how do they get the value from an IIoT system in real-time when they are working on the shop floor? IIoT HMI is the solution and an important part of the Edge Ecosystem. It will have direct connectivity (wired or wireless) to the Edge Gateway, allowing it to provide output, even when the server link is down. It shows real-time analytics to users. More importantly, users provide real-time inputs to the system via HM (e.g. product change entry, downtime reasons entry, etc.). Figure 3: Production Equipment Behavior the link to the server is down. In addition to network challenges, the speed of dissemination of actionable output will necessitate a local loop, rather than going via the server. Of course, we will never miss capturing this and using it for machine learning and analytics at the server level. Some of the typical conditions could include capturing actual production and comparing expected versus actual production, raising critical alarms which need instant attention, trends of parameters, etc. An important characteristic of HMI is its easy accessibility to the user on the shop floor. So a mobile or wearable device is preferable. Asset Condition Monitoring Asset condition monitoring and predictive / prescriptive maintenance are an important part of IIoT offerings. The condition monitoring module must have the capability of handling not only production equipment, Edge Analytics The Edge Gateway should be capable of doing some minimum and essential stream analytics to ensure value to users even when IIC Journal of Innovation - 15 -