EDGE DATA COLLECTOR CASE STUDY Aa nl a ragnea laymt i oc su-notr ioefndt eadt a pt eo ab ep rsot toeriend parnodc eascscoers siinb l et hf eo r Ma i dmwi neismt ur me q uo if r1e 0d years. The client also needed maximum visibility of that data in real time and a historical view. The client wanted to utilize the data from the plant floor all the way to the corporate level, requiring different platforms for visibility.
Finding a Solution Fit for the Client Td ihf fee rcel ni etnsty swt eams sc: uRr or ec nk wt l ye l luHs iins tgo rt iwa no f V o a r nta d g a e t P a oi c n o t ll f e o c r tio d n ata an a d na l R y o si c s kw an e d ll rVeapnot ar tgienPgo. i nTth ew aesn dS-eopf t- el imf e b edra t2a 0 2f o3r, st oo mt haei nptlaainnt vnies ei bdiel idt y a i nnteow t hs oe l udtai ot an. Te nh tee rcpl ri ei snet - l ae vl seol wh i as nt ot er ida nt ot oh acvoel l eacnt it nh feo rcmo sattsi oans sf rooc mi a t emdu lwt i ipt hl e asgi tgerse, gba ut et hRiosct ko wr i aenl l s’ s wc oe sr te-np’ et r -fteaags i bml eo ddeul . e Wt oe proposed an Interstates-created data collector utilizing open-source software (Grafana and InfluxDB) with a proprietary tag transport layer programmed in Node-RED.
Through this joint effort, the client was able to:
Make it scalable to fit their needs rliactehnesretsh. an have multiple, costly Gd aa ti na abcertot es rs vmi sui lbt ii lpi tl ey soift et hs .e i r
St ha ev ye uo sne tdh ae spur op jpeoc rt tbceocna tur saec t vs. implementing a new platform.
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APPROACH Ad av toai d ci no gl l et chteo rp roophtiiboint i vree qc ousi rt eodf toanglsy, tahne II nn tt ee rr ss tt aa tt ee ss sc uo sptp foorrt t choenet rnat ci rte fpolra t fi on ri tmi a lt hsaut pwp oa sr t c oamn dp aar a bs leet ut po t C h o e lle R c o to ck r w ( e E l D l C H ) is a t l o s r o ia i n nc s l e u t d u e p d c t o h s e t . G T r h a e fan E a dg v e ie D w a e t r a , wi nh iac hmeulci mh i mn aot reed mt hoed ceor ns t, couf sVt oa mn tiazgaebPl eo,i natn edn tui sr ee lry- friendly design. The solution was also scalable, with only the hard drive space and network traffic limiting tt oh el isciez ne soefst haen dc ocl laenc t oa gr. gTr he ge actlei e snet rivs enros ltoon gt he er beonut inrde plant - from plant floor to corporate. The footprint of the system was also very small, requiring only a free Linux server to run. The Grafana viewer does not nc oe ue nd tu, es el irml ii nc eant isnegs tahnednheaesd af ovri rWt ui anldl yo wu ns l ai mn di t er de mu os et er desktop licenses.
SOLUTION We proposed installing the EDC side by side with the ct ol i eknete’ sp Rt hoecikr wc eu lrl r eHni st tdo ar ti aa nw. hTihl ei s e wv aol uu ladt i na gl l ot wh e tehdegme collector’s capabilities. Since installation, the EDC gi nasi nt aendcoe vhe ar s2 0h aadc t oi vnel yu stewr os , owvheerr teha es tchoeuVr sa en toafg ae Pyoeianrt. The EDC is also being used at the corporate level to view the data and build customizable dashboards.
RESULTS & RETURN ON INVESTMENT Tc lhi er no tuwg ha st ha eb li emt po l ienmt eegnr taat tei omnuol tf i tphl ee de da tgae sct or el l ae mc t so rf ,r tohme dc oi flfleercet on rt adnadt avsi souuarlci ez as tiinotno soonl uet ci oenn tarlas lo caol ll ol ewc teodr.t hTehmi s to eliminate many license costs, user restrictions, and controls-corporate firewall restrictions. It gave the ut rsaei rn i tnhge. Tp oo twa le ru st eo r sd eosf i gt hn edi ra sphr be vo iaorudss rwe pi t ohr tmi ni ng i amnadl vwi isduea lai zdaotpi ot ino ns oof tf wt haer epwl aennt tpfer or smo n2nteol o. v e r 3 0 , p r o v i n g Interstates has over 70 years combined experience in increasing plant potential, improving accuracy, collecting data, and analyzing findings. Call 712- 722-1662 or visit www.interstates.com to start improving your business through data analytics. ILnI MaSd, da int i ionnv, e nt ht oer yc ml i eannt a greemq ueenstt et odo l w, teo tahtitsa Gc hr a fSaQn La instance. This allowed the users to view data more efficiently, eliminating the need to learn a separate piece of software to access different databases.
CHALLENGES 1
The biggest challenge encountered on this project was developing the Node- RED code to transport the tags from the programmable logic controller (PLC) to InfluxDB. There were many options to achieve this (Kepware, deviceWISE, FactoryTalk Linx), but all came with licensing fme ee st h. Iondt eorfs tt aa tge st rda en cs ipdoerdt at toi odne. vTe hl oi sp roeuqruoi rwe nd Nu po daen- Rd EwDa sp rtohgerammoms ti nsgi g nf ri of imc a ntth eh ugrdrol eu ntdo implementing the collector. Another challenge was convincing the client that open-source programs were not only reliable but could be used by large corporations safely. “Free” often ht oa ss oa f nt we ga ar et i vwe ict ho n lni coet antsiionng ocfobs tesi .n gH oi nwf eervieorr, associated costs does not always lead to a better product, and is not a fit for all companies.
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