IIoT, Digitalization, Industry 4.0

Snap Signal from Banner – A Comprehensive IIoT Productivity Solution (P94)

Sean Foley introduces us to Snap Signal from Banner in Episode 94 of The Automation Podcast. For more information, check out the "Show Notes" located below the video. Watch the Podcast: [vimeo 690639026 w=750 h=420] The Automation Podcast is also available on most Video and Podcasting platforms, and direct links to each can...

MQTT – Connect A-B PLCs & PACs to the Cloud (S2E01)

Learn how to connect A-B PLCs to the Cloud using an MQTT Gateway today on The Automation Show (S2E01) For more information, check out the "Show Notes" located below the video. [vimeo 650808618 w=750 h=420] The Automation Show, Season 2 Episode 1 Show Notes: Special thanks to RTA for sending in a sample...

Industrial Raspberry Pi Project, Part 4

My last post left off just short of how the script files were implemented and/or tied together to complete the system… so here we go. Links to previous parts of this series: Industrial Raspberry Pi Project, Part 1 Industrial Raspberry Pi Project, Part 2 Industrial Raspberry Pi Project, Part 3 With...

Industrial Raspberry Pi Project, Part 3

Up to this point I have a complete system... almost. The enclosure (still with a few revisions to go) is essentially complete, and everything has been mounted and fits. However, the system still needs code to function. So now I dive in headfirst with a system I have never used before...

Data-Driven Decision Making: Driving the Need for Remote Sensors in Manufacturing

Too often, manufacturing and Industry 4.0 are described only in terms of greenfield deployments. Unrealistic and expensive descriptions of shiny new factories outfitted with the latest industrial-internet-of-things (IIoT) technologies to deliver transformational insights are not the reality for most businesses. For most, the truth is rather different, with manufacturers keen...

vNode Automation IoT Gateway Explained (P54)

In this episode of The Automation Podcast, Diego Mesen Arguedas from Vester Business provides us with an overview of vNode Automation Industrial IoT Gateway: For more information, check out the "Show Notes" located below the video. Watch the Podcast: [vimeo 426321451 w=750 h=420] The Automation Podcast is also available on most Video and...

How To Register A Thing In AWS IoT

In our last article we learnt about the architecture of our IoT system, to continue with our series in this article we will learn how to register a “Thing” on AWS IoT, which is required to use IoT services provided by AWS. AWS IoT Setup: Most of IoT system needs data...

IoT Architecture: Allen-Bradley PLCs to Amazon AWS

In this article, we'll review an example of a complete IoT system based loosely on the system our team recently deployed. If you're new to IoT, you may wish to first read my "How IoT Works" article here. In the above image, you can see that our example system has...

Getting A-B PLC Data Into A Raspberry Pi

In my last article I discussed why you might want connect your PLC to a IoT device like a Raspberry Pi, as well as the software we use to accomplish this connection with A-B PLCs (Node-Red with the free node-contrib-pccc driver.) In today's article I'll walk you through configuring node-contrib-pccc...

Connecting PLCs and Sensors to the Cloud

Life would be so easy if there were only one PLC manufacturer, one Communication Protocol, and just one Cloud Solution. Unfortunately, since this is not the case you'll want to find a solution that will cover as many different "constellations" as possible. What do you need, and why should it be...

How To Connect IoT Devices To PLCs With No Programming Knowledge

Connecting PLCs to IoT devices like the Raspberry Pi in order to read and write data to a PLC generally requires the programming knowledge needed to develop communication drivers. But in today's article I'll show you how you can connect and communicate with a PLC without any programming knowledge. The case...

Things To Consider When Planning An IIoT Implementation

One topic that is taking over many conversations, and decisions involving control integration, is that of the rapidly growing Internet of Things (IoT). This has been expanded to IIoT (Industrial IoT) which some celebrate as a major part of the 4th Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0.) In this article I'd like to...

How IOT works

How IOT works, from an ERP perspective. Definition: Simply put, IOT (Internet Of Things) is a system where machines talk to each other without the need for users to get involved. It's used to provide next-generation automation by identifying the state of a system with the help of various devices and...