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The Challenge
As an engineer at Trimasys Control Solutions, I was recently tasked with developing a robust cloud-based dashboard for real-time monitoring and control of industrial assets. The goal was simple but ambitious: create a bi-directional communication bridge between a physical PLC and a remote cloud interface.
Exploring the Options
In the initial phase, I evaluated several industry-leading platforms, including:
- Grafana: Excellent for visualization but requires more effort for bi-directional "Control."
- AWS IoT Core: Powerful and scalable, but can have a steep learning curve and cost implications for smaller deployments.
- On-site Solutions: Secure, but lacked the "anywhere-access" flexibility the project required.
Why This Path?
After testing various ecosystems, I chose the combination of Siemens S7-1200, Node-RED, and ThingsBoard Cloud. I selected this path because:
- Industrial Grade: It uses the standard S7 Protocol and MQTT, making it reliable for factory environments.
- Beginner Friendly: Node-RED’s low-code environment allows even total freshers to get up and running quickly.
- Cost-Effective: By leveraging Open-Source software like Node-RED and the free tier of ThingsBoard, the barrier to entry is nearly zero.
What This Guide Covers
This article serves as a foundational guide for basic Read/Write operations. Whether you are a student or a professional beginner in the IoT space, this guide will help you:
- Extract live telemetry data from a Siemens PLC.
- Bridge that data to the cloud using MQTT.
- Send Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) back to the PLC to toggle physical outputs.
Note: This is the "Basic Documentation" of my workflow. I will soon be publishing the full-scale industrial project I developed at Trimasys, but mastering these basics is the essential first step!
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ThingsBoard Dashboard
JSONCopy paste the JASON code in note pad.Improt that file in the Thingsboard to get the same dashboard in your project.
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}
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