Universal communication Industry 4.0

Industrial IoT => standard and customizable

• Collect and compress data
• Unify heterogeneous machines
• Freely model data structures
• Connect "Legacy" with "State-of-the-Art"
• Connect "Brownfield" with "Greenfield"

• Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE)
• Predictive Maintenance (PM)
• Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
• Artificial Intelligent Internet of Things (AIoT)
• Augmmented Reality (AR) on manufacturing

• Integration - horizontal, vertical & diagonal
• Safety - to the outside world for all participants
• Consistency - complete data at all times
• Transparency - free data-processing
• Independence - from any manufacturer

• Industrial device connectivity
  Open, proprietary and domain-specific protocols:
  Siemens, Allen-Bradley, Beckhoff, Wago, Mitsubishi, AEG, Bosch, KraussMaffei, Engel, EURUMAP63, OPC UA, OPC Classic, ISO-H1, ISO—on—TCP, RFC-1006, Modbus, S5, S7, Sinumerik, Omron, MQTT, Socket, Seriell und mehr
• Industrie & Web 4.0
  OPC UA Client & Server ex works
  Web Client & Server integrated
• Infinite expandability
  Business-logic using TypeScript
  Own plugins with .NET SDK
• Accessible everywhere
  Windows 10/11 64-bit, Linux, Docker for x86, x64 and ARM
  Further applications via REST & SignalR
• Cloud-Connectivity
  IoT Bridge for each data-source
  Edge & Hub for each (logical) network
• Data Exchange
  Integration of SQL and NoSQL databases such as MS-SQL, MySQL, MongoDB, InfluxDB, ...
• Document Exchange
  Data exchange using structured files using (own) formats such as XML, JSON, XLS, ...
• Smart data processing
  Historical database integrated ex works
  Processing in AIs and dashboards
• Fastest use
  You receive a fully functional and proven platform that you can connect directly to your system and machines and thus get immediate access to the data
• Individual adaptation
  Tailor-made solutions are important, which is why modern interfaces offer the possibility of implementing your own processes in the system in order to meet internal company requirements and specifications
• Support assistance with your integration
  Consulting, engineering and support with the challenges of digital transformation, our developers help with the connection of devices, databases and services.
• Reliability
  With over 25 years of experience in industrial communication, we have mastered the standards and requirements of everyday production applications in order to guarantee smooth 24/7 operation. Stability and compatibility come first.
• Cloud ready
  Thanks to the docker image of "Universal Communication Industry 4.0" you can process the machine data directly in a cloud, regardless of whether it is your own or that of the major providers.
• Qualified support
  Support by developers themselves to learn from the problems and use cases of the customers in order to adapt and improve the product.
• Updateservice
  The software is continuously improved and expanded. Feedback from customers is immediately incorporated into the development process. We reflect the current status through regular updates or updates with bug fixes or new features.

• Normalization of cross-manufacturer data sources
• Connection of heterogeneous participants horizontally, vertically and diagonally with one another
• Data standardization according to OPC-UA
• Bidirectional data communication
• Data processing always consistent
• Publication of data-changes according to individual business-logic
• Seamless nativity between "old" and "new"
• Runs on any platform and any operating-system
• Comprehensive OPA UA feature (thanks to our own OPC UA SDK, which is successfully used worldwide)
• Guaranteed connectivity (through a large number of protocols to enable the connection of devices, databases and services)
• Headless operation (seamless integration of own products through our command line interface and REST API)
• Historical data (automatic data recording and access via all interfaces at the push of a button)
• Highest speed (optimized data access and protection of network and device resources)
• Modeling of the interface (structural modeling of the integrated OPC UA server by simple drag & drop)
• Direct scripting at runtime (implementation of any type of logic with modern and type-safe script language)
• Variable through plug-in (minimize system requirements by installing only required components)
• Variable access control (definition down to the variable level which action a user / service is allowed to carry out)
• Export/import of the configuration (transfer of the configuration via backup or XML file to another PC)
• Data model node-based (node, the only one that is needed)
• Platform independence (export / import of configuration as backup or XML file)

The middleware for Industry 4.0

"Universal communication Industry 4.0" is a bidirectional universal 'communication data bridge'
Is the central element that is used in Industry 4.0 projects in factory automation, building management systems, etc.
Do you want to connect old (or ancient) controls, mechanical production stations and new systems from a wide variety of manufacturers? Connect or network PLC, CNC, MES or databases with "Universal communication Industry 4.0" solve the ones placed on you conditions. Bring new machines and existing systems together easily in this way. You will hardly find a more difficult requirement for Industry 4.0. Regardless of whether you have a new, fully digitized factory in the open, green field (Greenfield) or an older existing system (Brownfield) - with "Universal communication Industry 4.0" connect the top-floor with the shop-floor. You do not make any compromises when it comes to horizontal digitization. All machine data, master data, database data are defined, integrated, processed and linked according to your requirements as nodes according to IEC 62541. The integrated OPC-UA-server publishes this data Of course, Industry 4.0 compliant.
Use the integrated scripting interface to implement online logics for forwarding, processing and compression (e.g. for OEE tasks) of data. "Universal communication Industry 4.0" is a platform-independent and future-proof middleware for access to Industry 4.0.
The system is used as:

• Middleware
  • Connection to MES/PPS
  • Realization of Industry 4.0 networks (e.g. own company cloud on the intranet or internet)
• Edge Device
  • "Universal communication Industry 4.0" also runs on small systems (MiniPC, Raspberry Pi). Networkability offers excellent prerequisites for operation as an Industry 4.0 Edge Device.

"Universal communication Industry 4.0" was developed entirely in C# (.NET Standard or .NET Core).
So "Universal communication Industry 4.0" is executable on all platforms that are supported by the .NET Core / .NET Standard.
OPC UA Companion Specification
Thanks to the flexible modeling of the data structure in "Universal communication Industry 4.0", we have created the best conditions for mapping complete OPC UA Companion specifications.
The logical functionality can be easily implemented by the user with the integrated typescript. All in one system.
Regardless of whether it is about OPC UA Methods, dynamic nodes must be created / removed - everything is possible.

Application / use

With "Universal communication Industry 4.0" you can raise (and harmonize) a heterogeneous machine landscape with different types of intelligence, control systems, data formats and connection (bus) protocols to a customer-specific standard.
The centerpiece is the OPC UA-compliant structure, as well as the central OPC UA connection to all ""Universal communication Industry 4.0" data".
"Real" machine data and "virtual" variables (= data from / in database, text file, or web interface etc.) are processed in the same way.
The node tree (“variable tree”) according to the OPC UA standard therefore plays a major role in "Universal communication Industry 4.0". The data from the connected sources can be mapped as required in a logical and hierarchical tree structure.
Each element is treated in "Universal communication Industry 4.0" as a node. In the internal high-speed cache, all variables with all properties such as name, current value, time stamp, min / max etc. are made available. Access is possible bidirectionally as read and write access.
When the PC is replaced, the complete configuration can be easily carried over to the new PC via backup / restore.
Since not every company has an identical system for production control and data acquisition, " Universal Communication Industry 4.0" can be expanded / adapted with your own interfaces.
The integrated database allows historical process variables to be saved.
"Universal communication Industry 4.0" provides standardized, own, but also customer-specific interfaces in the form of "plugins" for further processing by higher-level systems (e.g. MES, ERP).
Access to current values and the saved historical values is easily possible via OPC UA, REST / JSON, directly via the database or via script plug-in (JavaScript).
Running each script in a separate sandbox maximizes the stability of the main application.
In this way, "Universal communication Industry 4.0" can be connected to any data source or data storage in the horizontal and vertical directions. The data exchange takes place automatically (in the event of a change), controlled by time or events (trigger).

Plugins for Devices/Interfaces and Data-Exchanges

Devices (Connections to physical devices such as control computers and/or servers):

• Allen-Bradley EtherNet/IP
• Mitsubishi Melsec
• Modbus TCP
• MQTT Publisher/Subscriber
• Omron FINS
• Omron Host-Link / C-Mode Commands
• OPC Classic
• OPC UA
• RAW TCP-Socket
• RFC-1006
• SIMATIC H1
• SIMATIC S7

• Databases:
  • MariaDB
  • MS SQL
  • MySQL
  • PostgreSQL
  • ODBC
  • OracleDB
  • XML Dateien
• Structured files:
  • CSV
  • JSON
  • XML

• OPC UA Server
• REST JSON API
• SignalR Core API
• Web Configuration GUI
• XML Import/Export

Dashboards

With our dashboards, custom dashboards can be created based on the defined data.

Graphic interface modeling

Model your data structure in the Node Explorer by simply dragging and dropping. Define the structure yourself independently of the underlying data and data sources.

Code Snippet

Configuration

"Universal communication Industry 4.0" is configured via the integrated web interface. A separate configurator is available for each plug-in.
Basically, parameterization is possible via an XML config file. The format of the XML config files is freely available and documented accordingly.
"Universal communication Industry 4.0" can be easily combined or connected with existing project planning / parameterization applications (e.g. COMOS).

Requirements

"Universal communication Industry 4.0" is supported on the following operating systems:

• Windows 10/11 64-bit
  • Linux
    • Debian 9 or higher
    • Fedora 29 or higher
    • Ubuntu 16.04 or higher
    • OpenSuse Leap 15.0 or higher
  • Docker
  • Siemens IOT 2050
  • Dell Edge
  • Raspberry Pi (z.B. UniPI, KUNBUS)
    • Raspbian 9 (Stretch) or higher
  • macOS
  
  The requirements for CPU performance, RAM and hard disk depend on the desired data throughput and data volume.