Edge Management and Connectivity

For the IIoT solution Netilion Network Insights (NNI) from Endress+Hauser, M&M Software developed these special connectors as well as the management components for the edge platform. In addition, an integration of the developments took place, including on hardware from WAGO.

One of the typical challenges in industrial IoT applications is to link the OT with the IT. Data from the OT needs to be collected and made usable for IT systems. This can be done in various ways. 

Endress+Hauser, a leading global supplier of measurement equipment, services and solutions for industrial process engineering, has chosen to develop a custom open edge computing platform for its Netilion Network Insights (NNI) solution.

The main focus was on the connection of the field level, the user support during commissioning and the management of apps on various edge computers. Here, it was always important to ensure that the resulting solution components are seamlessly integrated into the system architecture and that varying hardware could also be supported. 

Data acquisition for modern IIoT applications can be done in different ways. In any case, the prerequisite is an access to the devices that communicate their measured values classically via currents / voltages (IOs) or a fieldbus. In practice, this access is heterogeneous. Therefore, the edge solution must be able to support different fieldbuses and IO systems.

WAGO offers a very flexible hardware platform for this with its WAGO PFC 200 2G. The connections for Ethernet-based fieldbuses and a serial interface for Modbus RTU, for example, are already located in the head station. The head station can be easily expanded with additional IOs and special modules. 

M&M Software‘s task was to upgrade this hardware with additional software for Endress+Hauser‘s use cases. The WAGO PFC had to be supplemented with
additional software to serve as an edge computer that integrates seamlessly into the NNI system architecture. Here, the NNI system architecture requires that individual microservices interact via MQTT. These microservices are deployed as Docker containers. Therefore, the prerequisites for running Docker containers had to be created on the WAGO controller. Based on this, it was necessary to take steps to ensure the interaction and management of the containers.

Access to the IOs of the WAGO controller is provided via a PLC runtime. This PLC runtime was adapted to the Docker-based architecture. Therefore, a PLC program was designed that scans the IO modules and offers them to a Docker container via a special interface. Thus, the Docker container serves as a link and makes the device data available to other containerized applications. This laid the foundation for accessing the OT from a containerized

The Edge solution developed by M&M Software provides the necessary field connectivity for Endress+Hauser‘s Netilion Network Insights (NNI) application. Available in near real time, NNI reliably provides operators of water supply or wastewater treatment plants with important information relevant for decision-making. In water networks, which are often widely distributed, measured values must be regularly recorded and transmitted. With NNI, these measured values are transmitted live and are thus available at any time, precisely and with almost no delay. Supply reliability of the often critical infrastructure is thus increased and the work of the operators is substantially simplified.

Industry(ies): Water/Wastewater (Solution), Process Automation (Customer)
Customer: Endress+Hauser Flow
Development process: Agil

• Type Script, Angular, nodejs, IEC 61131/ Structured Text
• Linux, Docker
• Ethernet / IP, IO Link, Modbus, HART
• Microservices

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