2 minute read
Business
Several of the leading providers of machine controls and monitors are taking their act to the next level by introducing products that tie together and coordinate the disparate assemblage of monitoring and control devices that increasingly are used to oversee today’s industrial power systems.
It’s called edge computing, and it brings computation and data storage closer to where they’re needed. The objective is to save network bandwidth and improve response time when corrective action is needed.
Edge computing has been with us for several years now, but its use is expanding rapidly as more and more machines and devices are interconnected through the Industrial Internet of Things and data is stored on the Cloud.
Some of the major providers of controls and control systems have recently staked claims in the eld by launching their own edge computing platforms.
This past November, German industrial giant Siemens introduced its industrial edge portfolio, which the company describes as a “central and company-wide scalable infrastructure” for managing connected edge devices and apps. The open platform “provides users with a ready-to-use and seamless solution for data processing on the production level with integrated device and app life cycle management,” according to the company.
The previous month, in October, Rockwell Automation of Milwaukee introduced its own FactoryTalk Edge Gateway, which the company describes as a means to simplify and accelerate the convergence of operational and information technology.
As Rockwell explains it, edge computing aggregates operational data from “heterogeneous sources” and presents the data in a usable form at the “enterprise” — or control and management — level.
Swiss manufacturer ABB‘s edge computing platform is known by the clever portmanteau word Edgenius. It’s a system that ABB describes as a “comprehensive Cloud-managed edge platform for industrial software applications.”
Edgenius serves much the same functions as the other edge platforms. The system connects, collects, and computes data for various systems and devices, with the user subscribing only to the applications required by an operation. Like most of the others o ering edge platforms, ABB promises improved “insights” about performance.
Not to be outdone, St. Louis-based Emerson is marketing what it calls its PACEdge software and computing devices, which the company says is easy to deploy and built “with security in mind.” The system employs intuitive drag-and-drop programming and does away with command-line con guration and uses web interfaces for device administration.
In short, the Emerson system has what appear to emerging as standard features for edge computing in industrial control. — Kevin Jones EA
In its marketing, Siemens presents its Industrial Edge V1.0 platform as a futuristic assemblage of machines and software that move data swiftly and invisibly through the Cloud for e cient management and rapid response. — Siemens photo
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