Collect

Industreweb Collect sits at the core of Industreweb and comes pre-installed as standard on every Collect node device. Each Collect instance comes with the full complement of connectivity. The general architecture of Collect is shown below:

Industreweb Collect architecture
Industreweb Collect architecture showing some of the available Connectors

Collect comprises a core Engine connected to multiple Protocol Connectors. Each Connector is an instance of a “Connector Type”, allowing support for a specific device or protocol e.g. Siemens PLC, MQTT Broker, Atlas Copco Smart Tool.

There are currently 44 Connector Types and counting, with the architecture allowing for new Connector Types to be developed and “Plugged In” to the engine. Each Connector instance that has been configured by the user relates to a single device, and will have its own parameters which set up specific device details such as IP address, and a list of configured data points, called Tags, with related to a given item of data in the device.

Tags can be Boolean, Integer, Decimal, String, Timer, Counter, or JSON (data) and will normally have an “Address” to point to the specific data.

Every connector also supports a standard set of functions used by the Engine show below:

READ                    Reads the data Synchronously or Asynchronously from the device into the Connectors Tags so Collect can access the latest status of a device
WRITE                  Writes a value to a specific Tag in the connector, which will in turn update the device e.g. setting an Integer value in a PLC
RUN                      Allows support for functions specific to that device, such as “ActivateTool” in the case of Smart Tool protocol Open Protocol

The Collect Engine also supports multiple “Programs”, which are logic rulesets that enable specific actions to be configured to run in near real-time when a condition happens within one or more Connector Tags, or at set intervals. For example, data coming in from Mestec on the MQTT broker can be set to activate the Tool and tell it to subscribe to any Tightening Results.

The Industreweb Collect Engine, Connectors, Parameters, Tags and Programs are all configured through the browser based Admin tools that can be hosted on the Industrial Edge PC, an on-prem Server or Cloud.