Data integration for IoT and Industry 4.0

The REST Connector, which was already presented as a beta version at this year´s HMI trade show, enables data from automation networks to be integrated into applications supporting REST protocols. Data may originate from a variety of sources including control systems from manufacturers such as Siemens, Rockwell, Mitsubishi and B&R as well as OPC UA or OPC Classic servers.

Together with its second new feature, the support of write access to NoSQL databases such as MongoDB, the dataFEED OPC Suite is well suited for IoT and Industry 4.0 applications. REST protocols are used in particular for communication with cloud-based applications, such as the Production Performance Manager of Bosch Software Innovations. NoSQL databases enable high performance processing of large amounts of data. They are thus often the basis for advanced analysis methods (Big Data Analytics), which for example can be used for predictive maintenance.

“Efficient and reliable provision of production data is a key challenge for the successful implementation of IoT and Industry 4.0 applications,” said Andreas Roeck, Data Integration Product Manager at Softing Industrial. “The dataFEED OPC Suite offers our customers and partners extensive possibilities to implement these requirements for data integration in a simple, flexible and future-proof manner.”

Softing´s dataFEED OPC Suite combines a full package of components for OPC and IoT cloud communication within a single product. In addition to the integrated REST interface, the MQTT gateway and OPC UA support easy integration of legacy and new controllers into cloud solutions such as Microsoft Azure or IBM Bluemix. The Graphical User Interface (GUI) with intelligent, practice oriented default settings and intuitive user guidance, facilitates system integration and offers maximum usability.