The DeviceHub module allows you to connect devices to Manufacturing Connect Edge, as well as add register values as tags for data polling. DeviceHub can work with devices by most major manufacturers, such as Siemens, Allen Bradley, Hitachi, and so on. It includes device-specific drivers (serial, Ethernet, Socketcan, and file-based). For complete information about the supported devices/drivers, see the Industrial Systems Connection Guide.

Drivers collect register information from PLC devices (and other industrial assets). The specific register of each unique PLC is recognized as Manufacturing Connect Edge tags. Register information is stored in tags, and these tags are published as topics to the internal Message Broker. You have the option of saving data in the internal Datastore by selecting the Enable Data Store option with a specific retention time.

Once you have added a tag to a connected device, Manufacturing Connect Edge polls that tag for data with the frequency you selected. The system normalizes the polled data and posts it to the internal Message Broker. You can then subscribe to the data available from the Message Broker for processing, visualization, and analysis.

You can access the DeviceHub module by selecting DeviceHub from the navigation panel. Refer to the following resources.