Remote Access and Datalogging: Basic Concepts and Updates

Technology is changing so rapidly these days that we can be constantly feeling behind.  The terms IIoT and Industry 4.0 are being thrown around way too easily.  I've been looking for a one-size-fits-all solution for customers I talk to, but it just does not seem to exist.  Even at the oil wells, which seems like the most cookie-cutter of all applications, there just is not a one-size-fits-all solution.  

Hold on for the end. I have a free offer for you to do some research! 

Over the last couple of years, I have been putting together a portfolio of products and solutions to be able to meet the needs of customers that I talk to.  Here are a few concepts and updates from what we have been doing.  To remind you what remote access technology is, our industries had products to allow remote access for a long time.  That would only work if the IT department would let us have a hole through their firewalls.  But, of course, they never wanted to do that, so we never could really take advantage of them.  Now our automation and operational worlds are taking advantage of technologies that the IT departments have been using for years.  That is Virtual Private Networks or VPNs.  It creates a tunnel through a wall securely and safely so that we can get access to our equipment.  It looks like this:
 Virtual Private Networks or VPNs
The secure router goes out and connects to the cloud when it powers up.  Then it just sits there and waits.  The user can make a connection to the same server and it is kind of like logging into a web conference.  Once the user and the router are in the meeting room together, they can talk to each other.  People without the password to the meeting cannot join.  The software on the laptop that is normally used to talk to the PLC or other devices can talk to it just as if they are in the same room.  

 Virtual Private Networks or VPNs diagram
A major update in this concept is that of a data diode.  Many people still are not comfortable with this technology unless they air gap it.  That usually just means disconnecting the ethernet cable when they do not want to use it.  What happens if someone comes along and plugs that back in?  What this does is gives us a key that allows us to turn off the ability to connect out to the internet.  It actually has a couple different types of settings for a couple of different levels of access.  That is why there are both black and red keys.  One turns it off altogether.  Another one allows only outgoing information.  Then you can turn it all on altogether as well by simply turning this on there. 

Another layer on top of the VPN these products give us is data logging.  I have four RTDs going into an I/O module through a screw terminal here.  A screw terminal here has 24 volts into it and then the ethernet cable that goes over to the secure router and it communicates via Modbus TCP.  Those tags just go right into the secure router and that collects the data.  Then that allows us to view it via dashboards somewhere else.  This particular router has two different types of dashboards.  One is native to its environment.  It looks like this: 

our RTDs going into an I/O module through a screw terminal


Here are the four RTDs that I have connected to my system.  I have a gauge for each one of them.  Then I have a chart for each.  I have been playing with different settings with capturing information at different intervals and in different ways, so that's why things look a little bit different from one to the next.  There are different types of charts here.  There are simple trend charts.  There is an area-under-the curve chart.  This is a column chart.  But this is showing the data as it has been captured.  You can see here that I can adjust the time that I am looking at.  As I move this out, I can show more information.  I have only captured a couple of days’ worth here.  I can move each one of these out and look at the data.  And again, I have been capturing information in different ways, so each of these charts looks a little bit different. There is no programming, just tags behind the screen and some configuration. The other dashboard is created and hosted in Node-RED and looks like this:

four RTDs connected to the system
Again, I have four sets of information, one for each RTD that I have.  This is the immediate temperature.  It hasn't been calibrated.  Then I have a maximum temperature that was recorded at some point.  Clearly it was not 320 degrees here in my office, so I am going to reset the maximum temperature.  Each one of these, I can reset the maximum temperature.  This is logging data also over a period of time.  Nice, simple and easy.  But, this is much more powerful as it has open-source flow-based programming in the background that looks like this:

four sets of information one for each RTD

I'm going to zoom out so you can see the whole flows here.  This is what brings the data in from the I/O module, then sends it on down out to the alarms.  Here I can actually set up what the alarms behave like.  I can set it to go to a phone number or email address.  I can enable, disable and I can set the temperature for the alarms that I want to trigger it.  And it is all through this Node-RED which makes it much more flexible and more powerful.  Of course, it takes more time to set up.  It also somewhat looks better, I think.  But, I've already done the hard work on this for you.  In either case, these dashboards can be shared with links that look like this.  These links can be held onto, but also it provides a 2D barcode that you can walk up to with your phone.  You can scan it to open up a browser.  And then it gives you access to it.  Now imagine having a bar code like that on all of your equipment where your technicians can walk up to it, scan it, open up the link, and look at the status!

Here is a variation using some different products from my portfolio: a wireless node that sensors can go into and then send information back wirelessly to its own gateway and then this can be collected and sent upstream.  It could also be used with that same remote secure router.  It could be used on its own.  There are a couple of different ways that these can be used together.  This happens to be Class 1 Div 2 which is great for the chemical, oil and gas, and refinery industries.  In this case it can be used with a vibration sensor.  This can be connected to it and then this can be attached to a motor pump, something that is vibrating, or some rotating equipment to give an idea of what is going on.  It can be screwed on.  It can be put together with a magnet where this just magnetically attaches to the motor.  This washer can be glued on giving a magnetic target. There are a couple of ways it can be used.  

I hope that gives you some idea of a few different products and solutions we have been working on.  There is a lot more to it if you want to give me a call.  Now, I go back to the question I have been asking for years:  what information do you want and where do you want it?  If you do not know, talk to me and I will send you some of this hardware so you can easily start collecting information.  I have already done the hard work.  You can put some RTDs out there.  You can put some other sensors out there.  I will send it to you for free so you can figure out what kind of information you can get, what kind of information you want to get, and maybe you can figure out what your ROI just may need to be in order to actually invest more into this.