Expanded connectivity: HighByte Intelligence Hub version 1.3 is here
Aron Semle
is the Chief Technology Officer of HighByte, focused on guiding the company’s product strategy through research and development and technical evangelism. Aron has served in a variety of roles in his 15-year career in industrial technology, including software engineer, product manager, R&D lead, and director of solutions management, building innovative software solutions for the manufacturing operations market. Aron received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Maine.
Industry 4.0 solutions start with the same problem. How do I collect critical data from the factory floor? This sounds easy, but in reality, factory floors are highly heterogenous environments. It's common to have a newer machine that is highly connected sitting next to a 30-year-old machine with no connectivity at all. This forces teams to get creative. They might use an OPC UA server for one machine, SQL for the next, and retrofit another with new sensors that publish data via REST or MQTT. Each situation is unique, and teams need flexible solutions to leverage the connectivity options they have in place today.
That’s why I am excited to announce the release of HighByte Intelligence Hub version 1.3. This release is full of new capabilities that allow our customers to gather data from many sources in the factory, rapidly add context to the data, and reliably deliver it to their platforms of choice. These additional capabilities greatly expand the connectivity options available to our customers. Here are the highlights:
That’s why I am excited to announce the release of HighByte Intelligence Hub version 1.3. This release is full of new capabilities that allow our customers to gather data from many sources in the factory, rapidly add context to the data, and reliably deliver it to their platforms of choice. These additional capabilities greatly expand the connectivity options available to our customers. Here are the highlights:
- SQL and REST. This release expands the list of data sources to include SQL and REST inputs and outputs, allowing the Intelligence Hub to gather data from and send data to these sources.
- Native Cloud Connectors. This release supports outputs to Azure IoT Hub, Azure Event Hubs, and AWS IoT SiteWise, allowing customers to quickly and securely send modeled data to the Cloud.
- Reliable Data Delivery. Every output connection now supports Store and Forward, allowing the Intelligence Hub to reliably deliver data. If a send fails, the data is stored to disk and sent when the connection returns.
- Complex Data Inputs. Models now support simple or complex values as inputs. If the data is modeled by the input source, the Intelligence Hub can pass it through or augment it with additional context. As an example, users can embed the results of a SQL query directly into a model attribute.
- Container Support. Containers play an important role in enabling teams to quickly scale out solutions. This release officially supports containers like Docker, allowing users to easily upgrade container images and maintain the Intelligence Hub configuration.
Key Features
HighByte Intelligence Hub version 1.3 offers the following new features:
- SQL Support. Quickly connect to Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, or PostgreSQL databases. Each input is defined as a SQL query, allowing inputs to run simple select statements, table joins, stored procedures and more. The UI allows users to quickly build and test queries and map the results to a model. SQL output is also supported, allowing users to write a model to an existing table.
- REST Support. Make GET or POST requests to any REST API that returns JSON and map the JSON response to a model. As an example, the Intelligence Hub can poll a weather API and map the ambient temperature to a machine attribute. The connector also supports POST output of models such as JSON to any REST endpoint.
- Azure IoT Hub and Azure Event Hubs. Quickly and securely connect and output model data to IoT Hub or Event Hubs, to be used in Stream Analytics, Azure Functions, Power BI, or any other Azure solution.
- AWS IoT SiteWise. The Intelligence Hub can create Models and Assets directly in SiteWise and populate these with live data. Model Hierarchy is fully supported.
- Store and Forward. All output connections now support Store and Forward. If the connection fails to send data, the data is stored locally on disk and output when the connection returns using a first-in, first-out approach.
- Any Data Type. We’ve added a new data type called ‘Any’ to model attributes. Using the Any data type, users can map the results of a SQL query or User Defined Type (UDT) from Ignition directly to a model and merge this with data from other sources.
- Rapid Model Building. This release allows users to quickly explore all the Intelligence Hub inputs and map these inputs to models using a simple drag and drop interface.
- Containers. Easily deploy the Intelligence Hub in your container of choice. This release separates the configuration files in their own directory, allowing customers to host configuration in a Docker volume or other solution, and easily upgrade the Intelligence Hub without losing project configuration.
Additional Resources
We hope you are as excited as we are about the new connections, ease-of-use improvements, and infrastructure support we’ve added to HighByte Intelligence Hub version 1.3. This release provides users with a much more robust tool to bridge the data divide between OT and IT applications. To learn more, check out these additional resources:
- Watch this 2-minute video from HighByte CEO Tony Paine for a demonstration of new features in version 1.3
- Read the release notes for details on new features and fixes
- Request a free trial or log in to your existing account to test the software in your unique environment
Get started today!
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