ABB, Rockwell Automation, and Others Launch Edge Interoperability Initiative for Automation Ecosystems
ABB, Rockwell Automation, and other top industrial automation companies have come together to develop an open standard for interoperability between hardware and software in the industrial space.
Today’s industrial equipment produces a lot of data, but most of this data is used only within the machine that generated it. This is because, for the better part of forty years, getting data from industrial equipment into computer systems has been difficult.
To tackle this challenge, ABB, Microsoft, Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, Capgemini, and Siemens have worked together to develop a standard for interoperability for industrial IoT systems. The collaboration, announced at Hannover Messe in April of this year, will deliver a roadmap that other companies can use to develop intercommunication between machines.
The Margo initiative is focused on unlocking edge interoperability for industrial IoT systems. Image used courtesy of B&R Industrial Automation
Margo Interoperability Initiative
The ability to share data freely between equipment and computer systems enables machine builders to collect and analyze data produced by the process. Collecting accurate data allows algorithms to produce more accurate predictions of when preventative maintenance should occur or predict when production quality might start to lower.
Hosted by the Linux Foundation, a digital space for developers to collaborate and develop open software, ABB, Microsoft, Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, Capgemini, and Siemens have developed a new initiative for interoperability. From the Latin word meaning ‘edge,’ the new initiative is called Margo, and focuses on bringing interoperability to the industrial IoT world.
Top industrial leaders, part of the Linux Foundation, developed the Margo initiative. Image used courtesy of Linux Foundation
The Margo initiative hopes to develop tools for applications, devices, and edge systems to communicate freely in an open-source environment. The hope is to run and combine industrial applications on any system with any hardware. The Margo initiative plans to use agile techniques and an open-source approach. The overall goal of Margo is to provide an IoT multi-vendor communication solution that is straightforward, flexible, scalable, and easy to deploy for all industrial automation companies.
IoT Edge Systems
PLCs are great at sequencing and handling input and outputs — what they are not great at is handling complex algorithms or storing massive amounts of data. Luckily, today, we have inexpensive computer systems that are great at doing both tasks.
The Margo initiative aims to enable interoperability between software and hardware in industrial systems. Image used courtesy of Adobe Stock
An IoT system that resides on-premise and acts as a gatekeeper between the factory floor and cloud-based systems is called an edge system. This system needs to interface with industrial devices such as PLCs, HMIs, servo drives, or even I/O blocks. The data collected from these devices is often analyzed and displayed locally on intranet websites, then is often passed to cloud-based systems.
For example, edge computers may need to communicate to a Rockwell PLC, AVEVA HMI software, and Siemens servo drives. Without a common protocol and communication standard, this data collection scenario can be very complex. The newly developed Margo initiative hopes to deliver a standard approach to these situations.
