The Fuuz® Device Gateway for Connectivity
The Fuuz Device Gateway Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture (OPCUA ) is our proprietary connectivity solution.
OPCUA standards facilitate data exchange between Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs), servers, clients, and other machinery for interconnectivity and information flow. Installed on-premise, it allows bi-directional communication with your equipment, printers, network folders, databases, and more.
Once installed, all configurations are done remotely by logging into the Fuuz Platform.
Data Flow Designer
Data Flow Designer
Schema Designer
Schema Designer
Screen Designer
Screen Designer
Document Designer
Document Designer
Browser Extension
Browser Extension
Device Gateway
Device gateway
Freedom to Manage Your Devices from Anywhere
The Fuuz Gateway is another piece of the architectural puzzle. While some applications and browser security requirements force users to stick with specific operating systems or hardware, Fuuz does not.
We’ve taken a modern, reliable, and scalable approach to these concerns by developing the Fuuz Gateway application. If you’re familiar with Amazon Web Services (AWS) Greengrass, it’s like that.
AWS IoT Greengrass is an Internet of Things (IoT) open-source edge runtime and cloud service that helps you build, deploy, and manage device software.
Customers use AWS IoT Greengrass for their IoT applications on millions of devices in homes, factories, vehicles, and businesses.
Fuuz’s Device Gateway Deployment Options
Edge Deployment
If you haven’t heard this term before, it means something deployed as close to the collection point as possible. In the manufacturing world, the “edge” is usually the piece of equipment or workstation where data is being collected.
The advantage of deploying at the edge is that you can collect more data and do so more reliably than you can with other applications that use centralized deployment.
At the edge commonly refers to high-volume machine data-collection activity. Another advantage of this method is that the user is not dependent on a single point of failure.
It also reduces the overall cost of ownership as the hardware required at the edge is very inexpensive compared to servers and virtual machines that require complex hardware, software, and expertise to maintain.
Centralized Deployment
Centralized is the most common deployment approach for solutions interacting with manufacturing equipment. Software like Kepware, Wonderware, Ignition, FactoryTalk, and ThingWorx use a centralized-deployment model.
These types of software run on a physical or virtual server somewhere in the building. It is connected to two networks; one is an industrial network, and the other is a business network, which usually has internet access.
This deployment model is often used for low-volume machine data collection, printing applications, and disk-level integrations.
Pros and Cons of Edge Versus Centralized Deployment
There are pros and cons to both deployment models. Each should be evaluated to ensure that the business requirements are met.
One advantage of the Fuuz Platform license model is that edge deployment does not incur an additional cost. The Fuuz Device Gateway can be installed on almost any device, so the cost to deploy hardware is drastically reduced.
The Fuuz Device Gateway also provides a secure tunnel between assets behind our customers’ firewalls and the Fuuz Platform. Pub/Sub is an asynchronous and scalable messaging service that decouples services producing messages from services processing those messages.
Pub/sub technology keeps everything in sync in real-time. Also, if the project involves data collection or aggregation, the Fuuz Device Gateway has a built-in store and forward feature to circumvent latency and network issues. Robust logging allows users to analyze any inconsistencies in their machine integrations.
One of the best features of the Fuuz Gateway is that once it is installed locally, it never has to be touched again, other than for updates. Unlike other OPC UA printing solutions and disk-monitoring applications, the Fuuz Deice Gateway is always in sync with your Fuuz Platform environments.
Top 3 Benefits of Device Gateways Cloud Platform Interface
1.
Easy Configuration
It’s easy to add and configure devices, view logs and see connectivity data.
2.
Better Support
The cloud interface eliminates the need for VPN and RDP access, making projects much easier to deploy and enabling better support.
3.
Instant Updates
The Fuuz Gateway is updated instantly and stores values should the user experience a network issue.
Every solution offering edge-capable software requires much more work to make changes.
Here’s what easy looks like on Fuuz.
If you need to add more Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) tags to the scope of the store and forward system, you do that from the cloud by checking a box and clicking “update.” How’s that for simple? The data captured and stored is specific to your business.
Merge Production and Process Data
Here’s one last thing you should know. You can use the Fuuz Device Gateway, to merge process data with production data to create mass work orders.
Here’s the point. You don’t need to purchase anything extra to use standard methods of integrating with industrial equipment.
And Fuuz works with any machine-to-machine communication protocol, such as Open Platform Communications (OPC), Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT), and ModBus.* Here’s the best part. You don’t need to buy extra software to do this. It’s right there on the Fuuz platform.
*OPC UA is the standard for machine-to-machine communication. It meets all requirements of the IEC61784-3 standards for security.