Industrial Opportunities with the Siemens

Edge Computing Platform

LAB University of Applied Sciences

Bachelor of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Production Technology
2022
Egor Frygin
 Abstract

Author(s) Publication type Completion year

Frygin Egor Thesis, UAS 2022
Number of pages
39
Title of the thesis
Industrial Opportunities with the Siemens Edge Computing Platform.

Degree
Bachelor of Engineering
Name, title and organisation of the thesis supervisor
Jouni Könönen, Senior Lecturer, LAB University of Applied Sciences

Name, title and organisation of the client

Abstract
This thesis is aimed to introduce an entirely novel industrial platform, which uncovers
new opportunities to both automation technology engineers and information technol-
ogy developers, allowing both to implement higher-level IT solutions in the automation
field. Furthermore, this platform enables its users to create their own solutions to cope
with their industrial issues.
The comparison was done of the older methods of monitoring and controlling data
with the newer methods and its features provided by Siemens based on a sample
multifunctional program. This comparison showcases the benefits and drawbacks of
each method.
The main idea of the work is to structure the current list of tools available to the cus-
tomers and users, which, with the addition of this platform, will expand their industrial
opportunities and satisfy very specific and precise needs.

Keywords
Industrial Edge, Edge computing, Industry 4.0
Contents

1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Research motivation ........................................................................................... 2
1.2 Scope ................................................................................................................. 3
2 Theory ....................................................................................................................... 4
2.1 Programmable logic controller (PLC) .................................................................. 4
2.2 TIA Portal software ............................................................................................. 5
2.3 Cloud technology ................................................................................................ 7
2.4 Industrial edge computing ................................................................................... 9
2.4.1 Industrial edge platform overview ...............................................................10
2.4.2 Security components of the industrial edge platform ...................................12
2.4.3 Industrial connectivity from field to edge .....................................................16
2.4.4 Industrial connectivity from edge to cloud ...................................................16
2.5 Docker and Container technology (software) .....................................................17
2.6 Other shortcuts ..................................................................................................18
3 Application and program development with Siemens TIA Portal ...............................20
3.1 Project description .............................................................................................20
3.2 TIA Portal configuration and algorithm ...............................................................21
3.3 Factory IO configuration.....................................................................................23
3.4 Important parts of code ......................................................................................25
3.4.1 Statistical program ......................................................................................25
3.4.2 Main algorithm program ..............................................................................26
3.4.3 Overview of the system ..............................................................................27
4 Industrial edge platform program and application development ................................28
4.1 Preliminary steps ...............................................................................................28
4.2 Architectural overview of the application ............................................................29
4.3 Implementation of the application ......................................................................30
4.4 Tests of the application in the development environment ...................................34
4.5 Overview of the use cases of the Industrial Edge platform .................................36
5 Summary ..................................................................................................................38
References ......................................................................................................................40
 1

1 Introduction

Industry 4.0 is an overarching term for the most recent phase of industrial advancement,
which integrates cyber-physical systems and the Internet of Things into production line man-
ufacturing. The term refers to the creation of “smart factories” with minimal human labour
and internet-controlled machines which can “speak” to each other. Concepts such as “Big
Data” play a prominent role in processing the vast amounts of information that would be
produced by constant machine-to-machine communication. (Abbey Heffer, 2016)

The goal of this thesis is to compare the basic methods of automation, which are currently
taught in most modern universities and colleges, with the most modern ways to control and
analyse data with the use of the newest technology. This is done thanks to the new industrial
edge platform created by Siemens.

Siemens provides products and solutions with industrial security functions that support the
secure operation of plants, systems, machines, and networks. The company’s products line
is versatile, especially in the industrial automation field, where the products are both physi-
cal and digital, hardware and software.

Every industrial site in the world is unique and is designed for a specific type of manufac-
turing, for the implementation of which a certain configuration of machinery and firmware is
required, which Siemens has been providing to the industry for more than a century. With
technological progress, the demand for these products is high, but due to the uniqueness
of each customer’s requirements, it is becoming much more complicated to satisfy every-
one’s needs.

Industrial edge computing provides customers with decentralized computing and storage
with device runtime, standard and custom applications, central management, and version-
ing. It not only increases the efficiency of the digital processes but also provides users with
the necessary development tools to create their own solutions to the unique problems they
encounter.

This platform is one of the key steps to completing the transition between industry 3.0 and
industry 4.0. To better understand the difference between these industrial levels, table 1
with a brief description of each level is shown below. The degree of complexity of each
industrial level increases exponentially, as each level incorporates a greater number of ap-
plications of scientific breakthroughs, which might have taken decades to be discovered.
 2

Industrial 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0

level

Transition 1760 - 1840 1870 - 1914 1969 - today today

period

Description The first transi- The phase of Applications of Cyber-physical

tion from hand rapid scientific digital electron- production sys-
production meth- discoveries led ics and infor- tems, artificial in-
ods to machines. to standardiza- mation technol- telligence, cloud
Active usage of tion, mass pro- ogy significantly technology,
water and steam duction with the reduced de- communication
power. A lot of help of electrical mand of manual technology allow
manual work was energy. First as- labor. Increase to fully automate
still required. sembly line. in efficiency. some factories.

Table 1. Industrial levels and their characteristics

One of the main differences between industry 3.0 and industry 4.0 is that the latter includes
modern technologies, such as machine learning, advanced robotics, and gene editing,
which remove the borders between the physical, digital, and biological worlds. Newer tech-
nology is still being created and perfected, which is why it is not yet known when the tran-
sition from one industrial level to another is going to be completed. The industrial edge
computing platform, as an instance of new technology, is researched and analyzed in this
report.

1.1 Research motivation

A completely new platform, which is in the interest of the thesis supervisor and the thesis
writer, had been introduced to the university students during one of the automation classes.
Even though much information about edge computing is already published online, the uni-
versity is still lacking the hardware to teach students and give them the necessary practice.
This report is aimed to be a helpful guide on what are the benefits of this platform, how to
start using the platform with explanations of basic details, as well as it is contrasting the
current university setting and its methods of automation with the industrial edge system and
its features.

Most of the university studies in the past were focusing on industry 3.0, as well as most of
the laboratory equipment is at the same industrial level. Even though different presentations
 3

about industry 4.0 and its implications in mechanical engineering and production technology
were shown to students, the education is very slowly drifting towards actually delving into
this subject. This thesis is supposed to accelerate this process and show that the future of
automation is happening already, and the earlier students start learning the new technology,
the easier they will adapt to even newer things in the future when they start working.

1.2 Scope

A lot of information in this thesis is taken from the official Siemens instructions to industrial
edge devices and application development software, this information is adapted to the uni-
versity environment, showing what can be done with the current university automation
equipment and how similar things can be done with the help of the industrial edge platform.
The differences between these two are then analyzed.

This document is recommended to be used to get acquainted with the industrial edge plat-
form, to make decisions on how users can benefit from using this platform to implement
their projects and to create a sample program to understand the basics, which are crucial
to have for implementing even more complex programs.
 4

2 Theory

2.1 Programmable logic controller (PLC)

A programmable logic controller or PLC can be defined as an industrial computer, which is

adjusted to control mechanical processes in a wide range of temperature and humidity.
PLCs are widely used in manufacturing and robotics, and they are an essential part of mod-
ern industrial world. Programmable logic controllers provide users with flexibility to program
them, to modify the control logic, whenever required, in the shortest time, and they can also
perform simple relay-switching tasks, but much more reliably and faster than a traditional
mechanical relay-switch. A typical controller is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Siemens programmable logic controller (Simatic S7-1500)

PLCs are imperfect and have limitations, the most critical are:

• The design of most modern PLCs requires a lot of work in connecting wires to install
a PLC on a production site, this complicates maintenance work and replacement
work.

• There is a limitation of working of PLCs in vibration conditions, as well as in high

temperature conditions.

• Complex mathematical functions can be performed by a PLC, but when it comes to

performing large amounts of mathematical calculations, a PLC may slow down the
entire manufacturing process.
 5

• PLCs are too expensive to perform a single simple function within the production
process, but they can also be too slow to perform too many functions in comparison
with an independent industrial computer, the hardware of which can be much more
suitable for the given set of functions.

• Most devices created by different manufacturers are not compatible with one an-
other, which narrows down the user’s selection, this applies to PLCs too.

In comparison with traditional relay-switches and complete computers, PLCs have the fol-
lowing advantages:

• They are compact and quite reliable in industrial environments.

• PLCs have a highly reliable operating system, which has an extremely low chance
of failing.

• In most cases no maintenance is required.

• Multiple programming languages are available to program a PLC, that are not diffi-
cult to master for industrial purposes, in comparison with complex programming lan-
guages used nowadays in the information technology realm.

• PLCs are easily expandable due to their modular design.

• Energy consumption is much more efficient than in relay systems.

Programming logic controllers monitor and control automated processes, such as assembly
lines, machine functions, robotic devices, they communicate, distribute and deliver the nec-
essary information from one device to another to sustain the quickness of modern factories,
which are nowadays much faster, than they used to be decades ago. The term PLC is used
throughout this report.

2.2 TIA Portal software

The Totally Integrated Automation Portal or TIA Portal is a software providing a wide range
of digitalized automation services in merely all industries around the globe. It allows its users
to integrate a lot of the key components in their automation projects, including safety, secu-
rity, control and motion control, drives, decentralized peripherals, power distribution, and
human-machine interface or HMI.

This software is used to monitor real-time data, which may be statistically analyzed and
later used to optimize the given configuration of devices. Furthermore, TIA Portal is used to
program PLCs, that control industrial processes, it is used to diagnose problems in the
 6

hardware pieces connected to the industrial network. TIA Portal is constantly supported and
updated by Siemens introducing new functions and innovations, for instance, one of the
relatively new updates allows users of the software to create a digital twin of their system,
which lets them test and simulate their virtual representation of machines and systems even
before assembling them.

Advantages:

• TIA Portal has an extensive library with the key functions for all Siemens compatible
devices.

• Constant updates and support by Siemens.

• It can handle a large spectrum of different tasks an industrial site would ever need
to cope with.

Disadvantages:

• Software of great functionality requires a computer with high performance charac-

teristics, otherwise processes like compilation, downloading, on-line editing, project
printing or documenting can take much time to be completed, which is unacceptable
for an industrial company with restricted timeframes.

• For some manufacturers with a narrow set of machinery and functionality, TIA Portal
may not be cost-efficient.

• It requires at least a basic level of programming to be able to effectively use it.

• It is lacking modern UX and UI design improvements as a lot of different windows

containing important data are used separately and are located around the screen,
when using the software application, which requires a large resolution computer
monitor for comfortable and efficient usage.

• Data analytics tools are very basic and extremely limited.

Even though the Totally Integrated Automation Portal is imperfect, it is still one of the most
widely used engineering frameworks on the industrial market. It is most likely to be used in
technical universities and colleges to teach students automation concepts and it is often
used in automated factories, due to the popularity of Siemens’ products.

In this report, TIA Portal is used as an example of the old method of automation program-
ming and monitoring, and it is compared to the new methods of doing similar procedures
with the industrial edge computing platform.
 7

2.3 Cloud technology

With the introduction of smart factories in industry 4.0, there has been a need to integrate
all aspects of factories with the cloud. Data that comes from machinery has immediately
been sent for further analysis, to improve the processes. This immediate analysis allows
factories to operate with maximum efficiency, as well as giving every level of the organiza-
tion the ability to see how decisions that they make can affect the overall enterprise in being
successful at achieving their goals. (SolutionsPT, 2021)

Cloud computing is providing its users with storage space, where essential digital opera-
tions can be executed. This allows factories to focus on what is happening exactly on site,
whereas information technology specialists secure the functionality of the software or data,
which is run in the cloud. No hardware is required in potentially dangerous conditions for
the hard drives and computers. Cloud computing is relatively safe and fast, and it is solving
a lot of problems most modern factories no longer need to solve by themselves.

Figure 2. Cloud network communication example (Amani Almashaqbeh, 2021)

As it is shown in Figure 2, cloud computing is a cross-platform technology, that gives access

to important data for a variety of different devices. It is extremely costly and time-consuming
to implement cross-platform online access to the needed files from scratch for a producer,
who needs to focus on manufacturing processes, however, different cloud providers have
it ready for such needs.
 8

Figure 2 also shows that the time delay in communication between nodes is proportional to
the doubled distance between them, which highlights the importance of the relative location
of a device connected to the cloud. Node ‘Network’ is connected to the main node just like
any other one, but the difference between this node and the ‘Server’ node is that the dis-
tance between the main node and the sub-nodes is not the same. ‘Network’ is the closest
to the main node, whereas ‘Server’ is the farthest. Not only on a sketch but in real life the
distance to the cloud provider signal matters a lot, as it affects the latency of data input and
output. In this network example, each node can communicate to the main node ‘Cloud com-
puting’ as well as the main node can communicate back to them. This is a simplified exam-
ple of a cloud network; the real networks are by far more complex containing hundreds of
nodes and having thousands of connections.

Despite having a great reputation on the industrial market, pure cloud technology still has
several limitations:

• Physically it does not completely eliminate all the hardware needed for computations
and communications, it still demands a receiver or a router device. The signal of
such a device must be extremely good for the fastest-response experience, in some
cases, the delay might be negligible, but for some manufacturers it is crucial. The
bandwidth of the communication device can be limiting too.

• Legally, for some manufacturers it is important to know where exactly their data is
being sent. Modern manufacturing techniques are getting more sophisticated and
technologically complex for the sake of efficiency and profit, which in many cases
need to be undisclosed, that is why some cloud providers or even all of them might
not be suitable for a manufacturer due to potential public exposure.

• Economic reasons take place for some companies, due to regular payments for us-
ing cloud services, the cost of payments depends on how much storage a company
needs and the bandwidth of the transmission of data this company wants. In most
cases, this may be critical for the company’s budget, because they cannot know
exactly in advance how much storage and bandwidth they will need, which is why it
is possible for them to end up overpaying for redundant storage space or bandwidth.

Cloud technology is a great step toward wireless industrialization and more efficient
work in a variety of industries, but sometimes drawbacks of different factors add up
together and may completely shut down some industries or significantly slow down their
development. For this reason, companies are still working on newer solutions, that can
compensate for the limitations of the modern ones, these technologies can sometimes
 9

fully replace the ones that restrict the development of some industries, or they can be-
come a great addition to the given configuration of technologies and services used in a
company.

2.4 Industrial edge computing

Industrial edge computing is connecting all assets used in manufacturing, oil and gas, en-
ergy, or transportation, and processing that data locally. Running fewer processes in cloud
and enterprise systems and moving them closer to the devices generating data transforms
the way data is handled, processed, and delivered for immediate business benefits. (Litmus,
2021)

The Siemens industrial edge platform is the central infrastructure to integrate and expand
connectivity for data exchanges between automation and IT systems. It combines local and
high-performance data processing directly within the automation system with the benefits
offered by the cloud. These benefits are app-based data analysis, data processing and in-
frastructure-as-a-service concepts with centralized update function. (Siemens, 2021)

The original problem in the industry was that, despite having a large spectrum of hardware
and software on the market, a lot of devices could not communicate with one another if they
were by different manufacturers. A lot of communication protocols had been invented from
many manufacturers, but this was and still is a great problem nowadays, not all devices are
compatible with all the protocols, which is why it is better to stick to one manufacturer to
avoid device communication issues.

Modern PLC programming languages and technologies, such as LD, SFC, FBD, ST, IL,
have just a few versions to choose from, as well as they are extremely limited in comparison
with modern computer programming languages, such as C++, Python, Java, Swift, JavaS-
cript, and others. This segregation does not allow industrial engineers to further develop
their products and production methods.

On the other hand, the information technology domain is much further developed and has
many more languages to use, as well as IT domain has the technologies, which define the
way humanity lives now, these technologies are object-oriented programming, machine
learning, high-level languages, orchestration, databases, and data-handling.

In general, Industrial Edge is a “bridge” between automation technology and IT, which en-
hances both fields of technology as automation benefits from the advancements that it could
not achieve by itself, whereas the IT field benefits from the expansion of its users and em-
ployees.
 10

2.4.1 Industrial edge platform overview

One of the first solutions to improve communication problems was to use cloud computing,
but as is seen in the previous section, its physical, legal, and economic limitations may be
crucial for many manufacturers, which is why it is not the final solution. Nevertheless, it is
not entirely replaced with a totally new system, on the contrary, the cloud stays an integral
part of the entire industrial system, and its benefits are used to turn the industry into a much
more technological and efficient domain. Figure 3 shows a technological pyramid with the
characteristics of each part.

Figure 3. Technological pyramid (Siemens, 2021)

As it is shown in figure 3, edge computing with Siemens industrial edge is only an addition
to the technological pyramid, as it already existed without this addition. However, this exact
integration of a new platform into the industry gives improvements to all technological levels:
cloud stores static information about updates and applications and is not used for dynamic
computations, which could slow down manufacturing processes due to issues with latency;
SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) becomes much more understandable in
its design as industrial procedures are controlled with an industrial edge device (IED), a
computer made by Siemens with the modern and convenient interface; automation pro-
cesses can now be controlled from the same IED, which simplifies a lot of work for the
automation engineers.

In Figure 4 a whole industrial edge architectural overview is presented, which consists of

three layers. The bottom field level is a standard work environment of a factory, which may
include assembly lines, robot cells, PLCs that are programmed at the same very level, dash-
boards with important data, etc. IED belongs to this level, where the data generation from
 11

automation systems and acquisition of them take place, and IED is an integral part of this
level. IED is fully assembled and supported by Siemens in terms of software, hardware,
security, and firmware. This device’s function is to be an environment for the edge applica-
tions, which are designed for the specific needs of the factory. IEDs can store automation
data locally and retrieve it as needed, as well as they can upload data to cloud infrastruc-
tures, such as MindSphere, AWS, or Azure, and retrieve it anytime. The IED is activated by
a configuration file, which is created on the industrial edge management system.

Figure 4. Industrial edge - architectural overview

The middle factory level contains factory-based IT systems, such as quality control systems,
third-party systems, or others. Furthermore, industrial edge management (IEM) belongs to
this level as the most necessary tool to control the access of the company’s staff to the
lower level’s devices and their applications. IEM also serves as a deployment tool for up-
dates of applications to IEDs and their security patches, firmware, everything related to this
platform, which allows updating selected devices either globally, locally, or both, in case the
company has more than one production site. This management system can be located ei-
ther on a physical local platform, or on a company’s server remotely, or it could be used via
a cloud service too, in both latter cases, IEM shall still be connected to the entire system.
In addition, the application development environment is also a part of the factory level, which
is supported by the docker technology, which is explained in the following section of this
report. This environment can be run on any device that can be programmed with any pro-
gramming language, thanks to which custom applications can be added to the IEM, from
where companies can install either Siemens’ applications or their self-made applications.

The cloud level can be supported by any trusted cloud service (MindSphere, AWS, Azure),
where the industrial edge hub (IEH) is the central entry point in the cloud level, which is
 12

operated by Siemens. IEH’s function is to provide the lower levels with the necessary up-
dates, documentation, developing tools, etc. On a global scale, Siemens cannot have any
access to the lower levels of the entire system, which should ensure users of the edge
platform their security. It is up to a customer to decide whether their system needs to be
updated or provided with new necessary information or documentation. The IEM software
can be downloaded and configured.

Briefly, the Industrial Edge platform is just an addition to the whole company’s system, which
is used as a service, this service provides a company with IEDs, IEM, IEH, and application
development tools. It eliminates the possibility of having old devices in the company’s sys-
tem, whose function is, for instance, to display some signals, which may be able to work for
years, but by the time such device starts malfunctioning, the company might not know what
to replace it with, as its manufacturer is no longer on the market. Other benefits from this
service are possibilities to improve communication between different devices, optimization
of the production processes, integration of IT into the system, and custom applications.

2.4.2 Security components of the industrial edge platform

Security measures are important for most manufacturers and must be taken into consider-
ation when reviewing a new system for potential use. This subsection lists the security com-
ponents of the main parts of the industrial edge platform. Industrial edge hub security
measures are shown in table 2.

Component Purpose Description

Single sign-on To allow only authenticated User logins are protected by a strict
with multifactor and authorized access to re- password policy and 2 factor authentica-
authentication sources tion.

Certified data Ensure professional, se- The IE Hub is hosted on platforms of

centre provider cure, and highly available certified data centre providers only.
operations of data centres
Shared responsibilities principles are
applied between data centre provider
and the IE Hub operator. Data centre
provider is certified according to SOC2
and ISO27001.
 13

Shared re- To separate data and opera- Shared responsibilities principles are
sponsibility tion from platform and ser- applied between data centre provider
principle and vice and IE Hub operator.
certified data
Data centre provider is certified at least
centre provider
according to SOC 2 and ISO 27001.

Firewall Firewall configuration of Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Next-

data centre services Generation Firewall (NGFW) are used
within data centres to protect the end-
points.

Table 2. IEH security

Similar table regarding industrial edge management security is shown in table 3.

Component Purpose Description

IMA Linux Integrity Measure- Industrial Edge implements the Linux Integ-
ment Architecture rity Measurement Architecture (IMA) to
guarantee the integrity of the loaded mod-
ules.

Measured Measure trusted boot and The measured boot checks the integrity of
boot update channels the whole boot chain and compares it with
the trusted initial deployment. The finger-
prints are stored in crypto hardware. *

Full disk en- Encrypted roots and data All system partitions are encrypted and
cryption partitions locked by crypto hardware. *

Policy engine Supervise app policies The policy engine checks the associated
app policy and enforces that only applied
capabilities and resources are used by the
application.

No root user Allow only user access The Industrial Edge Management Operat-
login ing System (IEM-OS) does not provide any
possibility to login as root user.
 14

System up- Keep the system updated A system update functionality is provided
date and secure by the Industrial Edge Management. Secu-
rity patches and system updates are pub-
lished in the IE Hub shortly after vulnerabil-
ities are known and issues are fixed.

Table 3. IEM security

The asterisk symbol in table 3 implies the relevance of certain descriptions for deployments
on hosting environments with Trusted Platform Module (TPM).

The Industrial Edge Device is hosting applications as well as the application and device
management software. These components are secured in respect to CIA (Confidentiality,
Integrity, Availability) through the feature set listed below in table 4.

Component Purpose Description

Trusted de- Trusted environment for The Edge Device is delivered with a fully
ployment first installation installed Industrial Edge Device OS (IED
OS), secured by default from the manufac-
turer site.

Secure Boot Verified boot artifacts With Secure Boot, UEFI will only launch
verified and unaltered Industrial Edge boot
artifacts which are digitally signed by Sie-
mens.

IMA Linux Integrity Measure- Industrial Edge implements the Linux Integ-
ment Architecture rity Measurement Architecture (IMA) to
guarantee the integrity of the loaded mod-
ules.

Measured Measure trusted boot and The measured boot checks the integrity of
boot update channels the whole boot chain and compares it with
the trusted initial deployment. The finger-
prints are stored in crypto hardware.

Full disk en- Encrypted roots and data All system partitions are encrypted and
cryption partitions locked by crypto hardware.
 15

SELinux Enforcement of access Industrial Edge defines and implements

control policies to the oper- SELinux policies to enforce least privilege
ating system resources principle to apps and services. This pro-
vides an additional layer of system security.

No root user Prevents access to the ad- The Industrial Edge Device Operating Sys-
login ministrative root account tem (IED-OS) does not provide any possi-
trough console or the net- bility to login as root user.
work

Digital signa- Integrity and authenticity of CMS (Cryptographic Message Syntax) sig-
tures for In- the software artifacts natures and dedicated Industrial Edge
dustrial Edge code signing certificates ensure that the
software arti- code has not been corrupted and the origin
facts of the software has not been altered.

Secure Trust establishment from The onboarding process is secured by an

onboarding Edge Devices to the Indus- expiring session token from the Industrial
trial Edge Management Edge Management backend. The onboard-
ing file is encrypted for confidentiality.

Remote sys- Keep the system updated A remote system update functionality is
tem update and secure provided by the Ecosystem. The operator
of the Industrial Edge Management is noti-
fied on the availability of new IED-OS.

Table 4. IED security

A general representation of the basic security measures of the industrial edge platform is
shown in Figure 5.
 16

Figure 5. Security measures overview

2.4.3 Industrial connectivity from field to edge

Some of the connectivity solutions discussed below are most likely a part of the industrial
edge platform. The uncertainty of specific communication protocols is due to closed access
to information provided by Siemens regarding the industrial edge platform connectivity.

Field devices like sensors and actuators need communication protocols that allow them to
communicate in robust way. Some of the communication protocols that are widely used on
the field level to connect various machines and devices are IO-Link and the fieldbus proto-
cols like Modbus, HART, Profibus, FF, and Control Area Network (CAN). In fact, Industrial
Ethernet protocols like Profinet, EtherCAT, Ethernet/IP, and others offer great potential to
the complex and field devices network.

The data transferred to the control layer gets processed and sent to the above layers or
specific instructions are sent to the field devices. Therefore, the communication protocols
should enable scalability. Some of the communication protocols that provide a scalable
connectivity from the PLCs all the way down to I/O and Sensors are EtherCAT, Profinet RT,
Powerlink, IO-Link, Modbus, Ethernet/IP, S7, MELSEC, and others. (Utthunga, 2022)

2.4.4 Industrial connectivity from edge to cloud

Conventionally, the data coming from the field and control layers gets converted into enter-
prise-compatible format. However, communication protocols like SigFox, OPC UA, TSN,
MQTT, AMQP, and others are enabling communication right from the sensor to the cloud.
 17

The field level specifications of OPC UA, called OPC FLC is under development that will
redefine the communication across all the layers of automation pyramid. (Utthunga, 2022)

2.5 Docker and Container technology (software)

Docker is an open platform for developing, shipping, and running applications. Docker en-
ables users to separate their applications from their infrastructure so they can deliver soft-
ware quickly. With Docker, it is possible to manage users’ infrastructure in the same ways
users manage their applications. By taking advantage of Docker’s methodologies for ship-
ping, testing, and deploying code quickly, this platform can significantly reduce the delay
between writing code and running it in production. (Docker Inc., 2013)

This open-source technology allows to run, deploy, and create applications using contain-
ers. The containers are a fully functional and portable non-cloud or cloud computing envi-
ronment surrounding the application and keeping it independent from other parallelly run-
ning environments. Individually each container simulates a different software application
and runs isolated processes by bundling related configuration files, libraries, and depend-
encies – everything a certain application might need for its execution.

Industrial edge devices have a preinstalled Linux-based operating system and Docker,
which enables all the capabilities of containerization. Container technology offers many ad-
vantages over using classical virtual machines (VMs) for isolating execution networks. Con-
tainers and Docker are enabling rapid development, portability, scalability, and lightweight.
Whereas a VM always contains a hardware abstraction layer as well as its own operating
system. The isolation and security allow users to run many containers simultaneously on a
given host. Containers can be easily shared, and users can be sure that everyone in their
team gets the same container that works in the same way. The differences between con-
tainers and virtual machines are shown in Figure 5.

Both virtual machines and containers require some infrastructure for their use. Virtual ma-
chines, however, need a host operating system (OS), which is the primary operating system
installed on a computer that can distribute its recourses as needed. In addition, a so-called
hypervisor is needed for virtual machines, which is a technology that enables having multi-
ple guest operating systems, this means that for each virtual machine a lot of computational
recourses shall be dedicated from the host OS so that VMs can start executing their tasks.
This is where different compatibility issues may take place because Linux OS applications
cannot be run on Windows OS and vice versa, that is why many virtual machines have to
be created to avoid these issues, which is a very inefficient approach in terms of computa-
tional resource management.
 18

Figure 6. Stack overview of containers and virtual machines

Using a Docker engine on an IED with its own operating system allows to run any application
needed, while still being independent from the OS or computer’s hardware, because con-
tainers will solve the compatibility issues for the user. With this approach, it is finally possible
to create software with higher-level programming languages that previously were merely
accessible to the automation domain. A lot of IT solutions can now be introduced to the
automation technology field, which is going to make many industries much more efficient,
safe, optimized, and ready for even further innovations.

A brief guide with more detailed explanations of technical aspects on how to use the Docker
platform is a part of the fourth section of this report.

2.6 Other shortcuts

The application implementation part of this report in the industrial edge application devel-
opment environment involves technologies that are out of the scope of mechanical engi-
neering automation courses but are an essential part of the industrial edge platform and
modern information technology field. They are listed below with a brief description of each.

• The Mosquitto (MQTT) broker container is the industrial edge data bus replacement
on the development machine. This data bus is responsible to distribute data to cer-
tain topics, which are filled by the system or custom applications by publishing and
subscribing to these topics.
 19

• Node-RED is a flow-based development tool for visual programming. In the project

development with industrial edge platform, it acts as a replacement of the SIMATIC
S7 (PLC series name) connector and industrial edge Flow Creator on the IED.

• Industrial edge Flow Creator is a web browser-based programming tool that works
on any platform. In the application, made with industrial edge system, it stores the
raw data and analyzed data to an InfluxDB database persistently.

• InfluxDB is a time series database which is optimized for fast, high-availability stor-
age and retrieval of time series data. It stores the data, which is transmitted by the
OPC UA server to the application developed in the fourth section of this report.

• OPC UA is a modern communications protocol for industrial automation.

• Grafana is a visualization and analytics software. It allows to query, visualize, alert,

and explore metrics. It provides tools to turn time-series database data to graphs
and visualize it. There is a possibility to build custom dashboards. Grafana is used
to visualize the data from the InfluxDB database in the application made with indus-
trial edge platform.

• JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is a standard text-based format for representing

structured data based on JavaScript object syntax.

• Factory IO is a 3D factory simulation for learning, testing, and analyzing automation

technologies.
 20

3 Application and program development with Siemens TIA Portal

3.1 Project description

A simple, but multifunctional program was created to demonstrate what can be done with
TIA Portal in most industrial environments. The project is tested in a simulation software
environment Factory IO, which is widely used in the automation industry.

The “Level control” project is an example of how a tank of liquid can be automatically filled
in a controlled manner with the use of analogue signals. A similar real-life example of such
a project could be a gas station, where customers input either a number of litres or an
amount of money that will correspond to a certain number of litres to be taken, then the
program allows them to fill the car with gas by pressing a button on petrol, the flowrate of
liquid gas is supposed to get lower as the number of taken litres gets closer to the paid
amount.

The “Level control” project, on the other hand, fills in just one cylindrical container in the
same manner, which can be emptied and used again. The input number corresponds to a
desired height of liquid in the container, not the number of litres. The hydraulic components
of the project, such as the flow meter, discharge valve, level meter, filling valve, and control
panel with buttons can be seen in Figure 6 in a simulation software environment Factory
IO.

Figure 7. Hydraulic components of the project in Factory IO

 21

3.2 TIA Portal configuration and algorithm

PLC CPU 1515-2 PN is used as a common solution for numerous applications in automation
engineering, it is relatively easy to use and connect from TIA Portal to Factory IO software.
A virtual version of this PLC and its modules used in this project is shown in Figure 7.

Figure 8. Virtual PLC in TIA Portal

The modules attached to the PLC are listed in the same order as shown in the image from
left to right: digital input module, digital output module, analogue input module, and ana-
logue output module. These modules are used to transmit both digital and analogue signals
from the PLC to the hardware and vice versa.

HMI is a human-machine interface or a dashboard that allows people to interact with ma-
chines and industrial systems or devices. HMI TP700 Comfort was selected as a widely
used solution in industrial projects like this one, as well as it is compatible with the already
selected PLC. In the simulation, the HMI is represented by the control panel without a
screen, but the essential buttons.

TIA Portal V16 software is used for programming. S7-PLCSIM Advanced V3.0 Upd2 is used
as a method to connect the TIA Portal project to the simulation software Factory IO.

The data parameters or variables used in TIA Portal for the main program are shown in
Figure 7.
 22

Figure 9. Variables in TIA Portal

Each variable represents an important piece of data, essential for the functionality of the
program:

• ‘StopTime’ is a measurement of time by the moment the tank is filled.

• ‘StartTime’ is a measurement of time at the moment the tank is starting to get filled.

• ‘minLevel’ is a constant variable which defines the lowest possible point for the liquid
in the container.

• ‘maxLevel’ is a constant variable which defines the highest possible point for the
liquid in the container.

• ‘setLevel’ is an input variable, which holds the value of the desired level in the tank.

• ‘currentLevel’ is a measurement of current level of liquid in the tank.

• ‘tolerance’ is a threshold value for both discharge and fill valves for them to start
decreasing the flowrate of liquid, when it gets close either to zero, or a desired
height.

The general algorithm of the program is as follows: nothing is happening until any of the
buttons on the control panel of the system are pressed. If the green button is pressed, the
liquid starts flowing at a constant flow rate, but when the level of liquid is thirty units below
the desired level, the flowrate is starting to decrease until the level gets to the needed height.
If the yellow button is pressed for longer than five seconds, then, in case liquid was flowing,
it stops, the discharge valve opens and empties the main container. If the red button is
pressed, the program shuts down any process going on at the moment, either it stops the
filling process, or it closes the discharge valve and does not let it empty the tank. The set-
point button sets the desired level and can be used whenever, if the current level in the tank
 23

is above the desired one, then the discharge valve will work in a similar way to the filling
valve, the flowrate will start decreasing thirty units above the desired level until it is reached.

3.3 Factory IO configuration

The architecture of input and output variables is shown in Figure 8. This architecture is a
virtual version of a PLC that handles digital and analogue input and output signals based
on the program uploaded to this PLC. Some extra signals, such as camera position or ex-
ecution states of the program are also processed for the sake of debugging.

Figure 10. Architecture of input and output variables

The model of virtual PLC is selected in the configuration menu of the simulation scene. The
numerical data type for the input and output configuration is WORD, which is the natural
unit of data used by the PLC, the number of bits in this data unit is sixteen, which is more
than enough for this project. Input and output points with the address offsets are important
for compatibility with the PLC modules and the rest of the configuration settings are shown
in the following Figure 9.
 24

Figure 11. Configuration of the virtual PLC in Factory IO software

Once the Factory IO scene is connected to the TIA Portal and configured, the simulation
can be started, and the program can be tested. A screenshot with a running simulation is
shown in Figure 10.

Figure 12. Running simulation made with a TIA Portal application

 25

3.4 Important parts of code

The program can be executed and tested successfully, however, a lot of modern industrial
companies also include programs that analyse different processes, these programs allow
to collect essential statistics, which can be later used to improve either the program, hard-
ware, or the entire industrial process. Such programs usually analyse speeds, time, power
consumption, resources used, etc. This is what really is important in the modern industry –
data and knowledge of how this data can be utilized for further product development.

3.4.1 Statistical program

A program block measuring the amount of time passed between the initial tank level and
the final level after filling it in was implemented as a sample program for statistical purposes.
In Figure 11, two networks in TIA Portal responsible for this functionality are shown. When-
ever the start button is pressed, the timing of this event is recorded in network 1. When the
process of filling in the tank is finished, the timing of this event is recorded too in network 2.
The time it takes for the whole filling process can be gotten by subtracting the output value
in network 1 from the output value in network 2.

Figure 13. Code of the sample statistical program

Such a program can be created with TIA Portal, but only within the same project, which
means that this program will be running in the same PLC occupying memory and computa-
tional resources in it. In some cases, it might not be crucial, but in other cases computational
resources may be extremely limited, in such situations either an additional PLC ought to be
installed, or a completely different system should be used to monitor and record important
data. In both cases, each solution is most likely not cost-efficient and is difficult and time-
 26

consuming to implement. Nevertheless, data received from PLCs is helpful and is often
used the way it is shown in this example.

If computational power is not crucial for an industrial program, using PLCs for parallelly
running programs is acceptable. Retrieving data from PLCs, on the other hand, might also
be an issue, as it can only be transmitted in the forms of either digital or analogue signals,
which will demand encoders and software frameworks for automatic statistical reporting. In
this example, it is only possible to see timings in the running program in TIA Portal, no
frameworks or encoders are used. Moreover, it is possible to display the needed data on
an HMI dashboard, but only for visual aid purposes.

3.4.2 Main algorithm program

For the sake of understanding the decreasing flowrate part of the algorithm, a network re-
sponsible for this logic is presented in Figure 12. The way this network works is relatively
simple: when the start button is pressed, if the difference between the current level of the
liquid and the desired level is greater than thirty units, the greatest allowable flow rate of the
filling valve is activated. If the difference between the current level and the desired level of
the liquid is less than thirty units, then the flow rate is decreasing based on how close it is
to the desired level. In other words, the flow rate is decreasing as the level of liquid is reach-
ing the desired point. Finally, the desired level is reached, and the flow rate of the liquid is
zero.

Figure 14. Logic of flowrate control of the filling valve

Here, the positive integer values are used to represent analogue signals for the system.
Analogue signals are used due to possibility to achieve acceptably high precision of the
desired processes.
 27

3.4.3 Overview of the system

TIA Portal is a great tool for automation engineering, which provides its users with almost
unlimited functionality for programming, monitoring, control, etc. It can be used for projects
with much richer functionality. This tool can take years to learn everything about it and what
it can be used for, which is why TIA Portal should not be underestimated and thought of as
a relic of the past. It may be integrated into newer technologies introduced to the industry,
or it may stay as it is now and get updated to be a part of industry 4.0.

Even though the system is working successfully without any issues, it still has its ad-
vantages and disadvantages, that are listed below, and later they are compared with the
new platform’s features and analysed in the following section of this report.

Advantages:

• The programming of the desired algorithm is simple and quick.

• No issues were noticed in connecting to the hardware components.

• The system is responsive and executes every command without noticeable delays
or issues.

Disadvantages:

• Monitoring of data is limited: either it can be monitored on an HMI or on a local

computer.

• The statistical program needs either hardware or software extensions to collect big
amounts of data to process it. Cloud computing providers can solve these problems,
but for some manufacturers, cloud computing is a very limiting solution.

• The programming language used is good enough for the complexity of this sample
program, but it is still very limiting for the implementation of higher-level technology
solutions, especially in the data analytics domain.
 28

4 Industrial edge platform program and application development

4.1 Preliminary steps

It takes a few preliminary steps to be able to use the platform for the application develop-
ment, which are essential for the whole system, but unnecessary for this report, they are
briefly listed in the correct order as a part of the guide on this platform. These steps are
installation of Docker engine to the device, establishment of network connection, creation
of an account in Siemens Industry Mall, purchasing of a license to get access to the IEH,
installation of required packages for setting up the IEM, as well as downloading Industrial
Edge App Publisher (IEAP), and accessing the needed documentation of industrial edge.

The development environment also needs to be set up, which requires the creation of a
development virtual machine based on an Ubuntu Linux image, which is a template to cre-
ate containers, after that, a GitHub repository needs to be set up and connected to the
development environment. Lastly, the installation and configuration of the IEAP are done to
finish the setup of the development environment. The creation of it is done with a virtual
Ubuntu machine on a VMware workstation player.

The basic hardware specifications must be taken into consideration for a development ma-
chine, as computational power plays an important role in a project progress. Users can run
the environment either on real hardware or on a virtualized one by VMware workstation. As
for an operating system, it is possible to use either Windows or Linux, which is capable to
run Docker applications. It is recommended to use a private GitHub repository. Once these
steps are done, the development environment can finally be created.

The working mechanism of IEAP and development environment is shown in Figure 14.

Figure 15. Overview of the working mechanism of IEAP and development environment
 29

The additional development software, for instance, Visual Studio Code, should also be in-
stalled and configured to have some extensions, such as Docker, Python and others. Once
the connection to the IEM is established, it is possible to upload created applications to it
and the development environment can finally be used to make applications.

4.2 Architectural overview of the application

Since the analytical applications are gaining more popularity in industrial domain, the same
data-outputting application of statistical measurements, as in the previous section of this
report, is created with this development environment in order to compare different systems.

For the testing purposes on the development environment the architecture of the application
may look slightly different than it should and is shown in Figure 15. The differences regard-
ing the architecture are not crucial for this example. The IE (industrial edge) data bus will
be a normal MQTT Broker to simulate its behavior. The SIMATIC S7 Connector and Flow
Creator are replaced by a Node-RED container. Node-RED will create some dummy data,
which simulates the receiving of the OPC UA data by the SIMATIC S7 Connector and pre-
processing for distributing it for the data analytics container. The writing of the data to the
database is also done by Node-RED container.

Figure 16. Architectural overview of the application on the development environment

 30

4.3 Implementation of the application

When completed, this application can be published to the IEM and deployed on IEDs. All
the files which are required for this application are found in the ‘my_edge_app’ folder as
seen in Figure 16.

Figure 17. Folder structure of the application

Here is a brief description of each file in this folder:

• ‘docker-compose.yml’: This file allows to create containers for the development en-
vironment and the images for the Industrial Edge.

• ‘docker-compose_Edge.yml’: This is the adapted ‘docker-compose.yml’ file, which

can be used later for uploading this application to the IEM with the IEAP.

• ‘data-analytics’ folder: This folder contains the Python application to do scientific

calculations with the collected and preprocessed data. It contains the Docker file to
build the corresponding image as well.

• ‘grafana’ folder: This folder contains the Docker file to build the Grafana image as
well as the preconfigured dashboard for the application to display data.

The Docker file in the ‘grafana’ contains the build steps for the grafana image. It will load
grafana itself as well as the plugins. Another important step is copying the grafana.ini file
as well as the folders ‘dashboards’ and ‘provisioning’. The ‘data-analytics’ is built by the
Docker file in the ‘data_analytics’ folder. All dependencies of Python libraries are loaded
from ‘requriements.txt’ and installed in the base package. It uses a basic python image from
the environment variables in the hidden .env file. It copies all the Python files from ‘program’
folder to the containers execution environment and starts ‘app.py’ at container’s start.

The ‘app.py’ calls the main methods of ‘data_analytics.py’. The ‘data_analytics.py’ contains
the scientific calculations and a MQTT client for receiving and sending data.
 31

To give a short introduction to the ‘data_analytics.py’ code, the focus points will be de-
scribed. The file contains some important constants, which are used in the ‘DataAnalyzer’
class itself, they are shown in Figure 17.

Figure 18. Constant variables of the ‘data_analytics.py’ file

The first two constants describe the address of the MQTT broker and the port. The
username and password are the user and its password for authentication in the broker. This
is important for the IE data bus on the IED later.

Now, methods responsible for successful connections are presented in Figure 18.

Figure 19. Connection to the MQTT broker method

 32

The ‘handle_data’ method is responsible to connect the MQTT client to the broker. Firstly,
the credentials ought to be set in the client and then the connection can be established. As
soon as it is possible to connect, the client subscribes to the two input topics with its corre-
sponding call-back methods. These two topics will be published with data from Node-RED.

The call-back method ‘standard_kpis’ gets the desired statistical measurements. It calcu-
lates the mean, median and standard deviation of each measurement array. The result is
packed in a ‘json’ structure and published by the MQTT client on the result topic for Node-
RED. This method is shown in the following Figure 19.

Figure 20. Method responsible for retrieval of statistical measurements

The rest of the code is responsible for basic arithmetic calculations of statistical values as
well as it is responsible for the completion of execution of the program. This was a brief
overview of the focus points of the python application which is contained in the
‘my_edge_app’ folder.

In order to build the containers, the ‘docker-compose.yml’ file is used, the code to which is
shown in the following set of three figures starting from Figure 20. This part of code contains
a build step for the Docker file to build the image. It uses bridged network ‘proxy-redirect’
and depends on the Grafana container. This means that data-analytics will start when the
grafana container is started.
 33

Figure 21. Data analytics part of 'docker-compose.yml' file

The next part of code, which is shown in Figure 21, is responsible for taking an InfluxDB
image from Docker hub with a corresponding version. A volume is mounted to this container
to backup the database. The port for the interaction with the database is exposed to 8086.
It uses the bridged network ‘proxy-redirect’.

Figure 22. InfluxDB part of 'docker-compose.yml' file

The rest of the program with grafana part is shown in the following Figure 22. It contains a
build step for the Docker file to build the image, same as the data-analytics part. The port
3000 for calling Grafana website is exposed. It uses the bridged network ‘proxy-redirect’.

Once everything is done, the application can be executed and tested, but to ensure the
successful launch of the application, a proxy server used in the current network must be
configured.
 34

Figure 23. Grafana part of the code

4.4 Tests of the application in the development environment

It is important to start the modules, such as InfluxDB, Grafana, and data-analytics in the
correct order to be able to test the application. All containers of this applications should be
running on the development environment. Then a web browser can be used to access
Grafana and Node-RED tools with the following links respectively: http://localhost:300 and
http://localhost:33080. Once logged in to Grafana tool, a demo dashboard for this industrial
edge application can be opened, it can be observed in Figure 23.

Figure 24. Dashboard of the application

 35

To see the visualization of data from this application, the data generation must be triggered
in the Node-RED flow. The surrounded flow in the upper part of Figure 24 filters the
incoming JSON messages from flow ‘Data Collection’. The upper flow will query the timings
and collect the last fifty entries from the database and publish them to MQTT-topic
‘StandatdKpis’.

Figure 25. Flow to prepare data for data analytics and consumption of results

The other flow is querying the last fifty measurements to be published to the MQTT topic
‘Mean’. The flow outside the red rectangle is ‘listening’ to the MQTT topics ‘StandardKpiRe-
sult’ and ‘MeanResult’. The result messages are pre-processed to store the data-analytics
results in the InfulxDB as well. When the data generation trigger is activated and the flow is
deployed, the data will now be displayed in Grafana as soon as enough data is available
and processed from data-analytics. The dashboard should look as in Figure 25.

The application is now complete and the data analytics of pretty much any industrial process
in the factory can be implemented. This application can also be uploaded to the IEM with
the IEAP, which will allow to deploy this application to not only IEDs, but to, for instance,
phones or other devices of the site managers or operators, who will be able to observe the
industrial data in real time not being even on the site.
 36

Figure 26. Dashboard with stored data from data-analytics loaded from InfluxDB

4.5 Overview of the use cases of the Industrial Edge platform

This particular application is a great example of how modern information technology can be
integrated into automation field, as data analytics with basic algebraic computations is much
more complicated to implement with the TIA Portal software and similar its components.
Nevertheless, industrial edge cannot yet completely replace TIA Portal and SIMATIC man-
ager software applications due to a staggering number of applications they provide, which
industrial edge platform is not yet able to implement. For now, it can only enrich the auto-
mation with a higher-level technology functionality.

Another application scenario could be to pre-process the data and send the data to the
cloud, for instance, in which case the IE is used as a gateway with pre-processing function-
ality. However, the industrial edge is not only a gateway, and the most common use case
is to acquire, store, analyze and visualize the data to improve the transparency on the
shopfloor, as it has been shown with the application implemented for this report.

Industrial edge platform showed to be an extremely flexible tool for data analytics, whereas
industrial edge devices can serve to provide physical connectivity and enable traffic be-
tween networks, making most of industrial processes more transparent and easier to mon-
itor and analyse.

Typical use cases of industrial edge platform applications are shown in Figure 26.
 37

Figure 27. Common application scenarios with the industrial edge platform

Advantages of the industrial edge platform application development environment:

• Most of the data or even all of it can be processed at the same location, where this
data is collected, which allows to analyse it and apply faster than ever before.

• In the setting of industrial IoT, edge computing enables industrial equipment to make
decisions without human intervention.

• Performing computations at the edge of the network reduces network traffic, which
reduces the risk of a data bottleneck. It optimizes the data flow to minimize operating
costs.

• Edge computing also helps to reduce unplanned machine downtime, due to its con-
tinuous connectivity. The edge technology may interact with a centralized cloud, but
it does not need contact with it (Treon, 2021).

• Finally, information technology innovations, such as artificial intelligence, complex

algorithms, advanced robotics, etc. are available to the automation industry.

Disadvantages:

• Software engineers and backend developers are needed for implementation of IT

solutions as new employees to companies with limited staff.

• This platform cannot yet completely replace the programming and automation soft-
ware applications most modern manufacturers use.

• As a service platform, in addition to current expenses of an industrial company, this

platform might not be cost-efficient.
 38

5 Summary

The main tools for modern industrial engineering are demonstrated and explained through-
out this report, which very well satisfies the initial purpose of this thesis. These tools are in
the top tier in the industrial domain and are widely used by a lot of companies focusing on
automation. Of course, not every solution is presented and sufficiently described in this
report as some of them are out of the scope of the mechanical engineering field.

Despite the many limitations each tool has, they are the ones that define present-day man-
ufacturing. As the industry is still transitioning from one level to another, it is still not clear
what is the right idea to follow or develop, but being aware of current trends in this realm
may inspire engineers to create even better versions of what is available to them at the
moment, which at some point might become the last step to perfection in modern automa-
tion.

A lot of companies are using plenty of either self-made or other providers’ tools to cope with
the issues they have and to make their production processes more efficient. The compati-
bility and connectivity aspects are the ones to be taken into consideration when deciding
which platform to use or integrate. The modern software market offers plenty of solutions,
the number of which is growing daily, and that might be a general solution for everyone –
not having one tool that can resolve current issues, but a limitless set of available tools that
can be tested and decided to be either used or not.

The way LAB University can incorporate this platform could be done in a form of course
studies, that will involve topics related to network communications, programming in a lan-
guage selected for this platform, implementation of different projects with the industrial edge
system, and applications of this platform in laboratories. This course will prepare students
for a much broader spectrum of automation companies, which, combined with the present
courses in the mechanical engineering programme, will be able to expand the industry with
specialists with up-to-date knowledge of automation.

Personally, in terms of education, I find this platform a great motivator for mechanical engi-
neering students to delve into the IT world, given that at some point it is introduced to the
mechanical engineering degree program. It is difficult to judge if it is going to have a positive
influence on students to expand their mathematical and physical sets of skills with a lot of
programming aspects, but hopefully, the general effect will be positive. In terms of industrial
influence, this platform is gaining greater popularity on the industrial market daily and has
already proved to be a very helpful tool for many users. It is a cornerstone of a new dimen-
sion of progress for some companies, and a useful analytical tool for others. Furthermore,
 39

newer IT advancements and scientific breakthroughs in computer science can now directly
have an impact on the development of the automation industry, which is partially possible
thanks to the industrial edge platform. The way it is going to affect lots of industries is difficult
to predict, but it is also hard to see it fail them in any way.

The completed thesis document is a document, providing the reader with sufficient infor-
mation about the industrial edge platform to decide, whether its functionality and features
are reasonably useful for the implementation of their projects. The fourth section of this
report may be used as a guide to creating a basic application with this platform, additional
research on information technology utilities used in this guide might be helpful.
 40

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