Easy and secure transfer of process data to mobile end devices

By OEM Update Editorial September 12, 2018 4:54 pm IST

The TwinCAT IoT Communicator makes it easy for PLCs to communicate with mobile devices by connecting the TwinCAT controller directly and securely to a messaging service through TLS encryption. For smartphone and tablet users, the associated IoT Communicator App ensures that process data can be represented on all mobile devices in a clear overview. Alarms are sent to the device as push messages.

The TwinCAT 3 IoT Communicator exchanges data using a publish/subscribe mechanism. Since no special firewall settings are needed, integration into an existing IT network is easy. Information is exchanged via a message broker that uses the standardised MQTT protocol and acts as a central messaging service in a cloud or local network. A high level of communication security is guaranteed by proven TLS encryption (up to version 1.2).

Transmitted process data can be displayed on mobile devices using the IoT Communicator App, which is available for both Android and iOS operating systems. The IoT Communicator App also incorporates an integrated QR code scanner to facilitate entry of access
data for communication between the broker and individual users.

The TwinCAT IoT Communicator simplifies the transmission of push messages. It offers a number of advantages over conventional e-mail and SMS messages by visualizing live data, variables and status values. This makes the IoT Communicator an ideal addition to the related TwinCAT IoT and TwinCAT Analytics software products.