A Smart Factory is an extremely digitized and connected production facility that relies on smart manufacturing. A Smart Factory works by employing technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, analytics, big data and the internet of things (IoT) and can run mainly autonomously with the capability to self-correct.
Azure IoT is top class platform for implementing Smart Factory. Following are some of the important elements of Azure IoT.
Azure IoT Hub
IoT Hub is a service that delivers a device registry as well as mechanisms for cloud-to-devices and device-to-cloud communication. It provides several services for connecting IoT devices with Azure services, treating incoming messages or sending messages to the devices. From a device perspective, the functionalities of the Microsoft Azure IoT Hub provide simple and safe connection of IoT devices with Azure services by enabling bidirectional communication between the devices and the Azure IoT Hub.
Azure IoT Edge
Azure IoT Edge is a service which lets users to deploy and run Azure services, AI and custom logic on IoT devices. Users can containerize Azure Cognitive Services, Machine Learning, Stream Analytics and Functions so they can run them on all kinds of devices, ranging from Raspberry Pis to industrial equipment. This is what Microsoft means when it talks about processing data “at the edge.”
Azure IoT Central
Azure IoT Central – a fully managed, SaaS platform that enables the creation of IoT solutions with built-in management and operational tools. It enables IoT scenarios at scale such as the support for spontaneously provisioning devices, the capability to setup unconventional analytics rules, uninterruptedly export devices data and meta data to a blob storage, a simple per-device cost.
Azure Sphere
A solution for creating highly-secured, connected MCU powered devices. The solution also includes an operating system and an application platform. This provides product manufacturers with a chance to create secured, internet-connected devices that can be controlled, updated, monitored and maintained remotely.
Azure Digital Twins
Azure Digital Twins streamlines IoT solutions by providing a complete digital model to connect devices with context about the physical ecosphere. The platform is used to model the relationships and interactions between variables like traffic, building materials, devices, and even people. This is platform for representing buildings and outdoor spaces, bringing together a bunch of Azure services into the process. It can leverage sensors to check things like room temperatures or whether a room is occupied or not. The platform can be used by organizations, and Microsoft also permits its partners to build applications for it.
Azure Time Series
Azure Time Series Insights helps in time series analysis. This form of analysis involves gleaning statistics and insights from raw, time-ordered telemetry data, such as periodic meter readings. Time series analysis often makes substantive, cost-saving and time-saving contributions to operations troubleshooting and forecasting.
Nub8’s team helps Enterprises build Systems of Intelligence using Azure IoT Platform to extract real-time insights from their Smart Factory business. We leverage our IoT services expertise to connect thousands of physical assets with Azure Cloud. Thus, enabling them to harness their enterprise data for creating differentiated competitive advantage, higher business value & highly improved customer satisfaction for Smart Factory architecture.