One of my 2023 themes has built on paraphrasing Paul Simon’s At the Zoo, “They say it’s all happening at the Edge.” During my brief career as an IT Influencer, I was the “edge” guy. Just as I recently asked about the future of embedded control, I’m also curious about developments at the edge and its implications for data—as in “digital transformation.”
When Inductive Automation CEO Colby Clegg discussed coming attractions at the last Ignition Community Conference, this announcement of rationalizing the Ignition Edge product portfolio drew applause and whistles. Herewith, the new Ignition Edge lineup.
Capturing, processing, and visualizing critical data at the remote edge of the network has never been easier or more affordable. By adding the updated line of Ignition Edge products to field and OEM devices, you can extend your data collection with unlimited tag and device connections, see your data at the edge with state-of-the art visualization tools, run scripts, interface with applications, and extend your system all the way to the edge of your network with data syncing and system management.
The New Edge Product Line
The new Edge product line combines our five previous Edge products into two updated Edge products: Ignition Edge IIoT and Ignition Edge Panel. Don’t worry, the power and functionality of our old products — Edge Compute, Edge Sync Services, and Edge EAM — aren’t going anywhere. Instead, their features are being rolled into the New Edge IIoT and Edge Panel.
In addition to these changes, Ignition Edge products no longer come pre-packaged with Oil & Gas specific drivers for ROC and Totalflow. However, these drivers can be purchased separately and added onto Edge products.
Ignition Edge IIoT
Ignition Edge IIoT turns virtually any field device, such as a touch panel or a client terminal, into a lightweight, MQTT-enabled edge gateway that works seamlessly with Ignition IIoT and other common IIoT platforms, providing remote data acquisition and optional secured feedback and control. It’s ideal for polling data at the device location and publishing data to an MQTT server that business systems and applications can access.
Now includes unlimited tags and device connections for included drivers, the ability to run scripts, create REST APIs, synchronize data to a central server, and act as an EAM Agent Gateway.
Ignition Edge Panel
Ignition Edge Panel includes everything in Ignition Edge IIoT plus local visualization functionality for your HMIs. Choose between Perspective (2 sessions) or Vision (1 local client, 1 remote client) as your visualization system for Edge Panel. Build future-proof, robust local control systems that are Industry 4.0-compatible. It’s ideal for standalone HMIs and providing a local-client fallback for field HMIs if the network connection is lost.
Now includes unlimited tags and device connections for included drivers, the ability to publish MQTT data, run scripts, create REST APIs, synchronize data to a central server, and act as an EAM Agent Gateway.
