IIoT, or Industrial Internet of Things, is the use of sensors, devices, gateways, networks, edge computing, and data platforms to connect industrial assets and processes and transform operational data into monitoring, diagnostics, analysis, and decision-making. Unlike consumer IoT, IIoT operates in environments where availability, security, asset lifecycle, interoperability with legacy systems, and the physical impact of failures are engineering requirements. A consistent IIoT project starts with the use case and process requirements, defines where data will be collected and processed, establishes integration with automation and enterprise systems, and addresses cybersecurity, governance, and operations from the architecture stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Industrial Internet of Things is the application of Internet of Things principles to industrial environments. The objective is not simply to \u201cput equipment on the internet,\u201d but to obtain asset and process data in a controlled manner to increase visibility, support maintenance, improve performance, reduce waste, automate analyses, or enable new operating models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A solution may use dedicated sensors, variables already available in PLCs and SCADA systems, industrial gateways, edge servers, message brokers, historians, databases, analytics platforms, and local or cloud applications. The appropriate combination depends on the use case and the constraints of the facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IIoT is directly connected to the world of industrial automation<\/a>, but it does not replace it. Process control, protection, and deterministic functions still require appropriate architectures; IIoT usually adds capabilities for observation, contextualization, integration, and analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n