Development of a software-based monitoring and information system for industrial telemetry applications

Abstract

Industry stands to benefit from adopting Internet of Things (IoT) practices. However, reliability and quality of service are of the utmost importance. Challenges such as intermittent connectivity in wide-area wireless communications can hamper the adoption and efficiency of IoT principles in industry. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to propose a new system that actively monitors the status of a wide-area wireless communications network to improve quality of service and ensure reliability. The new monitoring system was implemented on a telemetry system that is used by multiple industrial facilities in the Republic of South Africa. Successful monitoring of 80 remote end-points with more than one thousand individual industrial components was achieved, with communication failures or anomalies being detected immediately. In addition to the immediate detection of communication failures, the average connection uplink time was increased by more than 25 per centDie industriële sektor kan baat by die integrasie van ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) toepassings. Betroubaarheid en gehalte van diens is egter belangrike faktore wat in ag geneem moet word. Huidige uitdagings soos onstabiele konnektiwiteit in koordlose netwerke kan negatiewe gevolge hê in industriële toepassings. Die doel van hierdie studie is om ’n unieke stelsel voor te stel wat in staat is om koordlose kommunikasie netwerke met ’n groot omvang te monitor, met die doel om die gehalte van diens en betroubaarheid van hierdie netwerke te verbeter. Die stelsel was prakties ontwikkel en geïntegreer met ’n bestaande netwerk wat verskeie industriële fasiliteite in die Republiek van Suid-Afrika koordloos verbind. Die stelsel was in staat om tagtig afgeleë industriële eindpunte te monitor. Meer as eenduisend individuele industriële komponente word direk geaffekteer, en konneksie probleme tussen industriële aanlegte was onmiddelik opgespoor. Algehele konnektiwiteit was verbeter met meer as 25 persent