Is MQTT Becoming the De Facto Standard of Industry 4.0?

The impact of IoT on industrial automation protocols. Although industrial control systems switched from analog to digital many decades ago, the problem of having multiple proprietary protocols preventing these systems from properly integrating with each other still persists to this day. So how do we smoothly make the transition into industry 4.0?

OPC UA was conceived with the purpose of addressing this problem, but its success was only partial. It’s still not as pervasive and adopted as it should be. MQTT is changing that scenario quickly, with smart sensors, cameras, and now even PLCs natively implementing this old, but revamped protocol, and edge computing is one of the vectors behind this transformation.

MQTT is an important building block of machine-to-machine communications. A main reason for this is because it is simple to use and is designed for use with constrained, low-bandwidth devices. MQTT enables IIoT devices to send sensor data, machine status and alerts, while requiring minimal code writing. It also allows equipment to receive commands that control behavior

Industry 4.0 requires a bridge between OT and IT. The means of connecting the physical components managed by OT with the software managed by IT – is the creation of a cyber-physical system to drive production efficiency and cost reduction with intelligent automation, predictive maintenance, and condition-based monitoring.

However, cyber-physical systems are fueled by data and rest on a foundation of data integration pipelines. The challenge is getting access to OT data and making it available to IT software, developers and data scientists – and without having to write custom code.

The solution could be an IoT/Industrial IoT edge hub, - software that collects data from machines and sensors via common industrial protocols and makes it available to applications via standard software protocols.

Join FairCom speakers Evaldo Oliveira, Director of Business Development, and Walter Johnson, Senior Engineer, for this webinar presentation that explores how MQTT has been helping system integrators to overcome the challenges of hybrid integrations for Industry 4.0 projects that include OPC UA and other protocols.