Cloud IO! So what´s that?
With MELARECON it is possible to subscribe any topic (see also the article MQTT: Communication between MELARECON and SolidBlue) on SolidBlue’s MQTT broker and to make these subscribed data points available to the peripherals. This means that these can be used like an I/O module with inputs and outputs. This process, which we call Cloud-IO, enables new communication and control options. In this series of articles I would like to explain the settings and options in more detail.
Subscriptions
The settings for Cloud-IO can be found on each MELARECON under “Installation menu”/”I/O-configuration”/”Field devices”/”Cloud io”:
In the “Subscriptions” dialog you can specify which topics should be subscribed to the broker. You can easily create new topic subscriptions using the “+” button.
In the example shown, we create a subscription to the topic:
- {Dealer id}/{Customer id}/{Device id}/Test/SwitchState
If the subscribed topic does not yet exist on the broker, you will find that no value is displayed.
As soon as a value is published on the topic, it will be displayed here immediately.
You can display the received value, which we call raw value, directly on the start screen of your application using live tiles.
Live tiles
I deliberately deviate from the order of the actual menu structure. In the “Live Tiles” dialog it is possible to display the raw data of a subscription directly on a live tile.
In the picture shown, I have created a new live tile by entering the number of the newly created subscription under “Subscription nb.”. I have also entered a name. If you now switch to the start screen and select “Edit content” in the desired menu, this live tile can now be added under cloud io.
The entered name and the raw value from the subscription are now displayed on the live tile.
An application example
In the article SolidBlue: Open data interface it was shown how silo levels can be transferred from Nanolike to SolidBlue. It is also possible to publish this sensor data on the SolidBlue broker. After activating the publish option, the fill levels are automatically sent to the following topics:
- {Dealer id}/{Customer id]/OtherApps/NanolikeSilo/{Sensor id]/LevelPercent
- {Dealer id}/{Customer id]]/OtherApps/NanolikeSilo/{Sensor id]/LevelWeight
This makes it possible to bring the measured silo levels back to the MELARECON and display them for the user.
Summary and prospects
With Cloud-IO it is possible to display data on a MELARECON regardless of manufacturer and location.
What is hidden behind the other menu items and which other functionalities Cloud-IO offers, I will explain in more detail in further articles in the foreseeable future. So feel free to check back here.
If you can’t wait, just get in touch with us.
