Initial DPS Configuration

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This is the initial guide we recommend you follow before going in depth with more advanced use cases, let's start with the simple visualization of metric data published by a connected product.
Whether you're tracking temperature, humidity, power consumption, or any other machine parameter, setting up the correct initial configuration ensures accurate data collection and visualization.

By the end, you'll have a simple functional setup that can be used as a base for more complex use cases configuration.

Here are the main steps:

  1. Establishing the IoT connection.

  2. Creating a Base Thing Definition.

  3. Creating the Alpha Product Model.

  4. Creating an Alpha product instance.

  5. Defining the Status metric.

  6. Publishing IoT data.

  7. Try your configuration.

Establishing the IoT connection

Before starting with the actual configuration we suggest you to establish and implement the method by which the connected products communicate with the DPS system.

For this purpose Servitly offers these options:

  1. Direct connection via MQTT

  2. Direct connection via HTTP

  3. Cloud-to-Cloud integration with a market IoT platform

If you have to choose an IoT connector, you should also consider:

  • Will your connected products need to receive remote updates?

    If yes, we suggest you to use a connector based on MQTT.

  • Do your connected products have limited bandwidth or data traffic?

    If so, we recommend using an HTTP-based connector, which avoids using an always open channel such as MQTT.

If you do not have a ready-to-connect product, you can take advantage of the concept of Virtual Things, which allows you to publish data to the DPS without having a physical product.

Creating a Base Thing Definition

In the Catalog / Thing Definition page, you can create the Thing Definition that represent your base product in an abstract way.
You can define a hierarchy of thing definitions, where each level inherits common elements from the parent level.
In this way you can create a generic Thing Definition that is extended by more specific ones.
For instance, here below you can see a generic Machine Tool definition that is inherited by others, like Drilling Machine, Sawing Machine, and so on.

This thing definition will be used to define all the elements that are commons to more specific thing definitions.

  1. Click the Add Thing Definition button.

  2. Provide the required information and press Save.

Creating the Alpha Product Model

We are currently defining a generic product model, we can call it Alpha. When you go on to define the actual product models you want to manage, you can rename it whatever you like.
This Product Model is mandatory to register a thing in the DPS.

  1. Enter the Catalog / Product Models page.

  2. Click the Add Item button.


  3. Select Product Model.

  4. Enter the name (e.g. Alpha) and the pres Save.

  5. In the Thing Definition select the Base thing definition (or the one you created).

Creating an Alpha product instance

When configuring the DPS, and especially a thing definition, it is essential to be able to try the configuration in the DPS.

Here below you can find all the steps you can follow to manually create a new thing in the DPS representing the instance of your Alpha product model.

  1. In the Console you can leverage the User View function to impersonate a specific Persona in the DPS.
    In this case you should create a back-office user view, which is required to create a Thing that you can then use to try your configuration.

  2. Select the back-office user view and navigate the DPS.

  3. Enter the Customers page, select one of the sample customers already present, and then a location.
    In the alternative you can create your own customer to be used for development.

  4. From the Thing List in the location details page, click the Add Thing button.

  5. Enter the Name, the Serial Number.

  6. Select the Alpha product model and press Save to create the thing

  7. Selected the Connection panel and configure the IoT Connector.

  8. Provide the Asset ID (you can reuse the Serial Number) and press Save.

  9. In the Cloud panel you will see that the status changes from PROVISIONING to ACTIVE.
    This operation takes a few seconds, in the meantime the page is automatically updated.

Defining Status metric

Here we will see how to create metrics for the Base thing definition.
We can create, for instance, the Status metric which provide the machine operating status (e.g. STANDBY, WARMUP, HEATING, CUTTING, CLEANING), and which is common to all and more specific thing definitions.

  1. Enter the RAW Data page.

  2. Select the Base thing definition.


  3. Press the Add Metric button, and provide the required information.


  4. Press Confirm, the metric will be created.

  5. In the Mapping section verify whether it is ok for your machine.
    If not, you can change the mapping according to how your machine is publishing the operating status through the IoT Connector.  

Publishing IoT data

Now you are ready to publish data to the created thing, and to do this you can:

  • Publish data through the IoT Connector.
    This is feasible if you have a thing that is already publishing data, or if you are using a client capable of doing so (even emulated).

  • Use Virtual Thing based on CSV.
    This requires a CSV with sample data for each metric you want to publish.

  • Use Virtual Thing based on Data Mirroring.
    This requires a thing already registered and connected into another environment (e.g. PRODUCTION ā†’ DEVELOP).

Trying the configuration

Before continuing with more advanced concepts and use cases, now is the time to check the result of the configuration done so far.

  1. In the Console, select or create a new User View to impersonate a customer user.

  2. Navigate the DPS by using the customer user view.

  3. Enter the Machines page and select the thing associated to the Alpha product model.
    The predefined thing view is displayed.

When the Thing Definition is created, the default customer view is also created with some widgets helping you in the early configuration phases, so for the moment you donā€™t need to edit any template.
Within the predefined thing view you can find a single page with:

  • Metrics Data widget that displays the last values of all defined metrics.
    The widget is automatically refreshed every 30 seconds. You will see metrics highlighting in case a new value is detected.

  • Message Logger widget that display any incoming message to the IoT Connector.
    Note that, the widget is real time updated and there is no message history, so you need to keep the page open to see incoming messages.  

This allows you to check that all metrics are defined correctly. If you publish a message to the IoT Connector, you will see the incoming message in the Message Logger widget and a few seconds later the new metricā€™s value in the Metrics Data widget.