Remote Control

Remote control allows DPS users to interact with connected products remotely, sending commands to be executed or parameters to be updated on their machines.

In the same way, as for the Remote Monitoring configuration guide, here you will see how to configure the DPS in order to implement the Remote Control use case leveraging Commands execution, Parameters and Firmware update.

Before starting with the configuration of Commands and Parameters, we suggest you check that your connected product is correctly subscribed to remote updates, and this depends on the IoT Connector you are using.

Parameters

This is a step-by-step guide describing how to define parameters and let DPS users to deal with them.

Defining Parameters

1. Enters the Remote Control / Parameters page and switch to the Thing Definition you are developing.
   
   
   

2. Press the Add Parameter button, enter the label, name and type of the parameter being created and press Save.
   Parameters can be created manually one to one, or instead you can use the CSV import functionality to create all the parameters in a bulk way. We suggest creating a single parameter manually to become familiar with the required information.
   
   
   

   Once you have created the parameter you can finalize its configuration:

   1. Define how the parameter is edited in the DPS by selecting the right type and rendering options (e.g. selection).

   2. Specify the mapping required to correctly exchange values with remote products into IoT payloads.
      In addition, you can also configure read/write encoding options and value transformers.

Displaying Parameters

If not yet done, create the thing definition tab that to let DPS user to update parameters.

Parameters can be edited/changed by DPS users through one of the following widgets:

• Configuration Parameters: this control widget displays a single page box with multiple parameters inside, each one using a different editor according to the parameter type and rendering options.  

• Knob: this control widget displays a gear the user can rotate to adjust the parameter value. We recommend its use within mobile views.

Commands

This is a step-by-step guide describing how to define commands and let DPS users to deal with them.

Defining Commands

Compared to parameters that require manual editing of values by the DPS user, the commands are simple buttons to press.

1. Enters the Remote Control / Commands page and switch to the Thing Definition you are developing.
   
   
   

2. Press the Add Command button, enter the name of the command being created and press Save.
   Commands can be created manually one to one, or instead you can use the CSV import functionality to create all the commands in a bulk way. We suggest creating a single command manually to become familiar with the required information.
   
   
   

   Once you have created the command you can finalize its configuration:

   1. Define the Label and Description that will be displayed in the DPS pages.

   2. Define additions command parameters to be sent to the remote product when the command is triggered from the DPS page.

   3. Define additional metric-based conditions used to identify whether the command is enabled, running or is ON/OFF.
      By defining the ON Condition, you can also specify which parameters must be sent according to the command status.
      This allows you to implement toggle commands (e.g. Turn light On / OFF).  

   4. Specify the mapping required to correctly exchange values with remote products into IoT payloads.
      In addition, you can also configure read/write encoding options and value transformers.

Displaying Commands

If not yet done, create the thing definition tab that to let DPS user to execute commands.

Commands can be executed by DPS users through one of the following widgets:

• Commands: this control widget displays a single page box with multiple commands inside.

Firmware

This is a step-by-step guide describing how to define firmware and let DPS users to deal with them.

Defining Firmware

A firmware is a package that the connected product can download and install on demand.
Note that the DPS is not responsible for managing the firmware installation, but merely sends firmware update commands to remote devices.

In the Console you can define a new firmware version by entering the Remote Update / Firmware page.
You can define as many firmware you need (e.g. main controller, motor driver, sensors), but the couple name and version must be unique.

Updating Firmware

If not yet done, create the thing definition tab that to let DPS user to execute commands.

The firmware update can be managed by using the thing firmware widget, which automatically verify the presence of new firmware versions and propose the update.

For more details about how to integrate the firmware update into your connected prodcts refer to this guide.

Creating the Control tab

1. Verify that the user types associated with the Customer view you are configuring have the permission to perform remote control.  

2. Go to the Customer View you have defined in the Remote Monitoring guide, and add a new tab.
   Here are some suggested names: Control, Settings, Configuration.
   In the alternative, you can place parameters and commands into different tabs according to their purpose.

3. Once the tabbed page has been created, edit the new template and insert the necessary widgets for the remote control.

User Permissions for remote control

Each user accessing the DPS are associated with a User Type (e.g. Back-office Admin) which has a set of permissions defining what the user can see and do in the DPS.

Here are the permissions involved in the Remote Control and their effect in DPS data access and UI.