Cloud interface for smart Festo products

The CPX-IOT Gateway module securely connects components and devices from the field level to the Cloud and through the MyDashboards web browser, providing access to visual, easy-to-navigate dashboards. It provides live data and historical trending of component data points, error status and overall condition monitoring so engineers can adapt their processes accordingly.

All Festo smart products are equipped with a type label which includes a Data Matrix code called the Festo Product Key. The CPX-IOT Gateway instantly recognises the connected device from its Product Key. It then automatically displays the relevant data for that device type in a pre-configured dashboard, removing the need for users to have extensive programming and web-design capabilities.

In designing the CPX-IOT Gateway module, Festo first looked at best cyber-security practice and then applied this to the automation world. The result is a device with a secure on-boarding process. The gateway collects information about Festo devices and their statuses via an Ethernet connection and a standardised communication protocol such as OPC UA. It then sends that information to the Cloud via a second Ethernet connection, using IoT protocols such as AMQP or MQTT.

The use of standard industrial technologies ensures that the cost of the CPX-IOT Gateway is highly competitive and opens the possibility of its use to a wider customer base. Data is exported to and stored in a Festo cloud hosted within the EU by Microsoft Azure, which also provides the user and security management.

The CPX-IOT Gateway has been tested to work with enterprise-grade firewall vendors like Cisco, Fortinet, or SonicWall. It has also been demonstrated to connect to the Siemens Mindsphere and Rockwell Automation FactoryTalk Cloud Solutions.