ValuPoint® VP6-1460 IoT Edge Server for Modbus
Control Solutions’ ValuPoint VP6-1460 connects physical I/O (e.g. sensors) to the Internet. In addition, the VP6-1460 turns any Modbus device into a Thing on the Internet of Things.
Smart I/O and Modbus to MQTT Gateway
Control Solutions’ ValuPoint VP6-1460 connects physical I/O (e.g. sensors) to the Internet. In addition, the VP6-1460 turns any Modbus device into a Thing on the Internet of Things. The VP6-1460 will continuously monitor connected sensors. The VP6-1460 will also poll one or more Modbus RTU and/or Modbus TCP devices, collecting data from the list of registers you provide. Based on rules you create, the VP6-1460 will decide if and when to publish that data to the MQTT broker (server). You can also configure the VP6-1460 MQTT client to subscribe to data coming from the MQTT broker, which you can then write out to local I/O or Modbus devices to manage setpoints and the like.
ThingsBoard Support
The VP6-1460 MQTT client includes support for ThingsBoard's unique MQTT API that allows you to connect your VP6-1460 data points to dashboard widgets such as gauges, knobs, buttons, and charts.
AWS IoT Support
The VP6-1460 includes everything necessary to connect to Amazon Web Services (AWS) IoT support using MQTT. Once the IoT connection is made, your VP6-1460 data can make its way to an AWS database, AWS notification services (e.g. email alerts, text messages), and a variety of analytics tools including QuickSight which makes it quite easy to quickly graph your data.
Mosquitto MQTT Support
The VP6-1460 MQTT client works well with the widely used open source community supported Mosquitto MQTT broker available at https://mosquitto.org. Simply turn off features unique to ThingsBoard or AWS IoT when using Mosquitto MQTT.
Cloud Not Required!
The VP6-1460 is also suitable for stand-alone remote monitoring use. The VP6-1460 includes alarm monitoring with email notifications using its internal secure email client, local data logging with CSV files emailed to you instead of sending data to the cloud, and a real time scheduler for date and time scheduling.
Feature Highlights
• MQTT Client supports AWS IoT Core, Mosquitto MQTT, ThingsBoard
• Simple template based setup of MQTT Publish and Subscribe
• 12 Analog/universal inputs, software selectable types
• 2 Discrete outputs
• Modbus RTU Master or Slave
• Modbus TCP Client and Server
• Secure local email client
• Local data logging
• Real time scheduler
• Local user programming with Script Basic
• User HTML support for adding custom web pages
• Configure via secure web pages
• IPv4 and IPv6 support
• FCC, CE Mark, UL 916 Listed
Connect Sensors, Relays, and Modbus Devices to the Internet of Things!
The MQTT “publish” action in the ValuPoint, in controls terms, is most closely associated with sensors. Your hardware has collected sensor data, and you want to send that sensor data to a server or to other control devices. To send that data, you “publish” it to the MQTT broker.
The MQTT “subscribe” action, in controls terms, is most closely associated with actuators. The “subscribe” action would also be associated with control setpoints. You can never force data into a device via MQTT. The device, in our case the VP6-1460, must subscribe to the source of data effectively asking to be informed of changes. Once you have subscribed to an MQTT source of data, then when received, you can use that data to control actuators or update setpoints.
Options for MQTT broker include Amazon AWS IoT, Mosquitto MQTT, and ThingsBoard. You can host Mosquitto MQTT or the community edition of ThingsBoard on your own server if you wish. Any commercial MQTT broker derived from or compatible with Mosquitto MQTT is also likely to work just fine.
The VP6-1460 is capable of more than just transferring data between local devices and the MQTT broker. It includes Script Basic built in to provide easy-to-use local programming for data analysis and local decision making. This capability is referred to as Edge Computing in IoT terminology.
VP6-1460 Works Equally Well as Stand-Alone Remote Monitoring Device
The VP6-1460 includes a secure local email client that will directly email you notifications of alarm events. The event rule template has all of the same power and flexibility as the MQTT publish template. You can implement stand-alone remote alarm monitoring on multiple data points, and send different notifications to different people.
The email message template lets you fully customize the message that is sent. You can use any email account including Gmail to send emails from the VP6-1460. The template includes variables which insert real time data from the VP6-1460 as the email is sent.
The VP6-1460 includes local data logging capability that can be used instead of sending data to the cloud. You select which data points are logged to a local CSV file. This file is then emailed to you periodically. You select logging rate and when files should be sent. You also have the option of logging at a slower rate most of the time, but then log faster when an event of interest is in progress.
VP6-1460 IoT Edge Server Features
• 12 Analog/universal inputs
• 0-10VDC, thermistor, discrete, dry contact, pulse count
• 0.1% reference, 12-bit A/D resolution
• Software selectable input types
• Non-volatile totalizing count inputs
(to 2Hz on all channels, to 1kHz on 4 channels)
• 2 Discrete outputs
• Form A relay
• 2A @ 120VAC
• 2A @ 30VDC• MQTT Client supports AWS IoT Core, Mosquitto MQTT, ThingsBoard
• Simple template based setup of MQTT Publish and Subscribe
• Secure local email client for stand-alone notifications
• Local data logging for stand-alone remote monitoring
• Real time scheduler
• Modbus RTU RS-485 Master or Slave
• Modbus TCP Client and Server
• Supported RTU baud rates: 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, and 115200.
• Modbus TCP over Ethernet 10/100BaseT
• Up to 2000 local registers
• 16, 32, 64-bit integer, 32 or 64-bit IEEE 754 floating point, Mod10
• ASCII character string support (UTF-8)
• Supports Modbus “coils”, input registers, holding registers
• Modbus register mapping configured via web interface
• Modbus (master) polling interval configurable per point
• Local user programming with Script Basic
• Configure via web pages, HTTP and/or secure HTTPS
• Flash file system for XML configuration files, SSL certificates
• Online help, Quick Help section at bottom of every web page
• Password protection for web log-on and ftp
• Field upgradeable firmware upload via ftp
• DHCP or static IP address, IPv4 and IPv6 support
• Isolated EIA-485 transceiver for Modbus RTU
• Powered by 18-30VDC or 24VAC 50/60 Hz Class 2, 0.3A max
• DIN rail mounting, 100mm H x 70mm W x 60mm D
• Pluggable screw terminal blocks
• Operating temperature -40°C to +80°C; Humidity 5% to 90%
• FCC Class A, CE Mark
• Listed to UL 916 and (Canadian) C22.2 No. 205-M1983
Maximum Object Counts and System Capacities for VP6-1460
VP6-1460 allows user allocation of memory resources. Memory capacity will not support maximum counts of everything possible, but maximum count limits are set high so that you can allocate resources where you need them.
• Maximum Modbus registers 2000
• Maximum IoT Thing Attributes 100
• Maximum Modbus RTU device count 240
• Modbus RTU read map count 1000
• Modbus RTU write map count 1000
• Maximum Modbus TCP device count 200
• Modbus TCP Client read mapcount 1000
• Modbus TCP Client write map count 1000
• Maximum event rules 1000
• Maximum weekly scheduler events 1000
• Maximum on-demand scheduler events 1000