After edgeConnector Siemens for connecting SIMATIC S7 controllers and edgeConnector 840D for accessing data from SINUMERIK 840D controllers, Softing introduces edgeConnector Modbus. This Docker Container is suitable for connecting Modbus TCP controllers e.g., from Schneider Electric, Wago, Beckhoff or Phoenix Contact, to industrial IoT applications. edgeConnector Modbus can also be used to collect energy data or other process variables from Modbus-compatible sensors.
An integrated OPC UA server enables simple and secure data connection to higher-level management systems, such as ERP, MES or process visualization systems. As a further communication protocol, MQTT makes it possible to integrate control data directly into private or public IoT cloud applications. "By using container technology, our edgeConnector products are very quickly started up and running. They are operated on standard hardware and can be managed easily from a central platform. In this way, we offer our customers a simple and secure option for integrating data from production into innovative and flexible Industrial IoT solutions," says Sebastian Schenk, product manager at Softing Industrial.
All edgeConnector products support state-of-the-art security standards such as SSL/TLS, X.509 certificates, authentication, and data encryption. They are easy to configure locally via an integrated web interface or can be managed remotely via a REST API. For the future, Softing plans to further expand the edgeConnector product family to enable Ethernet/IP connectivity for Rockwell and Omron controllers.
There are also plans to expand the configuration options from the cloud. edgeConnector Modbus can be downloaded from online directories such as Docker Hub or Microsoft Azure Marketplace and tested for free.