Integrate with machines
To integrate with machines, write a connector app.
Connector apps are a type of Actyx app, whose purpose is to connect with equipment or software outside of the Actyx swarm.
In some cases, the machine you are integrating will provide a network-based interface such as OPC UA, MQTT or fieldbuses like PROFINET or EtherCAT. In that case, the architecture is relatively simple: run your connector app on your node and interact with the machine over the network.
Node-RED is a tool that allows you graphically construct data flows. It can be quite useful for such scenarios. Node-RED also provides several protocol-specific connector nodes (e.g. OPC UA) out-of-the-box.
If the machine you are integrating does not have any network-based interfaces, you will have to take a slightly more complex approach. In such cases, you must connect indirectly to the I/Os of the PLC or sensors/actuators on the machine.
Since most edge devices don't have I/Os, you use a Digital I/O Converter that sits between the machine's I/Os and the Actyx edge device and translates the I/O signals into a network data stream. You then access this stream from your connector app.
Check out the W&T Web-IO Connectors if you are looking for a way to translate I/Os to MQTT. They have been successfully used with connector apps running on Actyx.