Architectures such as IIoT, and Industrie 4.0 crave access to information which an FDT enabled system already provides. So how can we make this information more available across the enterprise securely? The FDT Group and the OPC Foundation have been collaborating to provide off-the-shelf interoperability between two prominent, open standards: FDT Technology and OPC UA (Unified Architecture). So, what does this mean to the industry?
The FDT standard is uniquely positioned in the automation industry and architecture as the device integration solution enabling interoperability and movement of intelligent data across process and factory networks to a single interface providing access to commissioning, diagnostic, prognostic, and other higher level data. By interlinking FDT and OPC UA, a secure and reliable exchange of data between client applications facilitates FDT enterprise integration. Imagine FDT users having the ability to request a secure connection with an FDT OPC UA server that is able to access topology, health, real-time, and other higher level data from a well-connected FDT UA server. This is all done by making these rich data sources available to an OPC UA architecture with data mapping to the OPC UA data model presenting it in a standardized fashion. The FDT Frame or host application is then configured as an OPC UA server.
The added value and scope to the enterprise enabled by uniting FDT and OPC UA together is well underway and will offer users and vendors the competitive edge bringing sensor to cloud integration a reality, and scalability into the Industrie 4.0 and IIoT era a step closer.
FDT/OPC UA On-Demand Webinar
To help inform the industry about the progress of the FDT/OPC UA project our technical working group committee has released a substantial body of work and is available to you via a 30 minute On-Demand Webinar hosted by FDT project manager, Dr. Thomas Hadlich.
