Emerson’s new Edge solution democratises operational data

Emerson has launched the DeltaV Edge Environment, an integrated software solution that expands the capabilities of the evolving DeltaV automation platform to provide an operational technology (OT) sandbox for data manipulation, analysis, organisation and more.

Teams can deploy and execute applications to run key artificial intelligence (AI) engines and analytics close to the data source with seamless, secure connectivity to contextualised OT data across the cloud and enterprise. The DeltaV Edge Environment empowers teams to more quickly deliver operational improvements tied to productivity, sustainability and other business objectives.

Valuable data in intelligent devices, machines and systems helps enable enterprise-wide analytics, expands operational insight and feeds the AI engines catalysing innovation. However, OT data is often trapped beneath layers of systems and networks, adding complexity and removing meaningful context.

The DeltaV Edge Environment expands the horizons of the distributed control system (DCS), creating a secure data superhighway where users can seamlessly socialize contextualised data directly with cloud and enterprise applications while also leveraging a built-in execution sandbox—a testing environment for critical innovation tasks such as generating dashboards, running applications and training AI tools.

“Operations and IT increasingly rely on data from the control system to optimise production and increase intelligence for OT improvements, sustainability and other digital transformation initiatives,” said Claudio Fayad, vice president of technology for Emerson’s process systems and solutions business.

“The DeltaV Edge Environment is the first step in defining the control system of the future, extending the DeltaV DCS with the capability to move data and configuration easily and securely while simultaneously empowering users to drive innovation as they safely run applications and scripts inside the DCS.”

The DeltaV Edge Environment helps production teams meet their need to more easily and securely engage with automation data and manipulate it into actionable information to steer digital transformation. A single, encrypted, outbound-only flow of data helps authorized users ensure they have constant access to near real-time data without risk of users accessing the control system—a common risk with traditional custom-engineered solutions.

Users can run applications for visualisation, analytics, alarm management, digital twin simulations and other needs with the contextualised data available on the DeltaV Edge Environment. OT teams will know the rich data they use is a precise replica, always up to date and fully reflective of the current operating condition.

The DeltaV Edge Environment leverages open, common protocols such as OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) to provide contextualised data while standard application programming interfaces like representational state transfer architectural style (REST API) and scripting tools like Python provide the sandbox environment in which users can design and run applications.