How to Log MTConnect Data to Cassandra

Open Automation Software can be configured to connect to MTConnect endpoints using the MTConnect connector and log the data to a Cassandra database. This guide walks you through downloading and installing OAS, configuring a MTConnect connector with automatic tag generation and logging to a Cassandra database.

For this guide on how to log MTConnect data to Cassandra you will need:

• A Cassandra cluster and keyspace with appropriate permissions to create tables and read/write data

1 - Download and Install OAS

If you have not already done so, you will need to download and install the OAS platform.

Fully functional trial versions of the software are available for Windows, Windows IoT Core, Linux, Raspberry Pi and Docker on our downloads page.

On Windows, run the downloaded setup.exe file to install the Open Automation Software platform. For a default installation, Agree to the End User License Agreement and then click the Next button on each of the installation steps until it has completed.

If you'd like to customize your installation or learn more, use the following instructions:

• Windows Installation
• Linux Installation
• Raspberry Pi Installation
• Docker Installation

The OAS Service Control application will appear when the installation finishes on Windows.

Click on each START SERVICE button to start each of the three OAS services.

2 - Configure OAS

Web Configuration Application

Configuration of the OAS server is performed from the built-in Web Configuration Application. This is the main application for accessing any settings within the OAS server and is completely self-contained within the server.

You can reach this by opening your browser to:

http://<your server>:58725/app/config

If you are browsing from the OAS machine itself, you can use localhost, otherwise use the IP address of the machine. You will also need to ensure port 58725 is open on both the client and the server or you may not be able to reach the application.

On a new installation the OAS engine has no accounts yet, so the first screen you see is Create Admin Account. Once the administrator account exists that screen is not shown again, and browsing to the application displays the sign in screen instead.

1. Enter a name for the administrator in the Admin user name field. Typically you would use admin, but you can use whatever name you choose.

2. Enter a password in the Password field, then enter the same password again in the Confirm password field.

3. Click on the Create admin & sign in button. The account is created and you are signed in to the engine.

To sign in from then on, enter the Network node of the OAS engine, then the Username and Password of your account, and click on the Sign in button.

Legacy Configuration Application

1. From your operating system start menu, open the Configure OAS application.

2. Select the Configure > Tags screen.

   Important

   If this is the first time you have installed OAS, the AdminCreate utility will run when you select a screen in the Configure menu. This will ask you to create a username and password for the admin user. This user will have full permissions in the OAS platform.

   For further information see Getting Started - Security.

3. If this is the first time you are logging in, you will see the AdminCreate utility. Follow the prompts to set up your admin account. Otherwise, select the Log In menu button and provide the Network Node, username and password.

   

   

3 - Configure MT Connect Data Source

In the following steps you will create and configure an MT Connect Connector that connects to a publicly available endpoint. It will also make use of automatic tag generation.

1. Select Drivers in the sidebar.

2. Click + Add, enter a meaningful Driver Interface Name to give this driver interface instance a unique name, and click Create. Once created, the driver interface name should appear in the list of drivers. Then set Driver to MTConnect.

3. Provide a Live Data Url to connect to an MTConnect endpoint. The driver starts with the address of Mazak's public demo agent, which is the endpoint this guide uses. The app flags that address because it polls Mazak's demo agent over the internet rather than a machine on your network - outside of this walkthrough, replace it with your own agent's URL, for example http://<agent-host>:5000.

4. Specify the Interval at which to poll the endpoint.

   

5. Turn on Enable and click on the Apply changes button. The driver interface is not active until it is enabled and the changes are applied.

   

4 - Automatic Tag Generation

The MTConnect endpoint provides a schema that allows OAS to automatically create Tags for the data points defined in the schema.

1. Select Tags in the sidebar.

2. You will see a Tag Group that matches the name of the MTConnect driver you created. The MTConnect driver creates all of the Tag Groups and Tags within this parent Tag Group.

   

3. You can remove any Tags or even entire Tag Groups that you do not need by right-clicking on a Tag or Tag Group and selecting Delete Tag or Delete Group.

5 - Configure Data Logging

You will now configure data logging to a Cassandra database.

1. Select Data Logging in the sidebar.

2. Click + Add, enter a meaningful Logging Group Name to give this data logging group a unique name, and click Create. Once created, the data logging group name should appear in the list of logging groups. A data logging group is simply a data logging configuration for a set of Tags.

3. In the Common section leave all the default values. This will create a configuration that uses Continuous logging with a 1 second Logging Rate. This simply means, log data at a rate of 1 second.

   

4. In the Tags section you will add all of the Tags that you want to log. Each Tag will be a field (column) in the database. Click on the Add button to bring up the Browse for Tag window.

5. Select the Tag you want to add and then click on the Use this tag button. For example, the servotemp1 tag has a tag path of MTConnect Source.HCN001.base.X.servotemp1.Value.

   

   Tips

   Each Tag has dozens of properties that are available for you to access. The Value property is selected for you, shown at the bottom of the window as TagName.Value. It is the most commonly used property as it presents the Tag's current value. This is what we want to log to the database.

6. The Database tag window will appear. This is where you set the database field name (column name) and the database data type that will be used. The most common types will be Double Float, Boolean, Integer and String.

   The Field name is filled in for you from the Tag name. Let's replace it with Temperature. Now click on the OK button.

   

7. The Tag will appear in the list of Tags to be logged.

   

8. In the Database section you will configure the database type and connection parameters:

   • Turn on Log to Database to enable logging to a database
   • Set Provider to Cassandra
   • Set Server to your Cassandra server (e.g., localhost)
   • Set Database to oas_logging
   • Set Table to a table name such as Temperatures
   • Set User Name to a user with permissions to manage the oas_logging database
   • Set Password to the user password

   

9. Return to the Common section and turn on Logging Active. New logging groups are created inactive, so this is what starts the group logging.

   

10. Click on the Apply changes button to apply the data logging group configuration.

    

11. Your database logging group is now active.

6 - Save Changes

Once you have successfully configured your OAS instances, make sure you save your configuration.

On each configuration page that has a Save button, click on it.

If this is the first time you are saving the configuration, or if you are changing the name of the configuration file, OAS will ask you if you want to change the default configuration file.

If you select Yes then OAS will make this configuration file the default and if the OAS service is restarted then this file will be loaded on start-up.

If you select No then OAS will still save your configuration file, but it will not be the default file that is loaded on start-up.