Modeling IoT Environments
Devices, sensors, and actuators can be modeled and registered to the MBP either separately or as part of a specific IoT environment. The second option additionally enables the user to model the connections among devices, sensors, and actuators in the IoT environment. For this, the MBP provides a graphical, drag-and-drop tool for the modeling of IoT environments.
To use the MBP environment modeling tool, press the Environment Modelsbutton in the dashboard and then the ➕ button. Alternative: Main Navigation > Environment Models > ➕ button.
In the MBP environment modeling tool, you can provide a name and a description for your IoT environment. Then you can drag elements from Device types, Sensor types, and Actuator types on the left and drop them onto the modeling area on the right. Press 💾 to save your current model.
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Connecting devices to sensors/actuators in the environment model: a connection can be created by clicking on the green square 🟩 of a device and dragging a line to another sensor, actuator or device.
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Editing properties of devices, sensors and actuators: before registering your IoT environment, you need to provide property values, such as
NameandIP addressof your device. For this, click on your device to select it (blue border shall appear), and click on ℹ️ (Open properties) to show theDevice settingsdialog. Do the same to edit the property values of your sensors and actuators (:warning: operators are required to be already created, see how to register operators).
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Registering devices, sensors and actuators of your IoT environment model: once your IoT environment is modeled and saved, it can automatically be registered with the MBP through the button
Register☁️ in the upper toolbar. Successfully registered components are marked with a yellow circle 🟡. After registration, basic monitoring information about IoT objects can be already visualized in dashboards, such as network accessibility of IoT devices.
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Installing operators: to install the operators for your sensors and actuators on the corresponding IoT devices, click the button for
Install🔽 on the upper toolbar. Upon successful installation, sensors and actuators are marked with a blue circle 🔵.
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Starting operators: installed operators can be started by clicking the button
▶️ . Successfully started sensors and actuators are marked with a green circle 🟢.
- Visualizing sensor values: the most recent received value of a sensor (for example 20.5 °C in the above figure) can be visualized in the MBP environment modeling tool, which is updated from time to time to show newer sensor values.
For registering devices, sensors, and actuators individually, see:
