An issue not to be underestimated when designing the data flow between the various Layers L0, L1, L2, and L3 is the type of data required, but also its integration, aggregation, and scalability over time.

Using a unified machine connection system, through an exclusive software layer, we can acquire only a portion of the data required for potentially implementable ERP and MES functions.

A concrete example is the measurement of quantities associated with a product in progress:

All these measurements have a common factor: acquisition speed, which undoubtedly requires hardware and signal conditioning.

Certainly, some of these could already be acquired and/or managed by PLC machine automation,

but even then, it's not guaranteed that the PLC will meet the required performance requirements.

In some cases, the supplier of the individual measurement devices could propose or make available dedicated hardware devices for data acquisition, as requested, but with additional costs both in terms of cost and integration.

The concept of virtualization, or the separation of the software component from the hardware, has been around for many years in the IT world.

These concepts can also be applied today in the industrial world, where a scalable

industrial hardware platform (CPU and RAM) can be shared by many software services.

Its name is PAC: Programmable Automation Controller.

A data acquisition system is an electronic measurement system designed to monitor, record, and

possibly post-process the measurements of one or more physical quantities.

In practice, data acquisition systems can consist of multiple devices. Indeed, it is often necessary to adapt the transducer signals to the inputs of the recording instruments (signal conditioning).

Furthermore, the instrumentation multiplies when recording multiple quantities simultaneously.

The entire system, from the sensor applied to the measured to the support for the recording instrument,constitutes a measurement chain.

Although most of these systems have their own input/output devices (displays,

monitors, push-button panels, keyboards, etc.) that allow the user to monitor the measurements and settings of the equipment, some do not. These include systems designed to be installed on board the machine, in locations that are difficult to reach or where space is too limited to install user interfaces.

Because they are high-performance systems and typically expensive because they must cover a variety of measurement cases, these devices are not installed on machines and systems in a fixed form with continuous measurement, but are used in the presence of active anomalies.

Industrial sensors have long been considered basic components—silent devices installed to measure temperature, pressure, vibration, vision, flow, or humidity. For decades, their role was limited to data collection and process monitoring. Today, however, industrial sensors have evolved into strategic value creators. They form the foundation of digital transformation across manufacturing, energy, logistics, and infrastructure, enabling smarter decisions, lower costs, improved safety, and new business models.

In the era of Industry 4.0/5.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), sensors are no longer just tools of measurement—they are engines of economic and operational value.

The advantages of EtherCAT™ P include:

The TwinCAT™ Storage Provider is a Beckhoff® system service that allows TwinCAT™ runtime components (mainly PLC applications) to store persistent data safely and hardware‑independently.

It is designed for reliable, structured persistence, not for raw file streaming or high‑speed logging.

We have developed two services, that acquire raw data from the Storage Provider and convert it into HDF5, Parquet or JSON, before forwarding it to the Cloud.

Below is a practical, architecture‑level explanation of Telemetry for Edge Platform Monitoring, written for industrial / edge environments.

• Centralized control, monitoring, and configuration of distributed industrial devices

• Edge deployment model

• Flexible runtime architecture to support scalable and modular rollouts across plants

• Measurement collection

• Reliable acquisition of operational data for performance tracking and optimization

• Event and alert handling

• Real-time detection and routing of anomalies, alarms, and process deviations

• Telemetry and monitoring

• Visibility into the health and behavior of edge platforms and runtime components

• Edge-to-Cloud architecture

• Demand for unified, scalable solutions from field-level devices to cloud analytics

• Full-Stack implementation

• Requirement for integrated software covering device, edge, and cloud layers.

• Skills and expertise

• Need for vertical expertise in automation, connectivity, and industrial software stacks.

• Missing off-the-shelf products

• Lack of ready-made industrial solutions tailored to specific domains.

Is an alternative operating system developed by Beckhoff® for select Beckhoff® industrial PC platforms. It combines the TwinCAT™ runtime with FreeBSD, a reliable and industrially tested open source operating system. Here are some key points about TwinCAT/TcBsd™.

TwinCAT/TcBsd™ integrates the TwinCAT™ runtime with FreeBSD. For many years, Windows CE was the

main operating system for Beckhoff® industrial PCs. With the foreseeable demise of Windows CE™,

TwinCAT/TcBsd™ offers an alternative that combines the advantages of Windows CE with those of larger Windows™ systems (such as Windows 7™ and Windows 10/11™).

FreeBSD is an open source Unix-compatible operating system originally from Berkeley Software

Distribution (BSD). It is continuously developed, improved, and optimized by a large group

of developers. Beckhoff® chose FreeBSD for its BSD license, which allows for seamless

TwinCAT™ integration without licensing issues. FreeBSD supports both

32-bit and 64-bit platforms, making it versatile for various hardware configurations.

Bhyve, pronounced "beehive," is a hypervisor and virtual machine manager for FreeBSD. It supports

a wide range of guest operating systems on Intel and AMD processors with the "POPCNT" feature.

It also has experimental support for ARM64/aarch64 processors with gic0: ARM Generic Interrupt Controller v3.0. Its features include multiple storage and

networking backends, UEFI, FreeBSD loader, GRUB boot, PCI Pass-Through (PPT), integrated VNC, and servers.