MQTT with Horner Automation

• MQTT is a low bandwidth push messaging protocol suitable for many Industrial IOT (IIoT) applications and commonly used in industrial automation processes.
• MQTT protocol allows operators to easily publish machine data to a server, thus allowing unprecedented data exchange and control.
• It is available and built-in with all Horner HMI / PLC all-in-one controllers: Horner OCS devices.

MQTT, or Message Queue Telemetry Transport, is a publish/subscribe messaging protocol originally for resource-constrained devices over low-bandwidth networks. It is useful as an IoT protocol because it has a small footprint and is reasonably simple to use. Furthermore, it features push architecture, which can solve problems with a typical Commander/Responder (Master/Slave) polled response model and is inherently more secure.

Using MQTT in Industrial Automation Control

MQTT allows our HMIs / PLCs to connect to a server, called a broker, and publish data to it. Any device or program that wants to receive the data can subscribe to that channel on the broker. The broker does not examine the data payload itself. However, it simply passes it as a message from each publisher to all subscribers, which allows the use of low bandwidth networks.

The publish/subscribe approach has advantages for general IoT applications. First, push architecture is inherently more secure because it avoids the Client/Server or Commander/Responder architecture problem. Thus, it allows devices to make outbound connections without opening any firewall ports. Furthermore, by using a central broker, it’s possible to establish many-to-many connections, which allows multiple devices to connect to multiple clients.

Learn More About MQTT (Sparkplug)

The Horner name is synonymous with automation controllers with a built-in operator interface and I/O. Now, Horner Automation also provides software that allows customers to remotely monitor and control machines. Click here to download: https://hornerautomation.eu/remote-monitoring-and-control-of-automation-applications/?cmdm_direct_download_id=40464.

Download Horner’s Demo Program

To see this in action, download our MQTT demo program with configuration using mosquitto as the broker. Click here to download our Demo: https://hornerautomation.eu/remote-monitoring-and-control-of-automation-applications/?cmdm_direct_download_id=40468.

This demo requires Cscape, which is Horner’s free configuration software and it also does not require a purchase of an automation controller to get started. Click here to download Cscape: https://hornerautomation.com/cscape-software-free/cscape-software/.