Manage industrial assets

What are digital industrial assets?

With IIoT Core, you can create digital twins, digital representations of real world industrial assets, also called digital industrial assets or assets for short. Digital industrial assets can be complex assets consisting of a large tree of child assets, or they can be small component-level assets.

Assets have metadata that you can use to define attributes such as the name of the asset, its location, and its sensors. You can attach its digital twin (if available) as well as one or more data routes that define how the asset data flows to its destination.

Process summary

You can build a digital industrial asset using the IIoT Core Services UI as follows:

Add an asset type to define an asset template and thereby simplifying the process of building an industrial asset.
Create an asset using that asset type as a template.
Repeat these steps to build the needed hierarchical asset structure by adding child assets to existing assets.
Verify the data routes associated with each asset in Create and view data routes for assets.
Use Hitachi Vantara’s ML Services component to build and train Machine Learning (ML) models. Hitachi Vantara will help you with modeling and creating digital twins. For more information, see the Machine learning service user documentation.
In the IIoT Core Services UI, attach Digital Twin types if available for the asset.

Working with asset types

Asset types are templates that provide a quick and consistent way of creating assets.

Add an asset type

You can add asset types on the Administration tab of the IIoT Core Services UI.

Procedure

In the IIoT Core Services UI, click the Administration tab, then click Asset Types.
Click Add Asset Type.
The Add Asset Type window opens.
Enter a meaningful, unique Asset Type Name.

NoteTo work properly, the asset type name must be unique. After the asset type is saved, the asset type name cannot be changed.
Enter an Asset Type Description that describes the purpose of the asset type.
Click + Add Attribute to add static attributes such as Location, Model ID, and Year.
An editable row is added to the Asset Attributes table.

Update the following fields in the editable Asset Attributes table row:

Field	Description
Required	Select the Required check box if the attribute is mandatory. When you select the Required check box, you cannot delete the attribute during asset creation.
Attribute Name	Enter a meaningful name for the attribute.
Type	Specify the data type for the attribute.
Default Value	Enter the default attribute value to use when creating an asset with this asset type. The default attribute must correspond to the specified Type.
Description	Describe the purpose of the attribute.
Action	Click Save to save the attribute.

NoteIf you enter an attribute that is not valid, an error message appears.

The table row is saved in the Asset Attributes table.

Click + Add Properties to add properties to the asset.
Asset properties are dynamic data received from the sensor, such as load or temperature. An editable row is added to the Asset Properties table.
Update the following fields in the editable Asset Properties table row:

Field Description
Property Name Enter a property name that indicates what kind of data is received.
Type Specify the data type for the sensor data.
Action Click Save to save the property.
The table row is saved in the Asset Properties table.
At the bottom of the window, click Save to save the asset type.

Field	Description
Property Name	Enter a property name that indicates what kind of data is received.
Type	Specify the data type for the sensor data.
Action	Click Save to save the property.

Results

The new asset type is created. You can view the new asset type at the top of the Asset Types page.

Edit an asset type

You can edit asset types on the Administration tab of the IIoT Core Services UI.

NoteAfter you create an asset type, you cannot change its name.

Before you begin

If an asset type is used by an asset, you must first delete the asset before you can edit the asset type.

Procedure

In the IIoT Core Services UI, click the Administration tab, and then click Asset Types.
The Asset Types window opens.
Navigate to the asset type that you want to edit, and then click the pencil icon .
The Edit Asset Type window opens.
NoteYou cannot edit an asset type if it is being used by an asset. If you attempt to edit an asset type that is used by an asset, an error message appears.
Edit the asset type.

NoteYou cannot edit the Asset Type Name.
Click Save to save changes.

Delete an asset type

You can delete an asset type in IIoT Core Services if it is not used by any assets.

Procedure

In the IIoT Core Services UI, click the Administration tab, and then click Asset Types.
The Asset Types window opens.
Navigate to the asset type that you want to edit, and then click the trash icon for the asset type that you want to delete.
If you receive an error, verify whether the asset type is used by one or more assets.
Click Delete in the confirmation window.

Results

The asset type is deleted and removed from the list on the Asset Types window.

Working with assets

You can create and manage industrial assets on the Asset tab in the IIoT Core Services UI.

On the asset inventory page, you can toggle between card view () and list view () to view existing assets. To understand how this affects the way you work with child assets, see View child assets.

Create an asset

You can use the following procedure both for creating top-level (parent) assets and for creating child assets in the IIoT Core Services UI. You can add child assets at any level in the Asset Structure pane.

Before you begin

Before creating assets, one or more asset types must be available. See Add an asset type.

Procedure

In the IIoT Core Services UI, select the Asset tab.
Perform one of the following steps:
- To create an asset without a parent, click Add Asset.
- To create a child asset, select the Actions menu for the asset in the Asset Structure pane, then Add Asset Child.

Complete the asset information on the Create Asset page:

Field	Description
Name	Enter a name for the asset. For asset management to work properly, the name has to be unique.
Parent Asset	Enter the ID of the parent asset, if any. If you are creating a child asset, this field is auto-populated with the name of the parent asset. If you are creating a top-level asset, this field is not applicable.
Asset Type	Select one of the predefined asset types from the list. If attributes and properties were added when the asset type was created, they appear in their respective sections below.
Description	Provide a description of the asset to clarify its purpose.
Image	Select an image of your choice to represent the asset.

Click Add Attribute to add static attributes to the asset, such as Model ID or Year.

Some asset types have predefined attributes. For those attributes, you can only modify the Value field. If an attribute is not required, you can delete it. Predefined asset types are created on the Asset Types sub-tab of the Administration tab (see Add an asset type).

Field	Description
Attribute Name	Enter a meaningful name for the attribute.
Type	View the data type for the attribute. This is specified when you create the asset type.
Value	Enter the attribute value. This value must correspond to the specified Type.
Description	Provide a short description of the attribute.
Action	Click Save to save the new or modified attribute. NoteFor predefined attributes, click Edit to edit the Value field.

Click Add Property to add properties to the asset..

Asset properties are dynamic data received from the asset, such as Load or Temperature.

Field	Description
Property Name	Enter a name that indicates what kind of sensor data is received.
Type	View the data type for the sensor data. This is specified when you create the asset type.
Action	Click Save to save the new or modified property.

At the bottom of the page, click Save to save the asset.

Results

If you created a child asset, the new asset is displayed under the parent asset where it was created in the Asset Structure pane. If you created a top-level asset, it is displayed as a top-level tree node and an asset card is added in the main window.

Edit an asset

You can edit an asset in the asset inventory using the IIoT Core Services UI. However, the asset name cannot be changed once it is created.

Procedure

In the IIoT Core Services UI, select the Asset tab to view the asset inventory.
In the Asset Structure pane, navigate to the relevant asset, double-click the asset, then click Edit.
Alternatively, select the Actions menu of a selected asset and then click Edit.
Make the necessary edits.

NoteYou cannot delete attributes that were set to Required when the asset type was created. To modify these settings, see Edit an asset type.
Click Save to save your changes.

Delete an asset

You can delete an asset in the IIoT Core Services UI only if it has no child assets.

CautionEach data route is associated with an asset, so deleting an asset also deletes any data routes associated with it.

Procedure

In the IIoT Core Services UI, select the Asset tab to enter the asset inventory.
Navigate to the location of the asset in the Asset Structure pane and select the Actions menu for the asset, then Delete.
Alternatively, browse the asset cards and select the Actions menu, then Delete.If the asset has any child assets, you must delete them first.
Click Delete to confirm that you want to delete the asset, otherwise click Cancel.

Results

The asset is removed from the Asset Structure pane and the asset card is removed from the main window.

View child assets

In both card view () and list view (), you can directly access and view the children of an asset.

In card view, a number appears next to Child Assets indicating the number of children. Select Child Assets to go to the child asset level.

In list view, there will be a number next to View indicating the number of children. Select View to go to the child asset level.

Pin an asset

You can pin assets for easy reference in both card and list views.

Procedure

In IIoT Core Services, select the Asset tab.
Select the Actions menu for any asset and select Pin / Unpin to pin an asset.
The pin on the asset card or row turns black when activated.
NoteTo unpin an asset, select the Actions menu and select Pin / Unpin.
(Optional) To view all pinned assets, turn on the Show pinned only toggle on the Assets inventory page.

Create and view data routes for assets

You can use the IIoT Core Services UI to create and manage data routes. For instructions, see Create a data route using the IIoT Core Services UI.

In the asset management part of the UI, you can see which data routes are associated with your asset using the following procedure.

Procedure

In the IIoT Core Services UI, select the Asset tab.
Click an asset in the Asset Structure navigation.
Alternatively, select View from the Actions menu of any given asset.
Click the Data Routes tab to view the data routes associated with the digital twin.
Click View for a route to see the data route information.

Activate and deactivate Digital Twin mode

When the Machine learning service is turned on and models are available, you can use the IIoT Core Services UI to select an ML model and activate Digital Twin mode.

For more information about Machine learning service and to create a Digital Twin type, contact your Hitachi Vantara representative.

Procedure

In the IIoT Core Services UI, select the Asset tab.
Click an asset in the Asset Structure navigation.
Alternatively, select View from the Actions menu of any given asset.
To add a Digital Twin model, select the Models tab and click Add Model.
The Add Model window opens.
Click the Available Models list and select a model.
Click Activate to activate Digital Twin mode.

Results

When successfully activated, IIoT Core receives data for the digital twin.

Next steps

View its status and analysis on the Insights and Events tabs.

View insights for digital twins

Once a digital twin has been activated, you can use the IIoT Core Services UI to gain analytical insights.

Procedure

In the IIoT Core Services UI, select the Asset tab.
Click an asset in the Asset Structure navigation.
Alternatively, select View from the Actions menu of any given asset.
Click the Insights tab to view anomaly scores and other analytics.
Browse the time scale to get information about other time segments.

View digital twin events

Once a digital twin has been activated, you can examine events at different timepoints and related analytics.

Procedure

In the IIoT Core Services UI, select the Asset tab.
Click an asset in the Asset Structure navigation.
Alternatively, select View from the Actions menu of any given asset.
Click the Events tab to view the event history.
Click View for a given event timestamp to the event report details.