edge_parser plugin for MADS

This is a Source plugin for MADS.

Required MADS version: 2.4.0.

Supported platforms

Currently, the supported platforms are:

• Linux
• MacOS
• Windows

Installation

Linux and MacOS:

cmake -Bbuild -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="$(mads -p)"
cmake --build build -j4
sudo cmake --install build

Windows:

cmake -Bbuild -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="$(mads -p)"
cmake --build build --config Release
cmake --install build --config Release

INI settings

The plugin supports the following settings in the INI file:

[edge_parser]
broker_host = "127.0.0.1"
broker_port = 1883
silent = false
QoS = 2
topic = "#"
pub_topic = "edge"
state = ["X", "Y", "Z", "SP", "A", "C"]
wire_format = "msgpack"

All settings are optional; if omitted, the default values are used.

The state option deserves special attention: it defines the names of the six fields that will be created in the output for the machine state values received from the Edge controller. This is useful because the machine can expose a different naming convention for the values it sends, and the user can customize those field names directly in mads.ini so that the plugin matches the actual machine data.

For example, if the Edge controller sends state values that correspond to different labels for the machine axes or motion values, the user can simply change the state array to match those names. The plugin will then emit output fields such as out["X"], out["Y"], etc., or with the custom labels configured by the user, making the data easier to integrate with the rest of the MADS workflow.

Usage

This plugin is intended to receive data streamed from an Edge controller through MQTT and then parse it so it can be processed by MADS. To make this work correctly, the network must be configured properly before starting the data stream.

The Edge controller and the PC running the MQTT broker must be directly connected with an Ethernet cable. The PC must be configured with a static IPv4 address on the network mask 255.255.255.0, for example 192.168.1.100. This IP is the one already expected by the Edge controller as the MQTT broker address. If a different IP is used, the MQTT client configuration on the Edge web interface must be changed accordingly.

The following items are required:

• MADS installed on the system where the plugin will run
• An MQTT broker running on the user's PC (Docker is a convenient option)
• Access to the Edge web interface

1 - Network setup

The PC hosting the MQTT broker must be connected to the Edge device using Ethernet. The network connector on the PC must use a static IPv4 address such as 192.168.1.100 with the netmask 255.255.255.0.

This is important because the Edge controller is configured to communicate with the broker at that address by default. If the broker runs on another IP address, the MQTT configuration on the Edge has to be updated to match it.

2 - Start the MQTT broker

The MQTT broker must be running and reachable from the Edge controller before any streaming is enabled. In most cases, this is done on the user's PC, either by installing a broker directly or by running a broker container such as Docker-based Mosquitto.

When using Mosquitto with this plugin, start the broker with the custom mosquitto.conf file. Replace /path/to/edge_parser with the path to this repository on your computer:

sudo docker run -d --name mosquitto_broker -p 1883:1883 -v /path/to/edge_parser/mosquitto.conf:/mosquitto/config/mosquitto.conf eclipse-mosquitto

Once the broker is active, it should be listening on the expected port, usually 1883 unless otherwise configured.

3 - Configure the Edge job for streaming

After logging in to the Edge web interface, create or open a job. In that job, select the machine data that should be transmitted. To activate the MQTT output, go to Advanced and enable Enable data streaming for job.

At this point, the Edge device starts publishing the selected data to the configured MQTT broker.

4 - MQTT while recording

During recording, the Edge capture tool transmits data packets continuously. This means that the MQTT broker must remain enabled and reachable while the recording session is active. If the broker is stopped or the connection is misconfigured, the data stream will not be delivered correctly.

5 - Parsing with this plugin

Run this plugin to receive, parse, and unpack the MQTT payload. The plugin reads the data packets published by the Edge and makes them available to MADS as arrays separated by the configured time interval.

This allows the data to be visualized in MADS with minimal delay, while preserving the same acquisition speed as the machine data being captured.