Machine apps and software-defined machines

In my last blog, I discussed some of the challenges software developers face in building next-generation machine-centric Industrial Internet solutions as well as how the industrial sector can increasingly leverage interoperability to drive value. Here’s a look at how machine apps and software-defined machines (SDM)—concepts that GE introduced—can advance software for the connected devices landscape.

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Machine apps

Just as consumer apps allow consumers to easily add or improve discrete functionality by downloading or updating a wide variety of third-party apps on their smartphones, industrial machine apps abstract the complexity of developing machine software. How? By providing a standard way to build and deploy machine-resident software modules that connect to information resources and compute power both locally and in the cloud.

Machine apps provide discrete services to industrial machines, everything from basic machine identity to performance reporting, advanced services for data visualization, and location-based awareness, etc. This enables machines to communicate both real-time status and performance data, as well as cloud-based analytics, prognostics and relevant historical data about maintenance history, status, operational characteristics, etc.

Humans can interact with machine apps through a variety of devices, from a handheld tablet or smartphone to a large form-factor touchscreen, to securely connect to and interact with machine-based systems. The reuse provided by the machine-app model makes it easier to build, port, and deploy Industrial Internet applications at scale.

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Software-defined Machines

The Software-defined machine (SDM) architecture provides a standard way for developers to abstract the machine software (including machine apps) from the underlying hardware and run parts of it on secure virtual machines.

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By securely decoupling and abstracting layers of software from the underlying hardware, value-added software can run anywhere (on-premise and/or cloud) and/or everywhere within the authorized connected network, rather than being constrained by the quality and computing power of the machine’s on-board intelligence.

This software design approach is a shift from hardware-specific to hardware-agnostic. By virtualizing and decoupling from the physical infrastructure, software workloads such as controller logic can be separated and moved anywhere in the secure network to support the agility needed in today’s dynamic industrial settings.

Machine apps can use SDM infrastructure to leverage cloud-based data and processing for validation of applications, control logic, etc. If desired, the software that monitors and controls a wind turbine can be created, configured, deployed, and operated from a secure connected cloud. Complex modeling and simulation of machine-based systems can leverage a high-performance computing infrastructure that is typical of cloud data centers but often lacking in traditional industrial environments.

This not only allows to run parts of machine software virtually on a secure backend server with more compute power and quicker processing, but also enables easier machine-level processing and deployment for applications better suited to run at the point of control (i.e., in close proximity of machines). The infrastructure also provides the capability to easily partition single or multi-core processors for reasons such as functionality consolidation (ex: controls with security), isolation (ex: real-time versus non real-time), parallel processing, or for partitioning secure from non-secure applications.

The scalable SDM infrastructure can be securely and easily applied to a wide variety of suitable machines—from a lighting hub to a gas-turbine controller. Equipment manufacturers, for instance, can more easily leverage software and frequent software upgrades to constantly improve the performance and reliability of their equipment without making mechanical modifications. In an industrial automation setting, complex machine apps such as SCADA logic can now run in the SDM infrastructure on any suitable hardware.

Brilliant Machines Ahead

Architectural innovations such as machine apps and software-defined machines are making it easier than ever for developers to build a new generation of Industrial Internet solutions. Sectors as diverse as aviation, healthcare, energy, and transportation can now build on a common software architecture that leverages brilliant machines and software-based data and analytics to drive new levels of industrial performance and interoperability.