The Open Source IIOT, Data Acquisition, Equipment Control, Analysis and Communication Solution for Your Laboratory or Factory Needs
Labtime is a suite of programs (clients) that use MQTT to acquire data from EDGE devices, display it in browsers to users, and send it to a historian for further analysis. All programs communicate through an MQTT broker. This creates a secure and robust network of clients that can be running anywhere in the world.
The user client runs in a web browser which allows users to collaborate and view experiment and factory data. Users can communicate real time using a chat window and the chat messages are stored in InfluxDB and can be viewed in Grafana.
All historical time-series data is stored in the InfluxDB Historian and can be viewed real-time or later using Grafana dashboards. A Grafana dashboard displays panels with charts, tables, histograms, etc. - all synchronized in time!
A Drupal Content Management System (CMS) is used to save experiment, equipment and personnel information into a database. Drupal creates a web page for each of these pieces of content. Drupal also has a media library that saves, organizes and filters your documents, images, and videos. Drupal puts all your critical information into one easily accessible website.
Why LabTime was developed
At Aureon I was given the job of taking all the data from a laboratory experiment and creating a dashboard of graphs and tables for easy analysis. I found the Influx time series DB and Grafana dashboarding tool and set out to create a system to get data into them. In the process I discovered the MQTT broker and became an immediate evangelist for MQTT. I realized how significant a change it made to the way computer systems communicate.
I started watching videos on MQTT many of which were published by Opto22. However they didn't really have a full system or even a path to get there. It was just some basic building blocks and concepts. I had been developing some ideas on how I would implement, and LabTime was born.
I started developing LabTime as a way to learn the technology. I also wanted to learn JavaScript React so I made the user interface with that. I kinda got carried away and have now put a lot of effort into LabTime. LabTime has become a fully functioning solution to get data from EDGE devices, save it into Influx, and analyze it in Grafana. It also provides real-time web pages for users to monitor an experiment or process.
I have a lot of experience in Semiconductor Factories bringing large amounts of data together from many sources, saving it, and communicating it to users and other systems. I am responsible for a lot of the code that creates the spaghetti networks in use today - I've made a career out of it. I wish to repent for my past sins and bring the MQTT technology to the world!