Sensor Connectivity
We integrate temperature, pressure, vibration, flow and any physical variable sensors into the platform, both new signals and those already present in plant instrumentation, making every measurement available to the rest of your systems.
Industrial sensor connectivity: measuring what is not measured yet
Almost every plant has variables that matter but that nobody measures: furnace temperatures written on shift reports, electricity known only from the monthly bill, bearing wear discovered at failure. Our sensor connectivity service integrates temperature, pressure, vibration, flow and any other physical variable into the plant data platform, both by capturing signals from sensors already installed and by adding new ones where nothing is measured today. It complements PLC connectivity: if the variable lives in the control layer we read it from the PLC; otherwise we sensorise it.
Retrofit is a large part of the work. Old machines without electronics can be sensorised externally, with current clamps, photocells or vibration sensors, without modifying the machine or its control system. Signals travel over 4-20 mA, Modbus, IO-Link, fieldbuses or wireless links such as LoRaWAN, and are normalised upstream to MQTT or OPC UA with a coherent naming structure, as described in our OT/IT unified namespace resource. Raw signals are then scaled, quality-flagged, contextualised and stored as time series, so the plant gets reliable data for trends, alerts and integration with management systems. Our scope is data connectivity: sensor selection and integration, not physical installation works.
How it connects to the system
Connect enables data flow to AI and Energy and supports execution that Service digitises in the business layer.
Key concepts
Other solutions
- Edge Ingestion
We capture data at the edge of the operation, where it is generated, without depending on central connectivity. We deploy edge ingestion software on plant equipment that reads signals locally, holds them through network outages and forwards them once the connection is restored.
- PLC Connectivity
We connect PLCs from any manufacturer and protocol to the Captia unified data layer, making control-layer information reliably available to the rest of your systems, from process historians to dashboards, without altering the control programs.
- OT/IT Integration
We build the bridge between the operational world (OT) and the information systems world (IT): a data layer that reads plant information and delivers it to business systems, with an architecture designed not to interfere with production.
Frequently asked questions
- Can old machines without any electronics be sensorised?
- Yes. A machine without a PLC or communications can be sensorised externally: a current clamp on the power supply shows whether it is running, a vibration sensor bolted to a bearing warns about wear, and a photocell at the outlet counts parts. None of these measurements requires modifying the machine or touching its control system.
- What is the difference between connecting sensors and connecting the PLC?
- The PLC exposes the variables its program already handles; sensors add measurements the control system does not have. They are complementary: if the data exists in the PLC we read it from there; if nobody measures it, we install the right sensor and integrate it into the same data layer. Many projects combine both in the same plant.
- Which protocols do you use to bring the sensor signal to the platform?
- It depends on the sensor and the plant. Analogue 4-20 mA or Pt100 signals enter through acquisition modules; digital sensors speak Modbus RTU/TCP, IO-Link or fieldbuses; wireless ones typically use LoRaWAN or WiFi. Upstream we normalise everything towards MQTT or OPC UA, so the platform receives homogeneous data whatever the source.
- Do you install the sensors yourselves or only the data side?
- Our work is data connectivity: selecting the right sensor, defining where and how to measure, integrating the signal into the acquisition layer and making it available as useful data on the platform. Physical mounting is coordinated with the plant maintenance team or its usual installer, depending on the case and sensor type.