LoRaWAN Sensors Integration for Manufacturing Applications via Edge Device Model with OPC UA

The article deals with the integration of Lo(ng) Ra(nge) Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) sensors with generic manufacturing applications and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) use-cases. The focus is on creating a suitable Edge device model that enables the integration of specific Long Range (LoRa) sensors together with the other generic Internet of Things (IoT/IIoT). The model is based on the Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture (OPC UA) standard, which is the most suitable integration platform for various control systems and manufacturing applications. The model was implemented in Node-RED software and subsequently validated to confirm the required integration of LoRaWAN sensors within OPC UA models. In contrast to other approaches based on integration gateway or LoRaWAN/OPC UA protocol convertors, the proposed model utilizes extended capabilities of Edge computing. It enables Edge processing and data transformation of LoRaWAN sensors data transferred by Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol from the network server, based on requirements of manufacturing applications for cloud solutions.