Introduction
An MTConnect integration provides a robust amount of data and typically does not entail additional hardware or software adapters - along with the accompanying labor - that are necessary for older, legacy equipment. In fact, MTConnect is so simple, machine integration can often be accomplished without the aid of MachineMetrics on-site technicians.
Topics covered in this article
This article contains the following topics:
- What is MTConnect?
- MTConnect-Supported Machines
- Enabling MTConnect
- MTConnect Integration
- Using Other Data Standards
- Where to learn more about MTConnect
What is MTConnect?
MTConnect-supported machines
Many well-known machine tool brands now come equipped with MTConnect as a standard feature on their new equipment, including brands like Mazak, Okuma, Hurco, DMG, and many others.
If you aren’t certain whether any of your machines support MTConnect, a MachineMetrics representative can inform you once they are provided with basic information regarding the make, model, and year of manufacture for your machines. If you are an existing MachineMetrics customer, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager for clarification. Otherwise, please reach out to sales@machinemetrics.com
Enabling MTConnect
Machines that support MTConnect may still require that you contact your machine vendor or distributor to ‘enable’ MTConnect. To find out if MTConnect is enabled on your machine, either check with your machine vendor, or you can check the machine yourself by following the steps below.
How to find out if your machine is producing MTConnect data
- Wire ethernet from your network to the machine and set a static IP.
- From a desktop, ping the IP address of the machine to confirm that it's connected.
- In a browser, go to port 7878 or 5000 or 8082 (haas only) on that machine (Example: http://192.168.10.11:7878 or http://192.168.10.11:5000).
- If no data appears, then your machine is not producing MTConnect data. You may require a control software upgrade. If no software upgrades are available for your machine model, MachineMetrics can suggest other methods for data acquisition.
- If you have a windows based CNC such as a Mazak or Okuma, open the web browser on the controller and go to http://127.0.0.1:5000 or http://127.0.0.1:5000/currrent. This test only works on the controller.
- If you see data on the controller but not externally on your pc browser, it is likely a firewall or routing issue you IT to resolve.
*Keep in mind that MTConnect may be an executable file on your machine control's Windows-based back end. A search for MTConnect should reveal whether this software is installed on your machine. A restart of the software might be necessary: How to Restart MTConnect
If you are able to successfully enable MTConnect, the next step is to add your machine to your MachineMetrics Account.
MTConnect Integration
MTConnect integration uses an MTConnect adapter as the data collection method, as outlined below. This can be configured in the Data Collection tab in Settings > Machine Settings.
MTConnect Adapter
Connects the machine to MachineMetrics by ingesting a SHDR stream emitted by the MTConnect Server on the machine.
Using other data standards
If you are already gathering data using other standards, there is no need to switch to MTConnect. MachineMetrics supports all existing data standards. If you do want to switch, many existing standards have adapters already written for them. You can find them on the MTConnect Github.
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