Platform · At the machine

Evaluate where the data is created.

An EdgeBox sits at the machine. It collects data from the controller and from sensors, keeps it when the network is down, starts recordings on its own and runs evaluations right at the machine — so large amounts of data never have to leave the shop floor to be useful.

Schematic

Network outage: Data is kept on the box
Sensors: Several at once, full detail
Recording conditions: Checked at the machine
AI box: AI evaluation at the machine

Hardware · at the machine

Two small computers. Right in the control cabinet.

The EdgeBox captures, the AI box computes. Both sit next to the machine and work locally — the raw data never has to leave the shop floor to be useful.

No cloud, no internet
Read-only — nothing is written to the controller
Data stays in your plant

01 · Captures

EdgeBox

Captures

Collects controller data and sensor signals — all on one shared time axis.

Reads straight from the controller
Takes additional sensors — also on machines without an interface
Starts recording by itself at the right moment
Keeps recording when the network drops out

02 · Computes

AI box

Computes

Runs the model right at the machine — the result is there after every pass.

Evaluates the data of its EdgeBox directly at the machine
Raw data stays in the local network, only results travel
No result is lost, none is counted twice
New models run on trial first — they only take effect once released

Product images

Control cabinet of the A.Haas Multigrind CB with Siemens drives, terminal modules and the two Toleron boxes — A.Haas Multigrind CB, KSF laboratory Tuttlingen — the AI box top left, the EdgeBox bottom right.

Installed, not rendered

In the control cabinet of a real machine.

This is the cabinet of the five-axis tool grinder in our lab — a Sinumerik 840D sl. Both boxes sit between the drives and the terminal modules, wired like any other component.

From the machine to the decision

MachineController and sensors
EdgeBoxCaptures and synchronises
AI boxComputes at the machine
ServerIn-house — stores and serves
BrowserThe result after every pass

Everything stays local

No cloud, no internet. The data never leaves the shop floor — and nothing is written to the controller.

What the box does

An EdgeBox is a small industrial computer at the machine. It does four jobs:

Collecting — sensors are read directly at the machine, in full detail.
Controller connection — it reads the controller directly, reconnects on its own after interruptions and captures alarms.
Recording — it starts recordings when a condition you defined occurs and keeps every sensor recording in full detail.
Evaluating — the same evaluations that run on the central server can run on the box, right next to the data.

Keeps working when the network fails

If the network fails, the EdgeBox keeps the data and passes it on later. When it comes back online, it never carries out outdated commands.

Tested, not assumed: recordings with several sensors arrived complete, even with a restart of the recording in the middle. Automatic recording rules on the box keep working throughout.

Catching short events

Recording conditions are checked on the box itself, without a detour via the server — so even a brief spike starts a recording. This works without anyone having a browser open, and the seconds before the event are included, which is usually the interesting part.

The right box on the right machine

Each box is assigned to its machine centrally — it cannot take on the wrong machine unnoticed.
Incomplete or contradictory settings are rejected at start-up, not discovered at three in the morning.
Every EdgeBox identifies itself individually, and data that does not belong to its machine is rejected and counted.

The AI box

An AI box is an EdgeBox with extra computing power for AI models. It evaluates the data of a neighbouring EdgeBox over the plant network. Proven live on a grinding machine: every result computed on the AI box arrived at the central server exactly once, and the central server did not have to compute anything itself. The raw data never left the plant network — only the results did.

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Solution