Introduction
User Interface
Components
Scripting
Framework
Physics
Virtual Commissioning
Digital Shadow
Analysis
Tutorials

Cloud Gateway

The ProtoTwin Cloud Gateway allows ProtoTwin Simulate and Play, which both run inside the web browser, to connect to physical devices over the internet. It is ideally suited for digital shadows, where high latency communication (>10ms) is acceptable. The Cloud Gateway sits between ProtoTwin and the physical device. ProtoTwin communicates with the device through the Cloud Gateway, rather than communicating with the device directly.

Note that it is recommended to locate the server as geographically close to the device as poissible in order to reduce latency.

Installation

The Cloud Gateway is a server application. It is recommended to use a small Linux VPS to run the application. The following details provide a brief overview.

VPN

The Cloud Gateway must be able to communicate with the physical device (such as a PLC). It’s common for such devices to be behind a firewall. The typical solution is to setup a VPN, so that the Cloud Gateway can communicate with the device.

SSL

Mondern web browsers prevent communication over unsecured channels. ProtoTwin communicates with the Cloud Gateway over WebSockets. For the Cloud Gateway to function correctly, the server must be setup with a SSL certificate.

Connecting

To connect to a device via the cloud gateway, you will need to provide the IP address or domain for the Gateway option when configuring the tag server. This will cause ProtoTwin to route all communications with the device through the gateway.

Create Tag Server

Writes to the device are disabled by default, since writing in a production environment can be a serious security and safety risk. However, the Cloud Gateway can be manually configured to support writing to the device.

Hardware Requirements

The Cloud Gateway is extremely efficient, allowing it to run on highly constrained hardware. Each Cloud Gateway instance supports multiple ProtoTwin clients and multiple devices. The small Linux VPS with 512MB of memory is more than sufficient in the vast majority of cases, supporting up to around 100 connected devices and ProtoTwin clients simultaneously.