Assets Modeling

Content of the chapter: Creating, editing and administering asset types

An asset template is a kind of "blueprint" for assets. After creating the asset template, any number of assets of the corresponding type can be created. The asset template has defined attributes, which then provide the asset with the corresponding data.

Example: In Eliona you have the asset template "ewattch Ambiance Sensor", which has various attributes for this sensor type. You can then use this asset template to create any number of assets of this sensor type.

Caution: If configurations such as name, description, pipeline data, etc. are changed in the asset template, these changes will not be applied to assets that have already been created. You must use the Asset Editor to do this.

An asset template defines the type of data point and can have various attributes.

Example: Sensor "XY" measures the room temperature, humidity and battery charge of the sensor. An asset type "Sensor XY" with the attributes "Temperature, humidity and battery charge" is created in Eliona.

Assets Modeling Overview

Assets Modeling

1. Asset Template Types: Sort templates by all/default/user-defined/action required.

2. Names: Sort asset template names alphabetically.

3. Attributes: List of attributes of the asset template.

4. Translation: translation of the asset type in the set language.

5. Import Asset Template: Click to import an asset template with a JSON file.
6. Infravolt: The cost of an asset is equivalent to the number of attributes of the asset template. For an overview of all infravolt costs, see License.

7. Search: Filter the asset templates.

8. Add Asset Template: Click to create a new asset template.
9. Duplicate Asset Template: Click to duplicate the asset template.
10. Remove Asset Template: Click to delete the asset template.
11. Configure Asset Template: Click the arrow to configure the asset template.

Import Asset Template

Click or drag-and-drop a JSON file to import the asset template.

Prepared asset templates for a number of commonly used sensors can be found in the Asset template library.

Asset template configuration

Template configuration

1. Name: Enter the name of the asset type.

2. Time to inactivity: If Time to Inactivity is enabled, the asset will be set as Inactive after the configured time without communication.

3. Map Icon: The selected icon will be displayed on the map when the asset is placed.

4. Alert when invalid: The asset triggers an alert when it is invalid. An asset can be declared invalid by inappropriate data.

5. Translations: The asset type is displayed in the entered translation as long as it exists for the set language in Eliona.

6. Additional data: Additional information can be entered here.

7. Attributes: List of all attributes of the asset type.

8. Properties Attributes: The list shows the name, status, subtype, class, unit and translation of the attributes.

9. Activate Attributes: Click to activate the attribute.
10. Remove Asset Type: Click to remove the asset type.
11. Search Attributes: Click to search for attributes.
12. Add Attribute: Click to create a new attribute.
13. Copy Attribute: Click to copy an attribute.
14. Remove Attribute: Click to remove the attribute.
15. Configure Attribute: Click to configure the attribute.

Attribut Configuration

General

Attribute configuration

1. Asset Value Type: Select whether the value is analog or digital.

2. Virtual Attribute: You can create a virtual data point that is calculated from other attributes of the asset.

3. Name: Name the attribute: Example: The asset type is used for a temperature sensor. Name the attribute "Temperature".

4. Class: Select the class of the attribute. The class affects the availability of certain functions from this attribute.

5. Subtype: The subtype defines the type of the attribute. Example: At "Input" data from devices are sent to Eliona. For "Output", data is sent from Eliona to devices.

6. Standard Calculation: you can perform calculations on the attribute to scale or convert the value. Examples: {Energy} / 1000 to convert W to kW {Temperature} * 1.8 + 32 to convert °C to °F.

7. Unit: Name the appropriate unit. Example: the attribute is temperature and the unit is "°C".

8. JSON Path Transformation: Enter the JSON path. Eliona uses JSON path expressions to identify data items in the database.

9. Boundaries:

   • Lower limit: Define a lower limit. No setpoints can be entered below this defined limit.

   • Upper limit: Define an upper limit. No setpoints can be entered above this defined limit.

   • Step size: If you change a setpoint value in steps, it will be increased or decreased by the set step value.

10. Value mapping: Define an individual designation for any values. Example: A device supplies the values "0", "1" or "4" and thus indicates whether the device is switched off/on or does not detect a current source. You have the option to map the values: "0" should be displayed as "off", "1" should be displayed as "on" and "4" should be displayed as "no power".

11. Save: After the configurations, click . The attribute will now be displayed at the corresponding asset type. Multiple attributes can be created for one asset type.

12. Remove Attribute: Click to remove the attribute.
13. Enable Attribute: Click to activate the attribute.

Translation

Translation

1. Add translation: Click to create a new translation field. A maximum of four translation fields can be created: English, French, German and Italian.
2. Translation field: Select a language and enter the translation.

3. Save: Save your changes.

Pipeline & AR

Pipeline & AR

1. Mode: The following modes are available:

   • Average on change: aggregation of values is triggered whenever a change in the timestamp of an asset has occurred. However, this does not have to correspond to the actual value changes of the attributes. To prevent incorrect calculations of average values in such cases, you can turn on the special avg-on-change mode, which checks whether the value has really changed. Only in this case a normal average calculation is performed.

   • Average: The average of all received data in the set time period is calculated. Example: Average temperature values within one hour.

   • Sum counter: All received values within the set time period are summed up. Example: An energy meter sends the consumed power. All values within one hour (any set time period) are summed up and displayed.

   • Cumulative sum: Same function as totalizer, but does not reset after the set time period.

   *See the explanation of each mode below in the Aggregation section.

2. Pipeline Grid: Define the interval at which a sum or average is calculated. S=second, M=minute, H=hour.

3. AR Position: Select on which position on the Moving Augmented Reality Marker the attribute should be displayed.

4. Save: Save your changes.

Aggregation

Aggregate functions implemented in Eliona allow analysis of values in terms of average, sum, min, max, first, last within a defined time range. Commonly used time ranges in aggregation functions depend on the granularity required for the specific analysis or calculation.

Common aggregation functions are mathematical operations used to summarize or reduce large sets of data into more manageable forms for analysis. These functions can be used for different data types, e.g. for numeric, categorical and text data, whereas in Eliona only numeric operations were provided.

The following aggregation functions are always calculated in a time interval:

• cnt : Calculates the number of items in a series of numerical values in a time range

• firs :Returns the first value in a series of numeric values in a time range

• last : Returns the last value in a series of numeric values in a time range

The following aggregation functions depend on the type of input values (temperature, pressure, energy meter, people counter, ...):

• avg + avg-on-change : Calculates the average or mean of a set of numerical values

• sum : Calculates the total of a set of numerical values

• cusum: Calculates the running total of a sequence of numerical values

They are explained in the following.

Average avg

Eliona uses a simple method to calculate the average value based on a previous average value and new data points. This method is called incremental or running average and is often used in real-time processing and stream computing:

In this formula, (n-1) / n * avg represents the weighted sum of the previous average value and (1/n) * x represents the weighted sum of the new data point. The sum of the weights is equal to 1, which ensures that the average value remains unbiased.

Incremental updating of the mean avoids having to recalculate the mean for the entire data set each time new data points are added, which can be very computationally intensive for large data sets. The incremental mean provides an efficient and accurate way to calculate the average value in real-time. Minimum and maximum values are calculated simultaneously with the average value:

• min : Returns the minimum value in a series of numerical values in a time range

• max : Returns the maximum value in a series of numerical values in a time range

Average on change avg-on-change

The aggregation of values is triggered whenever a change in the timestamp of an asset has occurred. However, this does not have to correspond to the real value changes of the attributes.

To prevent wrong calculations of average values in such cases, you can switch on a special mode avg-on-change that checks whether the value has really changed. Only in this case a usual avg calculation will be performed (see above).

Sum Counter sum

The sum function is a mathematical operation that adds together a set of numerical values. The result of the sum function is the total of all the values in the time range ( M15 , H1 , DAY ,...).

sum = sum + x

Cusum Counter cusum

A cumulative sum is the running total of a sequence of numerical values, where each new term is added to the previous terms. The calculation of a cumulative sum involves adding up all the numbers in a sequence up to a certain point.

In summary, to calculate a cumulative sum, we add up all the numbers in a sequence up to a certain point and keep a running total of the sums over the defined time range.

cusum = cusum + ABS(new - last)

last = new