Once you’ve created your Neuron account, it's time to connect your installation’s physical components to Neuron App so you can start collecting data.
⚠️ The phases in Neuron’s initial setup process must be completed
in order.
Steps for initial setup
Step 1: Connecting MQTT devices
To connect devices, you need to have the following items at hand:
MQTT modules
MQTT sensors
CPU to install MQTT certificates
First, make sure that the devices in your installation are correctly in place. Follow the manufacturer's instructions and place them where you want to read data.
Then connect them to the CPU with an Internet connection.
Step 2: Creating a new gateway
Once you've manually configured the devices, you have to go to "Equipment" on Neuron App's main menu and follow this step-by-step process:
A. Click on the "Add Gateway" button on Neuron App’s main section.
B. Next, a configuration window will open up. Select the specific settings you want for your gateway:
Complete the gateway information: name of the gateway, a small description of it, and tags that help identify the gateway within your entire installation and make it easier to search.
Select the type of gateway you want to create, in this case, MQTT
Then click on "Save".
Step 3: Downloading and verifying MQTT certificates
When you add and edit specifications on a new MQTT gateway, the necessary certificates are generated.
The download process goes as follows:
After clicking on "Save", the new gateway will appear in the "Equipment" section. Click on the tab to continue the installation process.
Once there, click on the "Certificates" section. Download and install all three certificates:
Public certificate
Private certificate
Amazon Root CA 1
Step 4: Adding modules
After the certificate installation process is complete, it's time to add the different modules.
To begin, press the "Add" button and select "Module".
After doing so, a window will open where you can connect to the different modules.
Enter the required information:
Module name
Description of the module
Serial number: if you don't have it, you can use any other identifying information specific to the module.
Device model ID: Neuron will display the different available options.
Tags to help you identify it.
When you are finished, click on "Save" to connect the module to the gateway.
Follow the same process with "Sensors" to connect the sensors to the module and thus to the gateway.
Step 5: Adding sensors
Once you're done adding the modules, you need to add the sensors. To get started, you need to go to the module you want to add a sensor to.
Once you’re there, Neuron will display all the sensors connected to that module. Press the "Add" button in the upper menu and select "Sensor".
B. Next, a window to configure the sensor will open up.
Fill in the following information:
Module name
Description of the module
Serial number: if you don't have it, you can use any other identifying information specific to the module.
Device model ID. Select the type of data that the sensor collects from the following options:
String: a string of numbers
Float: numbers with decimals
Boolean: Boolean numbers in 0 and 1
Integer: integer numbers
Order/channel: this is not a physical port. It’s a numbering that will help understand how the sensors are arranged. The values are numeric, for example: 1, 2, 3...
Tags to help recognize the sensor within the installation.
When you are finished press "Save" and the sensors will appear next to the modules in the gateway you just created.
Step 6: Setting device read frequencies
After creating the gateway connections, in order for Neuron to begin processing the information, you have to activate a read frequency rate in order to start monitoring the data.
Go to the "Equipment" section in Neuron App’s main menu.
Drop down the menu of the identified device you want to start monitoring.
When the menu is displayed, select the "Frequency" option.
Select a frequency for each device. You can choose between hours, minutes and seconds.
Neuron App will then automatically create a model for that device.
This new model will appear in the "Resources" section in Neuron App’s main menu.
Step 7: Checking automatically created models
After setting a read frequency, Neuron automatically creates a model. You should check it to make sure that it has been installed correctly.
You can find this new model in the "Resources" section in Neuron App’s main menu. The last part of its name will be the same as that of the sensor that Neuron recognized during the device search process.
For example, if Neuron recognizes a device named AT001, the model to be created will end with the same name: 837_AT001
Each automatically generated model includes a series of parameters that can’t be modified and are displayed in "read-only" mode so that Neuron always has a reliable database of the device. These parameters are the following:
Model name
Measurements
It does however allow us to do is apply different Metrics and Transforms through formula expressions.
⚠️ If you have devices of the same type, Neuron will only create one
model and from that model, the corresponding asset will be created for
each device.
Step 8: Checking automatically created assets
Neuron automatically generates models and assets after setting a device read frequency. You can access new assets from the "Resources" section in Neuron App’s main menu.
We recommend checking that each new asset has been successfully created. To do this, see if the name of the sensor that Neuron identified during the device search stage coincides with the name of the asset that Neuron created automatically.
For example, in the following case, Neuron found a device called AT001. The automatically generated asset is named 837_AT001_000085359204.
Step 9: Creating dashboards
After checking that the models and assets have been installed successfully, now it’s time to create a dashboard that will be used to display the device information in a visual way.
Follow this step-by-step process to create it:
In Neuron App’s main menu, go to the "Dashboard” section.
Once there, click on the "Add dashboard" button.
After this, a window will open up in Neuron App so you can configure the dashboard.
Add a name, a description, the tags that will help you easily search for it and select the icon that will be displayed when you open the dashboard.
Once you've added this information, it will appear in the "Dashboard" section.
From there you can set it as default, edit widgets and add widgets.
Step 10: Creating alarms
The final step is creating alarms so Neuron can notify us of any changes we might want to know of in our installation. Just follow this procedure:
We’ll start by going to the "Alarms" section in Neuron App’s main menu.
Then we will click on "Add alarm".
This will open a window where we can configure the following:
Model: choose the model you want to create an alarm for.
Description: choose a descriptive text for the alarm you are creating. Keep in mind that other users may see it, so they’ll need to be able to understand it.
Properties: enter the type of data that will trigger the alarm. For example, degrees Celsius, Fahrenheit...
Operator: a list will drop down with several operators. Select the one you want to apply to this alarm, for example: greater than, less than, equal to...
Value: enter the numeric value that will trigger the alarm. For example, if we talk about temperature, 80º.
Level: select the level of importance you want to give the alarm.
4. If you want to create another alarm after this one, click on "Add alarm" to continue with the setup process.
5. Once you're done, click on "Save". You can find your new alarm in the "Alarms" section in Neuron App’s main menu.
And that’s it! Neuron is set up and ready to use.
If you need help configuring Neuron, you can contact our technical support team at neuron@plexo.cloud.