Device Management

Devices

With Tandem Connect device management, users can connect their IoT devices and data to a digital twin. A device could be a real-world sensor, beacon, or any hardware device. The first step is to register a device.

Navigate to the Devices module by either clicking on Devices in home page or from the navigation menu of the Platform Console. The Device Management page opens.

Once you are on Device Management page follow the below procedures

1. Click on New device and provide the following details:

• ID : The Device ID is a unique identifier that can be generated by the system or provided manually when a device is registered. As a device is identified by its device ID both inside the platform and the data ingestion layer, the Device ID is required by the platform to identify incoming connections and data packets from devices.

• Name : The Device Name is a label or descriptive name given to the device or hardware to easily locate them in the Device Manager.

• Device Groups : Select a device group you want to associate to the device. Note that you can select multiple groups to associate to the device.

• Device Metadata : is a set of JSON key-value pairs that are used to include additional details or information about your devices. The values specified here can be used by the Gateway or Stream plugins to provide better security, or can be appended to the incoming data from the device. It could also provide additional context for your devices and the incoming data which might relate to other software you use in your collection of tools.

• Location : Enter the latitude and longitude coordinates given to the device to determine its actual location.

2. Click on Create Device.

In the Devices main page view all the available devices and perform the following actions as required.

• Register new devices.
• Modify the details of the registered devices.
• Delete the registered devices.
• Deactivate the registered devices.
• Reactivate the registered devices.
• Associate the registered devices to device groups.
• Remove association of registered devices to device groups.
• Search for a specific device by name or ID using the Search function.
• Toggle the columns displayed in the table using the Toggle Columns function

Device Groups

Device groups allow users to group or tag devices that are of the same type or in the same location. Grouping your devices enables you to send messages or commands in bulk to all devices associated to the group.

Before you can associate devices to a group, you must first create a device group in your account. To do this, follow the procedures below:

1. Navigate to Devices > Device Groups. The Device Groups page opens. Where all the existing device groups would be displayed.

2. Click New Device Group. The New Device Group page opens. Enter a name for the device group. If you want to assign a parent group to the device group you are creating, select a device group from the Parent Group drop-down menu.

3. Click on Create Device Group. A confirmation message verifying that your device group has been created will be displayed.

Associate devices to group

After creating a device group, you can now start associating your devices to the device group.

To associate a device to a group, follow the procedures below steps:

1. Navigate to Devices on the left navigation pane. The Devices page opens.

2. From the Devices page, select the device you want to edit and click on Actions --> Attach group.

3. In the Device Group drop-down field, select the group you want to associate to your device.

4. Click Attach Device to save your changes. A confirmation message verifying that your device has been updated will be displayed.

5. To associate a device to multiple groups, click on the name of the device and then edit.

6. From the Device group drop down select multiple Device groups as required.

Inventory Sync

Inventory Sync enables you to seamlessly synchronize all devices registered from the third-party device management software to Tandem Connect’s device registry, making it easier to manage and keep the device inventory updated.

With the use of the Inventory Sync Plugins you can schedule the inventory sync interval or you can manually sync device inventory and registry to and from the Tandem Connect Platform.

The Tandem Connect platform transfers the data for the following events to configured Inventory Sync plugins, which in turn transfer data to third-party device management software.

• New Device Registration
• Device Record Updates
• Device Record Deletion

The Inventory Sync plugins can also retrieve device inventory from the third-party device management software and update the Tandem Connect platform.

Configure Inventory Sync Plugin:

To configure an Inventory Sync plugin, follow the procedures below:

1. Navigate to Devices > Inventory Syncs. The Inventory Syncs page opens.

2. From the Inventory Syncs page, click New Inventory Sync. A list of inventory sync plugins is displayed in a pop-up window.

3. Select the Azure IOTHub and provide the required details. Then click on Create Inventory Sync.

4. After configuring the plugin, go to the Schedule tab then specify the sync interval.

5. Click Create Inventory Sync. A confirmation message verifying that your inventory sync has been created will be displayed.

Once you have configured your Inventory Sync plugin, the inventory sync will run on the schedule you specified during plugin configuration. To manually sync devices click on the sync button.

CSV Imports

CSV Import enables user to upload devices in bulk via a CSV file.

When importing a CSV file in the console, the file must contain the ID and the name of the devices. Other details, such as device description or location, can be included in the file but this will be displayed in the metadata of your devices.

All devices included in the imported CSV file will then be displayed in the Devices page once the import process has completed.

To import a CSV file, follow the procedures below:

1. Navigate to Devices > CSV Imports from the Device Management page. The Import CSV page opens.

2. Click Import CSV. The Import New CSV window opens.

3. Enter the name of the CSV import.

4. Click the Attachment icon, then select the CSV file you want to import.

5. Click Save to proceed with importing the CSV file. A confirmation message verifying that the CSV file has been imported will be displayed.

Note that the processing of the imported CSV file may take a while depending on the size of the file you are importing. Click the Refresh icon to monitor the progress of your import. Once all records included in the CSV file have been processed, your CSV import status will change from In Progress to Completed.