133422Edge-RealTime (Real-time Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Embedded Systems EdgeX Platform)ClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UK"The Internet of Things (IoT) is the inter-networking of physical devices, vehicles, buildings, and other items embedded with electronics, software sensors, actuators and network connectivity which enable these objects to collect and exchange data. While there is a clear understanding on the underlying needs and commercial opportunities for such technology, the corresponding clarity on how the business opportunities can be realised are still unproven. Broad adoption of IoT can only be achieved when the appropriate tools for systems development, deployment and management become available and so remove an important technical adoption problem. The Linux Foundation has recently established the EdgeX Foundry: a vendor-neutral open source project building a common open framework for Industrial IoT (IIoT), edge computing. A key objective of the EdgeX Foundry project is to enable and encourage the rapidly growing community of Industrial IoT solutions providers to work together in an ecosystem of interoperable components to reduce uncertainty, accelerate time to market, and facilitate scale. By enabling the use of existing connectivity standards together with a marketplace of interoperable developer value-add it will simplify development and deployment of IIoT solutions in a wide variety of use cases. The marketplace for the IIoT is multifaceted. IOTech has identified a market need for a real-time embedded systems equivalent of the EdgeX Foundry Platform. The 'Real-time IIoT Embedded Systems EdgeX Platform' (Edge-RealTime) will provide guaranteed real-time performance and a small system footprint so that it can be deployed in Programmable Logic Controllers, Programmable Automation Controllers and embedded microcontrollers. The benefits that will accrue from this new platform are: a) For companies who want to just be users of IIoT technology, it will provide a common, extensible, open, independent solution for real-time edge systems on which IIoT device, application providers and even end users can easily add their own value-add Intellectual Property in order to deliver new IIoT solutions to market more quickly. Therefore, the problem of how to use IIoT technology is removed and the focus becomes one of how to use IIoT for commercial benefit; b) For companies who want to be developers of IIoT technology, this platform will enable them to create and manage their own devices and applications that support real-time IIoT systems. This will provide access to their target segment of the real-time IIoT marketplace, enabling these markets to use an interoperable solution, and so avoid vendor lock-in to proprietary forms of IIoT."