Can we create asset models in IoT Hub as it is available in AWS IoT SiteWise?

Question

Hi All,

I am looking for a way to create an asset model for the devices. Is there a way by which we can define the model and standardize the device data like it is available in AWS IoT Sitewise? Is there any alternate service available in Azure related to same? Please let me know your inputs. Kindly share the documents link related to same.

Answer 1

Koushal Jain Greetings!

I am looking for a way to create an asset model for the devices. Is there a way by which we can define the model and standardize the device data like it is available in AWS IoT Sitewise? Is there any alternate service available in Azure related to same? Please let me know your inputs. Kindly share the documents link related to same.

Can you share more details about your ask to assist you better?

AFAIK, Azure IoT Hub does not have a direct equivalent to AWS IoT SiteWise's asset modeling feature. However, Azure IoT Central provides a similar functionality to AWS IoT SiteWise's asset modeling feature.

You can create a device model in Azure IoT Central to define how your device interacts with your IoT Central application. Each model has a unique model ID and defines the capabilities of the device. Capabilities are grouped into interfaces. Interfaces let you reuse components across models or use inheritance to extend the set of capabilities.

See Industrial IoT (IIoT) solutions with Azure IoT Central for more information.

You can use the model to standardize the device data and define the asset model for the devices. You can also use views to visualize the data from the device and forms to manage and control a device.

To learn more about device templates and how to create them, you can refer to What are device templates? and Define a new IoT device type in your Azure IoT Central application.

Azure IoT Central is a fully managed IoT SaaS (Software as a Service) solution that makes it easy to connect, monitor, and manage your IoT assets at scale. It provides a complete solution for IoT asset modeling, device connectivity, data ingestion, and analytics.

You can also consider using Azure Digital Twins. Azure Digital Twins is a platform for building comprehensive digital models of physical environments. It provides a way to model the relationships and interactions between people, places, and devices in a physical space.

Please check What is Azure Digital Twins? to learn more about Azure Digital Twins.

Also, I would suggest you to check Azure IoT Operations and What is asset management in Azure IoT Operations Preview and see if that helps with your scenario.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any further questions.

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Answer 2

Hello @Koushal Jain ,

The answer provided by @AshokPeddakotla-MSFT is great, and I recommend following all the links provided.

I post a second answer because the Azure IoT Plug&Play (or DTDL) model is also supported by the Azure IoT Hub and it can be used later on in your IoT solution.

Azure IoT Central is based on common Azure (IoT) Platform-as-a-Service resources so it leans on the Azure IoT Hub device twin ModelId.

Check out this documentation with the background story of the device model.

When messages from a device arrive at the IoT Hub, the IoT Hub enriches the message with a 'system properties' property bag automatically.

This property bag contains a 'dt-subject' if the device twin contains a DTDL ModelId.

Check out this blog post with more details (just skip the parts concerning Azure IoT Edge modules if this is not required).

So, if you want to validate the incoming message or provide a specific user interface based on the model capabilities, this can be done in conjunction of reading the actual model capabilities from a repository.

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