Sugar Shack 4.0: Practical Demonstration of an IIoT-Based Event-Driven Automation System
Thomas Bernard, François Grondin, Jean-Michel Lavoie
TL;DR
The paper addresses the limitations of PLC-centric automation in Industry 4.0 by presenting an event-driven IIoT architecture implemented on an edge server, with ESP32 gateways at the device layer. It introduces a modular actuator abstraction, an asynchronous interlock with priority queueing, and deterministic singular operations coordinated by Node-RED workflows over MQTT, validated in a maple syrup production case study. Quantitative results show end-to-end latency dominated by actuator mechanics (ToF ~0.1 s, issuance-to-motion ~2–3 s, completion ~6 s) and run times tens of seconds to minutes, indicating network/ orchestration overheads are negligible for process dynamics and enabling scalable, fault-isolated control. The work demonstrates edge-first automation with an edge/cloud split, reducing integration effort and enabling portable deployment across plants while preserving determinism and safety.
Abstract
This paper presents a practical alternative to programmable-logic-controller-centric automation by implementing an event-driven architecture built with industrial Internet of Things tools. A layered design on a local edge server (i) abstracts actuators, (ii) enforces mutual exclusion of shared physical resources through an interlock with priority queueing, (iii) composes deterministic singular operations, and (iv) orchestrates complete workflows as state machines in Node-RED, with communication over MQTT. The device layer uses low-cost ESP32-based gateways to interface sensors and actuators, while all automation logic is offloaded to the server side. As part of a larger project involving the first scientifically-documented integration of Industry 4.0 technologies in a maple syrup boiling center, this work demonstrates the deployment of the proposed system as a case-study. Evaluation over an entire production season shows median message time of flight around one tenth of a second, command issuance-to-motion latencies of about two to three seconds, and command completion near six seconds dominated by actuator mechanics; operation runtimes span tens of seconds to minutes. These results indicate that network and orchestration overheads are negligible relative to process dynamics, enabling modular, distributed control without compromising determinism or fault isolation. The approach reduces material and integration effort, supports portable containerized deployment, and naturally enables an edge/cloud split in which persistence and analytics are offloaded while automation remains at the edge.