Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the availability of AWS Greengrass software that allows customers to run AWS compute, messaging, data caching, and sync capabilities on connected devices — to all customers.
AWS Greengrass enables users to run AWS Lambda functions to perform tasks locally, keep device data in sync, and communicate with other devices while leveraging the full processing, analytics, and storage power of the AWS Cloud.
AWS partners such as Annapurna, BSquare, Canonical, Digi International, Intel, Lenovo, Mongoose, Qualcomm Technologies, Raspberry Pi, Samsung, Technicolor and Wistron are integrating AWS Greengrass into their platforms.
Utilizing IoT devices, enterprises are managing infrastructure that is not located in a data center, such as connected devices in factories, oil wells, agricultural fields, hospitals, cars, and various other venues.
Many rely on AWS cloud for processing, analytics, and storage because IoT devices have limited processing power and memory.
Programming and updating software functionality on IoT devices is challenging. Relatively few developers have the expertise to update these embedded systems, and even fewer can do so without creating unwanted downtime.
AWS Greengrass eliminates the complexity involved in programming and updating IoT devices by allowing customers to use AWS Lambda to run code locally on connected devices in the same way they do on the AWS Cloud.
With AWS Greengrass, developers can add AWS Lambda functions to connected devices right from the AWS Management Console, and devices can execute the code locally, responding to events and taking actions in near real-time.
“By embedding AWS Lambda and AWS IoT capabilities in connected devices, AWS Greengrass gives customers the flexibility to have devices act locally on the data they generate while using the AWS Cloud for management, analytics, and storage,” said Dirk Didascalou, vice president of IoT at AWS.
European power company Enel is building AWS Greengrass-enabled smart gateways for home and industrial gateways for its power generation sites. Enel uses AWS Greengrass to process and act on data with sub-millisecond latency.
“Connected devices improve all aspects of our daily lives, from the smart meters in our homes that help us save energy, to the black boxes in our cars that show us how we’re driving, to the stoplights with sensors that monitor traffic,” said Fabio Veronese, head of Infrastructure and Technological Services at Enel.
Finland-based Konecranes, which is already using AWS IoT, has started utilizing AWS Greengrass for enabling digital services to program and deliver software to equipment without risking operational safety.
“We have already been using AWS IoT to build Truconnect, a digital crane platform, and the addition of AWS Greengrass will help us take the development to the edge,” said Juha Pankakoski, executive vice president of Technologies at Konecranes.
Pentair plc is using AWS Greengrass to enable its devices to ensure seamless connectivity in their operating environment, while utilizing AWS Cloud for machine learning and big data analytics.
“Some of Pentair’s aquaculture customers are located in remote geographies with unreliable internet connections, and industry regulations restrict which data points can leave their physical premises,” said Phil Rolchigo, vice president of Technology at Pentair.
AWS Greengrass allows mining group Rio Tinto to measure road roughness and process the data locally to make its haul trucks operate more efficiently, regardless of network coverage.
“We saw results from equipment in the field only two weeks after deploying the service, and the potential value it can bring to our operations. We’re evaluating additional use cases for AWS Greengrass in other areas,” said Brian Oldham, vice president of Industrial and Operational Technology at Rio Tinto.
Stanley Black & Decker’s Digital Accelerator has selected AWS Greengrass as one of the standards for edge computing and edge analytics across our entire portfolio of products.
“AWS Greengrass improves the efficiency of our tools by eliminating the latency of transmitting the data to the cloud and instead processing breaking and maintenance data locally for improved jobsite productivity,” said Yasir Qureshi, director, IoT Platform and Digital Architecture at Stanley Black & Decker.
