Dynamics 365 & Azure Iot Suite - Color Sensor Demo

Building on the same concepts from our last IoT video, in which we used a temperature sensor to monitor our shop floor machinery in real-time through Dynamics 365 and Azure IoT Suite, today we will explore additional possibilities in terms of quality control checks, automated processes and more.

As with the temperature sensor demonstration, it is our hope that while you watch you will think of the possible applications for your industry, your shop floor, your field service technician or any other type of remote device you may utilize.

We will use and explain the following technologies:

Microsoft Azure IoT Suite
Azure IoT Hub
Azure Storage
Service Bus Queue
Azure Web Apps
Raspberry Pi (with color sensor attached)
Universal Windows Application
Power BI
Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations (formerly Dynamics AX)

In our scenario for the video below, we are replicating a production line that utilizes color measurement, which is a typical quality control test for many industrial manufacturers (automotive, textile, paint & plating, plastics, etc..). While we use a relatively inexpensive color sensor to obtain a simple RGB (red, green, blue) reading, many manufacturers see exact product color as a very important component of Finished Goods evaluation. Sometimes that can mean selecting the exact shade of red for a red part, when there are 500 shades to choose from.

Within Dynamics 365, we will demonstrate how Quality Orders can be setup in order to fit our specific range of a color we are seeking to produce, before switching over to the Dynamics 365 Power BI workspace to show where all of the testing data can be viewed. Data visualization has become an integral part of any analytical exercise and helps decision makers understand what to make of the wealth of information available.

Various ERP systems may be configured to utilize a network of connected devices similar to our small demonstration. As you will find while watching the video however, Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations is very well equipped to handle a seamless transition from data collection to data visualization to actionable results.