Industrial IoT Lab
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Lab is the “gateway” laboratory for introducing industrial control systems, smart manufacturing, Industry 4.0, and networking concepts.
Educational Application
Students begin with the basics of industrial wiring and physical control circuits, and ultimately progress through PLC programming by the end of their first course. In subsequent classes, students learn how these isolated control systems can interface with a broader network through various communication protocols; how industrial data is captured, analyzed, and exchanged in the traditional ISA-95 automation pyramid model; and how modern IoT devices can bypass said model. Most importantly, the cybersecurity implications and risks of a networked control system are addressed, as well as best practices to mitigate these concerns. In contrast to the real-world environments that students will encounter in the other smart manufacturing labs, the IIoT Lab is a true laboratory environment; students can safely learn, work, and experiment at the bench-level with minimal consequences to the physical and digital systems.
This laboratory serves
- MET 284 / ECET 302 (Introduction to Industrial Controls)
- MFET 374 (Manufacturing Integration I)
- MFET 230 (Industrial Internet of Things, Networks, And Systems I)
- MFET 231 (Industrial Internet of Things, Networks, And Systems II)
Available Equipment
- PLCs – Allen-Bradley and Phoenix Contact
- Variable Frequency and Servo Drives – Allen-Bradley
- IO-Link Hubs – Balluff and Allen-Bradley
- IoT and Edge Devices (e.g., Raspberry Pi 4, IP cameras, and smart sensors)
- Input and Output Devices (e.g., switches, indicators, sensors, and control relays)
- Layer 2 and Layer 3 Network Switches
- Cybersecurity Platform - Fortinet
- Dell Precision 7920 Rack Workstations (GPU Accelerated)