Today\u2019s article covers the following content and more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- What is Microsoft Azure Digital Twins?<\/li>
- Benefits of Azure Digital Twins<\/li>
- IoT Product Recommendations for Microsoft Azure<\/li>
- Tutorial: Getting Started with Azure Digital Twins<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nWhat is Microsoft Azure Digital Twins?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nAzure Digital Twins is a platform that allows you to create digital models<\/strong> (or a twin) of your IoT system\u2019s deployment environment in the form of knowledge graphs<\/strong>. These environments could be buildings, factories, farms, energy grids, or even entire cities!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nSource: AECMagazine<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\nThe digital twin<\/strong><\/a> concept was first conceptualised by NASA in 2010, and refers to a virtual representation that serves as a real-time digital counterpart<\/strong> of a physical object or process. This allows you to visualise how the system operates as a whole, while being able to zoom into granular details where necessary in the virtual environment. Digital twinning is becoming increasingly popular in system design and management, as it provides a powerful yet intuitive way to interact with complex environments!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.seeedstudio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/events-1030x340.png\")
Source: Microsoft Azure Docs<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nBenefits of Azure Digital Twins<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nLike other digital twins, Azure Digital Twins is a powerful platform for visualising your systems in deployment. However, there are several reasons that make it the perfect complement to systems in the IoT context thanks to its integration with the Microsoft Azure ecosystem!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nSource: Microsoft Azure Digital Twins<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n1. Visualise Vast IoT Systems in Real-Time<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nModern IoT systems can have up to tens of thousands of connected devices. At that scale, they become difficult to manage and troubleshoot. Azure Digital Twins allows you to maintain a top-down view of your deployed systems for a more efficient live management interface. Furthermore, this enables existing IoT systems to be updated or reorganised in a systematic way to ensure future upgradability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n2. Manage Device Relationships<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nAzure Digital Twins allows you to manage the relationships between devices, right down to specific telemetry. As edge computing becomes more advanced and implements modern computing elements such as edge machine learning<\/a>, each IoT device is becoming an entity in its own right. Azure Digital Twins allows you to manage these entities at scale and control what and how data is sent through your networks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Process Data at Scale<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nAzure Digital Twins is also heavily integrated with Microsoft\u2019s Azure suite of IoT services. This means that you can easily route live data from your Azure Digital Twins model into downstream Azure services for additional analytics or storage. For example, Microsoft suggests the following possibilities with Azure\u2019s ecosystem:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n- Storing Azure Digital Twins data in Azure Data Lake<\/li>
- Analyzing Azure Digital Twins data with Azure Synapse Analytics<\/li>
- Integrating larger workflows with Logic Apps<\/li>
- Connecting Azure Digital Twins to Time Series Insights to track time series history of each twin<\/li>
- Aligning a Time Series Model in Time Series Insights with a source in Azure Digital Twins<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
By doing so, you can make the most of your IoT systems to help you analyse data and make better, data-driven business decisions!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nIoT Product Recommendations for Microsoft Azure<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nBefore we jump into the tutorial, I wouldn\u2019t want you to miss out on the latest and greatest IoT products from Seeed! These IoT platforms will give you the fastest and smoothest experience when working with Microsoft Azure and Azure Digital Twins – let’s go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nWio Terminal<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nThe Wio Terminal is a complete Arduino development platform based on the ATSAMD51, with wireless connectivity powered by Realtek RTL8720DN. As an all-in-one microcontroller, it has an onboard 2.4\u201d LCD Display, IMU, microphone, buzzer, microSD card slot, light sensor & infrared emitter. At an affordable price of under 30 dollars, this is one piece of IoT hardware that you definitely won\u2019t regret!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even better, the Wio Terminal is Azure IoT Plug and Play<\/strong><\/a> Certified<\/strong> and can be used seamlessly with Azure Digital Twins! This will save you both time and effort when setting up your IoT systems. For more details, kindly visit our previous blog<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nProduct Features<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Powerful MCU: Microchip ATSAMD51P19 with ARM Cortex-M4F core running at 120MHz<\/li>
- Reliable Wireless Connectivity: Equipped with Realtek RTL8720DN, dual-band 2.4GHz \/ 5GHz Wi-Fi (supported only by Arduino)<\/li>
- Highly Integrated Design: 2.4\u201d LCD Screen, IMU in a compact enclosure, with built-in magnets & mounting holes<\/li>
- Raspberry Pi 40-pin Compatible GPIO<\/li>
- Compatible with over 300 plug&play Grove modules to explore with IoT<\/li>
- USB OTG Support & TELEC Certified<\/li>
- Supports Arduino, CircuitPython, Micropython, ArduPy, AT Firmware, Visual Studio Code<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re interested to pick up a Wio Terminal, please visit its product page<\/a> on the Seeed Online Store!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nSeeed MT3620 Dev Board<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nNext up on the list is the Azure Sphere MT3620 Development Kit, which was developed in partnership with Microsoft to specifically be highly compatible with Microsoft Azure! It is part of a special class of Azure Sphere certified MCUs, featuring a built-in security subsystem with its own dedicated CM4F core for secure boot and system operation, along with dual-band WiFi. If you need a highly secure option for your IoT networks, the Seeed MT3620 Dev Board is for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Product Features<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Azure Sphere: End-to-end security for IoT devices<\/li>
- Dual-band 802.11 b\/g\/n with antenna diversity<\/li>
- Tri-core microcontroller with on-chip RAM & flash<\/li>
- Microsoft Visual Studio development environment<\/li>
- Online authentication & updates for device lifetime<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
The Seeed MT3620 Dev Board also comes in a Mini Version<\/a> as well as an Azure Sphere Grove Starter Kit<\/a> (Mini Version<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t miss out and get started with the Seeed MT3620 Dev Board<\/a> today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTutorial: Getting Started with Azure Digital Twins<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nWhat better way is there to show you what Azure Digital Twins can do than a demonstration? In this section, we will be going through Microsoft\u2019s Quickstart Guide<\/a> for Azure Digital Twins! This guide will:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Set up an Azure Digital Twins instance and Azure Digital Twins Explorer.<\/li>
- Upload pre built models and graph data to construct the sample scenario.<\/li>
- Explore the scenario graph that’s created.<\/li>
- Make changes to the graph.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Software Setup<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n- First, create a free Azure subscription here<\/a>.<\/li>
- Then, install Node.js on your machine here<\/a>.<\/li>
- Next, download the Azure Digital Twins Explorer<\/a> sample by clicking Code > Download ZIP. Extract the ZIP file.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nSetting Up Azure Digital Twin Instance & Permissions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nThe first thing we need to do is to set up an Azure Digital Twins instance and its required permissions. Make sure you are logged into your Microsoft Azure account before proceeding with the following steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nStep 1: <\/strong>Select Create a resource<\/em> in the Azure services home page menu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nSource: Microsoft Azure Docs<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\nStep 2: <\/strong>Search for Azure Digital Twins<\/em> and select the corresponding result. Select Create<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nSource: Microsoft Azure Docs<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\nStep 3:<\/strong> Fill in the resource details as follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Subscription <\/strong>– Azure subscription that you are using. Create a new Resource group<\/em> if needed.
- Resource groups help you manage your costs of using the Azure platform.<\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Location<\/strong> – Select an Azure Digital Twins-enabled region. Currently, East, South Central, West Central and West US are supported.<\/li>
- Resource Name<\/strong> – A unique name for your Azure Digital Twins instance.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nStep 4: <\/strong>Select Review + create<\/em>, then Create<\/em> to complete setting up your instance. Verify that your deployment was successful by checking your Azure notifications, and select Go to resource<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nSource: Microsoft Azure Docs<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\nStep 5:<\/strong> Now, we will set up the appropriate permissions to access the Azure Digital Twins instance. From the instance menu, select Access control (IAM)<\/em>. Select the + Add button to add a new role assignment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nSource: Microsoft Azure Docs<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\nStep 6:<\/strong> On the following Add role assignment<\/em> page, fill in the values as follows and click Save<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Role<\/strong> – Select Azure Digital Twins Data Owner<\/em> from the dropdown menu<\/li>
- Assign access to<\/strong> – Use User, group or service principal<\/li>
- Select<\/strong> – Search for the name or email address of the user to assign. When selected, they will show up in a Selected members<\/em> section.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nSource: Microsoft Azure Docs<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\nBefore proceeding, ensure that you have the following information on hand:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Azure Digital Twins instance host name <\/strong>(viewable from the Azure portal)<\/li>
- Azure Subscription<\/strong> used to create the instance (name or ID)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nSource: Microsoft Azure Docs<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\nSetting Up Local Azure Credentials<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nTo access the Azure Digital Twins instance that we just created from our local machine, authentication must be present in the local environment. To achieve this, we will first log in through the local Azure CLI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Azure Subscription<\/strong> used to create the instance (name or ID)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- Assign access to<\/strong> – Use User, group or service principal<\/li>
- Resource Name<\/strong> – A unique name for your Azure Digital Twins instance.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- Then, install Node.js on your machine here<\/a>.<\/li>
- First, create a free Azure subscription here<\/a>.<\/li>
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