Streamlined industrial IoT enables condition monitoring

Balluff’s Anjesh Shekhar demonstrates subscription-free edge gateway at Automate 2026

Key Highlights

  • Balluff’s edge gateway simplifies condition monitoring by pairing zero-subscription, web-browser-accessible software with automated threshold alerts for tools like Microsoft Teams and email.
  • Controls engineers can leverage multi-axis (x, y and z) vibration and flow sensing to detect mechanical misalignments and perform predictive maintenance before equipment fails.
  • The hardware seamlessly bridges OT and IT by combining onboard local logging with parallel data streaming directly into existing MES and SCADA systems for long-term analytics.

Anjesh Shekhar, product marketing manager for networking portfolio at Balluff, demonstrates an edge gateway device designed to streamline process and condition-based monitoring during the 2026 Automate Show in Chicago. By capturing key operational metrics, the hardware helps industrial facilities optimize overall equipment efficiency (OEE) and identify production bottlenecks.

The hardware operates on open-source software with zero subscription fees, which is designed to reduce ownership costs and setup friction. Users can access a fully customizable visualization dashboard directly through a standard web browser without needing local PC installations. To ensure proactive system health management, the software integrates with communication tools like email and Microsoft Teams to trigger automated alerts whenever operational data exceeds pre-configured safety thresholds.

Practical applications for the edge gateway range from real-time equipment diagnostics to advanced data management across factory floors. In a motor monitoring setup, connected sensors track three-axis vibration to detect misalignments and schedule maintenance before catastrophic failures occur.

Service technicians can also build mobile diagnostic kits combining vibration and flow sensors to target plant floor anomalies efficiently. Onboard storage handles logging, while built-in integration points simultaneously export historical data to higher-level manufacturing execution systems and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems for long-term analytics.

About the Author

Mike Bacidore

Editor in Chief

Mike Bacidore is chief editor of Control Design and has been an integral part of the Endeavor Business Media editorial team since 2007. Previously, he was editorial director at Hughes Communications and a portfolio manager of the human resources and labor law areas at Wolters Kluwer. Bacidore holds a BA from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. He is an award-winning columnist, earning multiple regional and national awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. He may be reached at [email protected] 

Sign up for our eNewsletters
Get the latest news and updates