PROJECT

Modbus TCP monitoring software for live sensor data

Custom software development, Modbus TCP communication, Sensor data logging, Live monitoring dashboards, Historical trend analysis, Alerts and notifications, Reports and data export

  • Industry: Industrial equipment
  • Latvia Location: Latvia
  • Delivery time: 10 weeks
  • Technologies: Python, JavaScript / TypeScript (Node.js)
3 months

The client monitors machine condition, process variables, and environmental conditions through connected equipment and sensors. The software is a Modbus TCP monitoring system for configuring equipment connections, reading sensor and actuator data, and showing live values to the engineering team. It also records measurements, displays historical trends, applies alert thresholds, and creates reports. The workspace is made to reduce manual monitoring work around machine data.

Summary

Problem

The client needs to monitor machine condition, process variables, and environmental readings across connected equipment.

Solution

The solution became a modular Modbus TCP monitoring workspace with live dashboards, data logging, alerts, and reports.

Result

The software is made to reduce manual monitoring work and keep equipment data available for review.

Client story

The client is an industrial equipment operator from Latvia. It monitors machine condition, process variables, and environmental conditions through connected equipment and sensors.

The client works with sensor data, actuator data, and Modbus registers.

The request was to transmit equipment data over suitable networks, keep transfers secure when required, show live and historical readings, and support configurable alarms or control actions.

The solution was shaped as a modular monitoring system. Special attention was paid to Modbus TCP setup and live readings.

Historical health data, threshold settings, and reports were included, with room for later environmental data collection or relay control.

The client asked for

  1. Transmit data over secure wireless or network protocols
  2. Keep data transfer reliable during connectivity interruptions
  3. Show live readings, status, trends, charts, and reports
  4. Set thresholds, alerts, notifications, and control actions

Why ready-made software did not fit

Ready-made IoT development tools provide general device, cloud, and development services, but their descriptions do not cover this client's full monitoring task in one tailored workspace. The client needed Modbus TCP configuration, register reading, machine data logging, dashboards, project-specific thresholds, and possible control actions connected to its own equipment and rules.

Project overview

The solution was designed around a clear connection setup for industrial sensors and equipment. The engineer enters the device name, network endpoint, and register definitions.

Polling settings and the connection test result complete the setup.

To handle live monitoring, the workspace was provided with device selection, connection status, and live sensor cards. A register table shows current values with timestamps.

It reads sensor, actuator, and temperature data in one dashboard. Humidity readings and device status are also available.

Historical machine health data is recorded for analysis over time. Trend charts show vibration, temperature, and RPM data, while the log table keeps recorded measurements available.

Configurable thresholds were added for incident monitoring. Managers and administrators can set temperature, pressure, and vibration limits and define notification settings.

Reports were included for stored monitoring data. The system creates JSON, CSV, and PDF outputs and supports comparisons between selected data sources.

The modular structure leaves room for later additions such as environmental measurements, pressure sensors, and relay control.

Key features delivered

  • Modbus TCP device and register configuration
  • Live sensor and actuator dashboard
  • Real-time temperature and humidity readings
  • Historical machine health logging
  • Trend charts for vibration and other measurements
  • Configurable alert thresholds
  • Notification settings for incidents
  • Comparison reports for selected data sources
  • JSON, CSV, and PDF data export

Can be added

+ Environmental data collection + Pressure-sensor integration + Relay control for heating and cooling + Remote valve commands + Firmware and hardware support + Mobile application connection

Who else can use this solution

Other businesses with a similar sensor-monitoring task can adapt the same solution to their equipment, communication methods, and control rules.

A water and environmental operator

Task It collects distributed sensor or meter data and monitors field conditions.
How the solution helps The solution reads connected measurements, shows current status, logs history, and supports alerts or control actions.
Energy and fuel

A smart-farm operator

Task It collects readings from distributed field sensors and monitors growing conditions.
How the solution helps The solution brings sensor data into live dashboards, stores measurements over time, and supports threshold-based notifications.
Farming operations

A facility operator

Task It monitors building equipment and environmental conditions remotely.
How the solution helps The solution displays live readings, keeps historical logs, and provides alerts, reports, or control functions.
Household equipment

Technology stack

Python

Acquisition and services

Python supports the data acquisition and communication services.

JavaScript / TypeScript (Node.js)

Dashboards and communication

JavaScript and TypeScript support monitoring interfaces and network communication.

PHP

Supporting web services

PHP libraries support selected document and application services when required.

pymodbus

Python Modbus communication

pymodbus (a Python library for Modbus communication) reads and works with Modbus registers.

modbus-serial

Node.js Modbus communication

modbus-serial (a Node.js library for Modbus RTU and TCP) supports equipment communication.

jsmodbus

Serial and TCP Modbus

jsmodbus (a JavaScript Modbus protocol implementation) supports serial and TCP Modbus connections.

grafanalib

Grafana dashboard building

grafanalib (a Python library for building Grafana dashboards) helps create monitoring dashboards.

Plotly

Interactive data visualization

Plotly displays interactive charts for monitoring and historical analysis.

httpx

HTTP data communication

httpx (a Python HTTP client) supports communication with connected services.

JSON, CSV, PDF

Data exchange and reports

The system exchanges data and creates reports in JSON, CSV, and PDF formats.

Integrations

Modbus TCP equipment

The system reads registers and exchanges sensor or actuator data with connected industrial equipment.

HTTP and HTTPS services

The monitoring system sends and receives formatted data through HTTP or secure HTTPS connections.

MQTT

The system can exchange sensor data with platforms and equipment through MQTT.

Grafana

The solution can connect dashboard definitions and visual monitoring views with Grafana.

SCADA systems

The monitoring solution can exchange industrial data with SCADA systems when required.

Cloud platforms and databases

The system can send stored or live monitoring data to connected cloud platforms or databases.

The result

Live equipment status in one view

The live dashboard brings current machine and environmental readings into one place. Connection state and register values appear alongside temperature readings.

The engineering team also sees humidity, device status, and timestamps for incoming data.

How it works

  1. The device selector identifies the connected equipment shown in the dashboard.
  2. Live sensor, actuator, and temperature data appear in sensor cards.
  3. The Modbus register table shows register values with a timestamp for each reading.
  • Configure Modbus TCP connections
  • Review current connection status
  • Monitor live sensor data
Note: The dashboard combines live readings with the connection status needed to interpret them.
Live Modbus device dashboard

Live Modbus device dashboard

Functions on this screen
Configure Modbus TCP Manage sensor data Display real-time data

Historical readings support equipment review

The health log turns stored measurements into trends over time. Analysts can review machine health indicators and changes in vibration and temperature.

RPM, displacement, and acceleration readings are available for further review in the same history view.

How it works

  1. The time-range filter limits the logged machine measurements shown on the screen.
  2. The trend chart visualizes temperature, vibration, and RPM data.
  3. The machine health indicator and historical log table show the recorded equipment condition.
  • Review logged machine measurements
  • Compare readings over a selected period
  • Inspect the historical log
Machine trends and health log

Machine trends and health log

Functions on this screen
Log health data Visualize Sensor Data

Thresholds make incidents visible

The alert settings screen gives the client a clear place to define operational limits. Temperature, pressure, and vibration thresholds are connected to incident states and notification settings.

This keeps alert rules close to the metrics they monitor and supports later control actions when the project includes them.

How it works

  1. The metric selector identifies the measurement with an alert rule.
  2. Threshold input fields store temperature, pressure, or vibration limits.
  3. The alarm-state preview shows the configured incident state, while notification settings define the related notifications.
  • Configure alert thresholds
  • Preview alarm states
  • Set notification preferences
Tip: Thresholds are configured around the metrics that matter to the monitored equipment.
Threshold and notification settings

Threshold and notification settings

Functions on this screen
Configurable Alert Thresholds

Equipment connections follow a clear setup

The connection setup screen keeps device and register configuration together. Engineers define the network endpoint and attached registers before checking the connection result.

Polling details align the monitoring system with the client's equipment and communication rules.

How it works

  1. The device name, IP address, and port fields identify the equipment connection.
  2. Register definition fields store the Modbus registers linked to sensor and actuator data.
  3. The polling configuration and connection test result show how the system communicates with the device.
  • Define Modbus registers
  • Set polling details
  • Review the connection test
Modbus TCP connection setup

Modbus TCP connection setup

Functions on this screen
Configure Modbus TCP

Reports turn stored data into shareable files

The reports screen prepares historical monitoring data for analysis. Analysts and managers can create a report and compare selected sources.

The system exports the selected data as JSON, CSV, or PDF for operational review.

How it works

  1. The report type and date-range filters identify the stored sensor data included in the report.
  2. The source comparison selector compares selected monitoring data sources.
  3. The report generator creates JSON, CSV, or PDF output from the selected data.
  • Generate analysis reports
  • Compare selected data sources
  • Export JSON, CSV, or PDF
Reports and data export

Reports and data export

Functions on this screen
Generate reports for analysis Data Comparison Reports

What the solution gives

With this solution, the operator can:

  • Monitor equipment and environmental readings from one workspace
  • Review machine health data with historical charts and logs
  • Set thresholds for temperature, pressure, and vibration incidents
  • Receive notifications based on configured monitoring conditions
  • Create reports in JSON, CSV, and PDF
  • Extend the system with control actions and connected platforms

Could ready-made systems do the job?

Before the design, the task was compared with ready-made products by their own descriptions.

What the client needs IoT platforms Particle, AWS IoT, Blynk IoT platform IoT frameworks Eclipse IoT, Mozilla WebThings Building IoT systems Niagara 4 Custom solution
Transmit data over required protocols partly
Secure and resilient data transfer partly
Live readings and historical reports partly
Thresholds, alerts, and control partly
Fits the client's own rules: stages, roles, reports — — —
All steps in one place —
No manual steps between programs — — —

By the public descriptions of the products and their category.

The main parts of the task exist in ready-made IoT platforms and frameworks, and a ready-made product is enough when only one part is needed.

This client needed its own software because the monitoring task combines Modbus TCP setup, specific registers, live and historical views, thresholds, reports, and possible control actions.

The solution keeps those parts in one workspace and aligns them with the client's equipment and rules instead of leaving connections between separate tools to manual work.

In the end

In the end, the solution was made to reduce manual monitoring work around connected equipment data.

FAQ

Thinking about building a similar system? These answers explain how a Modbus TCP monitoring solution can fit equipment, sensor data, communication rules, and future control needs.

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