Industrial Automation
Machine monitoring, process control, and predictive maintenance
CAN bus is widely used in industrial automation for connecting sensors, actuators, and controllers. Helix provides the tools to monitor machine health in real time, log operational data for trend analysis, and detect anomalies before they lead to unplanned downtime — all accessible through a web browser without installing specialized software.
The Landscape
CAN-based protocols like CANopen and DeviceNet connect sensors, drives, and PLCs across factory floors worldwide. Industrial equipment is expected to run continuously with minimal unplanned downtime. As factories move toward Industry 4.0 connectivity, there is growing demand to feed CAN bus data into cloud platforms and SCADA systems for centralized monitoring and predictive maintenance.
Key Figures
¹ Angrepp Red Team — agentic white-box attack simulation that continuously tests for vulnerabilities before they reach production.
How It Works
Industry Challenges
What makes CAN bus work in industrial automation uniquely demanding.
Continuous operation
Industrial equipment runs around the clock. Logging devices must capture data unattended for weeks or months without filling up storage or requiring manual restarts — any gap in data means missed anomalies.
Environmental conditions
Factory floors are electrically noisy environments with motors, inverters, and relays generating EMI. Distinguishing genuine CAN bus communication problems from application-level faults requires visibility into error rates alongside application data.
Integration with existing systems
Plant monitoring systems like SCADA, MES, and cloud analytics platforms need data in standard formats. CAN bus data is typically locked inside proprietary tools with no straightforward path to existing infrastructure.
How Helix Helps
Built-in capabilities that address industrial automation requirements.
Long-term data logging
Record months of operational data with intelligent partition management. Define triggers on decoded signals to flag anomalies and optionally send webhooks for immediate alerting.
Real-time machine monitoring
Visualize sensor readings, motor speeds, and actuator states on customizable dashboards with live gauges and charts.
MQTT integration
Stream decoded CAN signals via our MIT-licensed MQTT broker, giving you full control over where data is stored for data sovereignty. For a turnkey solution, cantainer.io provides managed cloud ingestion.
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