We are new to Ignition and building our first cell application. The cell consists of a cobot that picks up parts, presents each to a DataMatrix scanner for ID, then to a laser measurement device for dimensional measurement. Pass/fail is sent back to the cobot which sorts parts to pass or fail pallets. The cell PC connects to the scanner and measurement device via TCP, and to the cobot via Modbus TCP. We are building the HMI in Perspective.
We need the cell to keep running even if the factory network drops mid-job. We are trying to understand the right architecture:
1. Central Ignition Gateway only If we develop everything on the central Ignition gateway, a network drop between the gateway and the cell devices would stop the cell mid-job. Is there any way to run application logic locally on the cell PC using a standard Ignition gateway licence, or does that require Edge?
2. Ignition Edge on cell PC Edge runs locally on the cell PC, connects directly to all cell hardware, and operates independently of the factory network. The cell PC has two NICs — one on the cell device subnet and one on the factory network connected to the central Ignition gateway for data sync and central visibility.
Our concern is data flow. We want to store each tool measurement as a complete record (timestamp, part ID, measured values, pass/fail) and submit the full job dataset to our central system when the operator confirms job completion. We recently discovered Edge cannot connect to a SQL database directly.
Our questions:
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Can Edge store the in-progress job dataset in memory (Dataset tag) and write each completed row to a local file on disk as a power-loss backup?
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On job confirm, how can Edge send the full dataset to a central system for database storage?
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If the factory network drops mid-job, does Edge queue outbound data and retry when connection restores, or is that something we need to handle in scripting?
3. Two full Ignition gateways — Hub and Spoke One full Ignition gateway on the cell PC writing to a local database, syncing to a central Ignition hub. This removes the Edge database limitation. We understand this requires an additional licence. Is this the recommended approach for a production cell that must be network-resilient, or is Edge sufficient?
What is the standard industrial approach for this type of cell application?
Thanks in advance.