---
title: measurement — User Manual
node: measurement
updated: 2026-04-13
status: trial-ready
---

# measurement — User Manual

The `measurement` node is the sensor-side of every EVOLV flow. It takes raw signal data, applies offset / scaling / smoothing / outlier rejection, and publishes a conditioned value into the shared `MeasurementContainer`. A parent equipment node (rotatingMachine, pumpingStation, reactor, ...) subscribes automatically via the child-registration handshake on port 2.

## At a glance

| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Node category | EVOLV |
| Inputs | 1 (message-driven) |
| Outputs | 3 — `process` / `dbase` / `parent` |
| Tick period | 1 s |
| Input modes | `analog` (default) — one scalar per msg. `digital` — object payload with many keys. |
| Smoothing methods | 12 (`none`, `mean`, `min`, `max`, `sd`, `lowPass`, `highPass`, `weightedMovingAverage`, `bandPass`, `median`, `kalman`, `savitzkyGolay`) |
| Outlier methods | 3 (`zScore`, `iqr`, `modifiedZScore`) |

## Choosing a mode

### Analog — one scalar per message (PLC / 4-20 mA)

The classic pattern — what the node did before v1.1. `msg.payload` is a single number. The node runs one offset → scaling → smoothing → outlier pipeline and emits exactly one MeasurementContainer slot keyed by the asset's type + position.

```json
{ "topic": "measurement", "payload": 12.34 }
```

Use when one Node-RED `measurement` node represents one physical sensor.

### Digital — object payload, many channels (MQTT / IoT / JSON)

Use when one Node-RED `measurement` node represents one physical **device** that publishes multiple readings. Common shapes:

```json
{ "topic": "measurement",
  "payload": { "temperature": 22.5, "humidity": 45, "pressure": 1013 } }
```

```json
{ "topic": "measurement",
  "payload": { "co2": 618, "voc": 122, "pm25": 8 } }
```

Each top-level key maps to a **channel** with its own `type`, `position`, `unit`, and pipeline parameters. Unknown keys are ignored (logged at debug).

## Configuration

### Common (both modes)

- **Asset** (menu): supplier, category, asset type (`assetType`), model, unit.
- **Logger** (menu): log level + enable flag.
- **Position** (menu): `upstream` / `atEquipment` / `downstream`, optional distance offset.

### Analog fields

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **Scaling** | enables linear interpolation from source range to process range |
| **Source Min / Max** | raw input bounds (e.g. `4` / `20` for mA) |
| **Input Offset** | additive bias applied before scaling |
| **Process Min / Max** | mapped output bounds (e.g. `0` / `3000` for mbar) |
| **Simulator** | internal random-walk source for testing |
| **Smoothing** | method (dropdown) |
| **Window** | smoothing window size |

### Digital fields

- **Input Mode**: set to `digital` in the dropdown.
- **Channels (JSON)**: array of channel definitions.

Each channel:

```json
{
  "key":      "temperature",
  "type":     "temperature",
  "position": "atEquipment",
  "unit":     "C",
  "scaling":  { "enabled": false, "inputMin": 0, "inputMax": 1, "absMin": -50, "absMax": 150, "offset": 0 },
  "smoothing": { "smoothWindow": 5, "smoothMethod": "mean" },
  "outlierDetection": { "enabled": true, "method": "zScore", "threshold": 3 }
}
```

`scaling` / `smoothing` / `outlierDetection` are optional — missing sections inherit the top-level analog-mode fields. `key` is the JSON field name inside `msg.payload`; `type` is the MeasurementContainer axis — any string works, not just the physical-unit-backed defaults.

## Input topics

| Topic | Payload | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| `measurement` | number (analog) / object (digital) | drives the pipeline |
| `simulator` | — | toggle the internal random-walk simulator |
| `outlierDetection` | — | toggle outlier rejection |
| `calibrate` | — | set the offset so the current output matches `Source Min` (scaling on) or `Process Min` (scaling off). Requires a stable window — aborts if the signal is fluctuating. |

## Output ports

### Port 0 — process

Delta-compressed payload.

**Analog** shape:

```json
{ "mAbs": 4.2, "mPercent": 42, "totalMinValue": 0, "totalMaxValue": 100,
  "totalMinSmooth": 0, "totalMaxSmooth": 4.2 }
```

**Digital** shape:

```json
{ "channels": {
    "temperature": { "key": "temperature", "type": "temperature", "position": "atEquipment",
                     "unit": "C", "mAbs": 24, "mPercent": 37,
                     "totalMinValue": 22.5, "totalMaxValue": 25.5,
                     "totalMinSmooth": 22.5, "totalMaxSmooth": 24 },
    "humidity":    { ... },
    "pressure":    { ... }
} }
```

### Port 1 — dbase

InfluxDB line-protocol telemetry. Tags = asset metadata; fields = measurements. See [InfluxDB Schema Design](../../concepts/influxdb-schema-design.md).

### Port 2 — parent

`{ topic: "registerChild", payload: <nodeId>, positionVsParent, distance }` — emitted once ~200 ms after deploy so the parent equipment node registers this sensor.

## Pipeline per value

1. **Outlier check** (if enabled) — rejects via zScore / IQR / modifiedZScore. Rejected values never advance, don't update min/max, don't emit.
2. **Offset** — `value + scaling.offset`.
3. **Scaling** (if enabled) — linear interpolation from `[inputMin, inputMax]` to `[absMin, absMax]` with boundary clamping.
4. **Smoothing** — current value pushed into the rolling window; the configured method produces the smoothed output.
5. **Min/Max tracking** — both raw (pre-smoothing) and smoothed min/max tracked for display.
6. **Constrain** — smoothed value clamped to `[absMin, absMax]`.
7. **Emit** — `MeasurementContainer.type(...).variant('measured').position(...).distance(...).value(out, ts, unit)` triggers the event `<type>.measured.<position>` (lowercase) that the parent equipment subscribes to.

In digital mode, each channel runs this pipeline independently.

## Smoothing methods — quick reference

| Method | Use case |
|---|---|
| `none` | pass raw value through — useful for testing |
| `mean` | simple arithmetic average over window |
| `min` / `max` | worst-case / peak reporting |
| `sd` | outputs standard deviation (noise indicator) |
| `median` | outlier-resistant central tendency |
| `weightedMovingAverage` | later samples weighted higher |
| `lowPass` | EMA-style attenuation of high-frequency noise |
| `highPass` | emphasises rapid changes (step detection) |
| `bandPass` | `lowPass + highPass - raw` — band-of-interest filtering |
| `kalman` | recursive noise filter, converges to steady value |
| `savitzkyGolay` | polynomial smoothing over 5-point window |

## Outlier methods — quick reference

| Method | Best when |
|---|---|
| `zScore` | signal is approximately normal; threshold = # of SDs |
| `iqr` | signal is non-normal; robust to skewed distributions |
| `modifiedZScore` | small samples; uses median / MAD instead of mean / SD |

> **Historical bug fixed 2026-04-13:** The dispatcher compared against camelCase keys (`lowPass`, `zScore`, ...) but the validator lowercases enum values. Result: 4 smoothing methods and 2 outlier methods were silently no-ops when chosen from the editor — they fell through to the "unknown" branch and emitted the raw last value. Review any flow deployed before 2026-04-13 that relied on these methods.

## Unit policy

Unknown measurement types (anything not in the container's built-in `measureMap`: `pressure`, `flow`, `power`, `temperature`, `volume`, `length`, `mass`, `energy`) are accepted without unit compatibility checks. This lets digital channels use `humidity` (`%`), `co2` (`ppm`), arbitrary IoT units. Known types still validate strictly.

## Example flow (digital)

```json
[
  { "id": "dig", "type": "measurement",
    "mode": "digital",
    "channels": "[{\"key\":\"temperature\",\"type\":\"temperature\",\"position\":\"atEquipment\",\"unit\":\"C\",\"scaling\":{\"enabled\":false,\"absMin\":-50,\"absMax\":150},\"smoothing\":{\"smoothWindow\":5,\"smoothMethod\":\"mean\"}},{\"key\":\"humidity\",\"type\":\"humidity\",\"position\":\"atEquipment\",\"unit\":\"%\",\"scaling\":{\"enabled\":false,\"absMin\":0,\"absMax\":100},\"smoothing\":{\"smoothWindow\":5,\"smoothMethod\":\"mean\"}}]",
    ...
  }
]
```

## Testing

```bash
cd nodes/measurement
npm test
```

71 tests — coverage includes every smoothing method, every outlier strategy, scaling, interpolation, constrain, calibration, stability, simulation, per-channel pipelines, digital-mode dispatch, malformed-channel handling, event emits.

End-to-end benchmark scripts live in the superproject at `/tmp/m_e2e_baseline.py` (analog) and `/tmp/m_digital_e2e.py` (digital). Run against a Dockerized Node-RED stack (`docker compose up -d nodered`).

## Production status

Trial-ready as of 2026-04-13 after the session that fixed the silent dispatcher bug and added digital mode. See [session 2026-04-13](../../sessions/2026-04-13-measurement-digital-mode.md) and the memory file `node_measurement.md`.