EVOLV/wiki/architecture/platform-overview.md

title, created, updated, status, tags

title	created	updated	status	tags
EVOLV Platform Architecture	2026-03-01	2026-04-07	evolving	architecture platform edge-first

EVOLV Platform Architecture

At A Glance

EVOLV is not only a Node-RED package. It is a layered automation platform:

• edge for plant-side execution
• site for local aggregation and resilience
• central for coordination, analytics, APIs, and governance

flowchart LR
    subgraph EDGE["Edge"]
        PLC["PLC / IO"]
        ENR["Node-RED"]
        EDB["Local InfluxDB"]
        EUI["Local Monitoring"]
    end

    subgraph SITE["Site"]
        SNR["CoreSync / Site Node-RED"]
        SDB["Site InfluxDB"]
        SUI["Site Dashboards"]
    end

    subgraph CENTRAL["Central"]
        API["API Gateway"]
        CFG["Tagcodering"]
        CDB["Central InfluxDB"]
        CGR["Grafana"]
        INTEL["Overview Intelligence"]
        GIT["Gitea + CI/CD"]
    end

    PLC --> ENR
    ENR --> EDB
    ENR --> EUI
    ENR <--> SNR
    EDB <--> SDB
    SNR --> SUI
    SNR <--> API
    API <--> CFG
    API --> INTEL
    SDB <--> CDB
    CDB --> CGR
    GIT --> ENR
    GIT --> SNR

Core Principles

1. Edge-first operation

The edge layer must remain useful and safe when central systems are down.

That means:

• local logic remains operational
• local telemetry remains queryable
• local dashboards can keep working

2. Multi-level telemetry

InfluxDB is expected on multiple levels:

• local for resilience and digital-twin use
• site for plant diagnostics
• central for fleet analytics and advisory logic

3. Smart storage

Telemetry should not be stored only with naive deadband rules.

The target model is signal-aware:

• preserve critical change points
• reduce low-information flat sections
• allow downstream reconstruction where justified

flowchart LR
    SIG["Process Signal"] --> EVAL["Slope / Event Evaluation"]
    EVAL --> KEEP["Keep critical points"]
    EVAL --> REDUCE["Reduce reconstructable points"]
    KEEP --> L0["Local InfluxDB"]
    REDUCE --> L0
    L0 --> L1["Site InfluxDB"]
    L1 --> L2["Central InfluxDB"]

4. Central is the safe entry point

External systems should enter through central APIs, not by directly calling field-edge systems.

flowchart TD
    EXT["External Request"] --> API["Central API Gateway"]
    API --> AUTH["Auth / Policy"]
    AUTH --> SITE["Site Layer"]
    SITE --> EDGE["Edge Layer"]
    EDGE --> PLC["Field Assets"]

    EXT -. blocked .-> EDGE
    EXT -. blocked .-> PLC

5. Configuration belongs in tagcodering

The intended configuration source of truth is the database-backed tagcodering model:

• machine metadata
• asset configuration
• runtime-consumable configuration
• future central/site configuration services

This already exists partially but still needs more work before it fully serves that role.

Layer Roles

Edge

• PLC connectivity
• local logic
• protocol translation
• local telemetry buffering
• local monitoring and digital-twin support

Site

• aggregation of edge systems
• local dashboards and diagnostics
• mediation between OT and central
• protected handoff for central requests

Central

• enterprise/API gateway
• fleet dashboards
• analytics and intelligence
• source control and CI/CD
• configuration governance through tagcodering

Why This Matters

This architecture gives EVOLV:

• better resilience
• safer external integration
• better data quality for analytics
• a path from Node-RED package to platform