Getting Started with IOT2050 - A Step-by-Step Guide

by Samudra Vijay

Siemens IOT2050  is an industrial gateway based on ARM processor from Texas Instruments. This is a huge step up from IOT 2040 edge device(which was based on an Intel Quark processor). The standard Dual or Quad Core ARM processor with 1 or 2 GB RAM makes it easier to run a standard or custom Debian OS. IOT 2050 is an open, industrial PC-like platform, makes it a great edge device.  

Steps to get the IOT 2050 configured and use it as an edge device 

IOT 2050 Linux setup 

  1. Get the SIMATIC IOT2050 SD-Card example image from Siemens Support Site (you will need to register as a user, registration is free). 
  2. Download IOT2050_Example_Image_V1.0.2.zip (or a more recent version available). This is Siemens Industrial OS based on Debian.
  3. Use Win32 Disk Imager to create a bootable Micro-SD card.  
  4. More details about how to install the OS are in SIMATIC IOT2050 Setting up document on the support website. 
  5. Insert this SD card in the correct slot. 
  6. Connect the IOT 2050 using the correct LAN port. If your local network IP Address range is not 192.168.200.xxx, then it is best to use LAN port 2. LAN port 2 will use a DHCP address from your router.
  7. Power up your IOT 2050. It needs 24V DC input. Most industrial automation stores sell this. Siemens also has a lot of industrial power supplies to choose from. We will update this post with a few part numbers that you can search for.
  8. If using DHCP, connect to your router and find the IP address for IOT 2050
  9. Use Putty to connect to IOT 2050 using SSH this IP address. Default root password is root. Note: the OS does not include sudo command.  
  10. If a static IP is required, configure the network by editing the file /etc/network/interfaces to make this change. 

Now your IOT 2050 is ready to be configured as an edge device.  

The Linux distribution includes Python 2.7 and 3.x. It does not include pip. I am using Python 3. Using “apt” to install pip3. First update apt repository, then install python3-pip. Run the following commands 

apt update
apt install python3-pip

Good luck with your next IOT project! 

-Abhijit Muthiyan

abhi (at) varidx dot io

Acknowledgement  

We invited guest contributor Mr Abhi Muthiyan, CTO of Varidx, an IOT platform, to share his knowledge and expertise with the IOT community and SIMATIC IOT2050 users. He can be reached at abhi (at) varidx.io for any comments or questions on this blog post.   

 

 

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