Edit

Connect Power BI to the OPC UA reference solution

This article describes how to connect Microsoft Power BI to the OPC UA reference solution.

Power BI is a unified, self-service business intelligence platform that turns data from many sources into interactive, shareable dashboards and reports. For this reference solution, it connects to the OPC UA telemetry and lets business users and plant managers explore key manufacturing metrics, such as OEE, production counts, and energy consumption, by using interactive visualizations. Mobile access and sharing capabilities make the industrial data available to decision-makers.

To connect the solution to Power BI, you need access to a Power BI subscription.

Architecture

The following diagram illustrates the OPC UA solution. It shows industrial telemetry flowing through Azure IoT Operations and Azure Data Explorer into Power BI dashboards.

Architecture diagram that shows industrial telemetry flowing through Azure IoT Operations and Azure Data Explorer into Power BI dashboards.

Download a PowerPoint file of this architecture.

To create the Power BI dashboard, complete the following steps:

  1. Install Power BI Desktop.

  2. Sign in to Power BI Desktop with the user account that has access to the Power BI subscription.

  3. In the Azure portal, go to the ontologies Azure Data Explorer database and grant Viewer permission to the Microsoft Entra ID user who connects from Power BI.

  4. In Power BI, create a new report and select Azure Data Explorer time-series data as a data source: Get data > Azure > Azure Data Explorer (Kusto).

  5. In the dialog box, enter the Azure Data Explorer endpoint of your cluster (https://<your cluster name>.<location>.kusto.windows.net), the database name (ontologies), and the following query:

    let _startTime = ago(1h);
let _endTime = now();
opcua_metadata_lkv
| where DataSetName contains "assembly"
| where DataSetName contains "munich"
| join kind=inner (opcua_telemetry
    | where Name == "ActualCycleTime"
    | where Timestamp > _startTime and Timestamp < _endTime
) on Subject
| extend NodeValue = todouble(Value)
| project Timestamp1, NodeValue

  6. Sign in to Azure Data Explorer by using the Microsoft Entra ID user you gave permission to access the Azure Data Explorer database.

  7. Select Load. This action imports the actual cycle time of the assembly station of the Munich production line for the last hour.

  8. From the Table view, select the NodeValue column, and then select Don't summarize under Summarization.

  9. Switch to the Report view.

  10. Under Visualizations, select the Line Chart visualization.

  11. Under Visualizations, move the Timestamp1 field from the Data source to the X-axis, select it, and then select Timestamp1.

  12. Under Visualizations, move the NodeValue field from the Data source to the Y-axis, select it, and then select Median.

  13. Save your new report.

Tip

Use the same approach to add other data from Azure Data Explorer to your report.

Screenshot that shows a Power BI view.

Next steps

  • Last updated on