Local AI on the plant floor: feed SCADA, not the cloud
In 10 seconds
- AI on the plant floor should run inside the plant, not in someone else’s cloud.
- It should send only results to the SCADA system the plant already trusts, over OPC UA.
- I tested this pattern with my vLock-AI Vision project, and vMaint is moving the same way.
Why local matters
Cybersecurity. A plant’s OT network is built to stay closed. Every cloud AI tool asks IT to open a path from the machines to the internet. That’s a new attack surface on the most sensitive network in the building, and most IT teams will rightly say no.
Your data stays yours. Camera images and machine data show your parts, tooling and process. With local AI, none of it leaves the floor.
It keeps working. If the internet drops, a cloud tool stops. A local one doesn’t notice.
No per-use bill. Cloud AI charges for every call. A local model runs on hardware you own.
The architecture
Machines / cameras ──► Local AI PC ──► OPC UA ──► Ignition ──► Operators, alarms, screens
(on the plant (results (the gateway
network) only) IT already trusts)- AI runs on a PC on the plant network, next to the machines.
- It publishes only results (state, counts, a heartbeat) as OPC UA tags. A few bytes, not images.
- Ignition subscribes like it would to any PLC. Alarms, screens and history work as usual.
- SCADA keeps control. The AI reports, and Ignition decides what happens. The AI never writes to machines.
- If anything needs to reach outside, it goes through Ignition, which is already secured and approved. The AI PC never touches the internet.
The rule: pixels and raw data stay on the floor. Only the meaning crosses into SCADA.
Case study: vLock-AI Vision
vLock-AI Vision uses this architecture. Meta’s SAM 3.1 model watches a camera on a local PC, and the results go to Ignition SCADA over OPC UA. Ignition then decides what the machine does.
Code, setup and test results are on GitHub →
Where vMaint is going
vMaint will work the same way: installed on a PC on your plant network, publishing live downtime, OEE, machine state and work orders to Ignition over OPC UA. Ignition stays the gateway. Your data stays on your floor.
Local install is coming soon.