From Prompt to Live Dashboard with ThingsBoard AI

• Your local Node-RED simulation connected to ThingsBoard Cloud over MQTT.
• A compact motor dashboard built with the Configure with AI feature in ThingsBoard, including electrical readings and vibration trends.
• Alarm conditions for motor faults, high vibration and high temperature.

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Five steps, from your first prompt to alarms

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Before you start

• ThingsBoard: The introduction explains the platform; Cloud Setup covers registration and credentials.
• Node-RED: Browse the learning resources. Install it using the official Windows guide or other installation options.
• Edge demo: This guide reuses its MQTT example and motor simulation as an importable flow. Here, ThingsBoard Cloud EU and AI replace the local ThingsBoard setup. No PLC project or Python/HTTP example is needed.

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Hardware & Software Used

• Development PC / laptop with an internet connection. No physical motor is needed.

• ThingsBoard Cloud EU with Tenant Administrator access. The EU Free plan includes 2.5 million monthly AI credits; Prototype includes 4 million. Free can complete this guide with sufficient remaining credits and device, telemetry, storage and alarm allowances. Check API usage before Step 2; repeated AI changes consume more credits.
• Node-RED running on your PC.
• The example Node-RED project attached in Step 3.

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Step 1 – Create your Cloud account

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Step 2 – Create a simple RPM dashboard

1

Enter the simple prompt

Open AI solution creator → New solution and enter:

Create a dashboard named Motor RPM for one device
named Industrial Motor 01. Show only the latest
speedRpm in a gauge from 0 to 1600 RPM.
The data will come from my local Node-RED simulator
over MQTT.

2

Review and create the solution

Select Skip interview if offered. Check the proposed device name, speedRpm key, and 0–1600 RPM gauge. The telemetry key is the name Node-RED sends; it must match exactly, including capital letters.Review the full proposal. Approve only one motor device and its RPM dashboard. Ask AI to remove unrequested users, roles, assets, devices, calculated fields, alarm rules or emulators before installing; alarms come in Step 5.Continue through Dashboard Design, then click Create Solution.Open Motor RPM. Connect Node-RED next to supply its data.

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Step 3 – Connect the example Node-RED simulation

1

Import the project

Start Node-RED and open localhost:1880. Select Menu → Import, choose the attached JSON project, and click Import. Reuse the existing flow if it is already imported; running two copies would publish duplicate samples.

industrial-motor-cloud-flow.json

Import only the JSON project. It contains the complete Industrial motor simulator Function. The plain-text source under Resources is optional; do not add another simulator.The Inject node starts each sample. The Function calculates the motor readings, JSON serialization prepares the message, and the MQTT node sends it to ThingsBoard. Debug lets you inspect the same readings locally.

2

Link the motor device

In ThingsBoard, open Devices & assets → Devices → Industrial Motor 01. Select Manage credentials → Access token → Copy access token, or use its Copy access token shortcut.

New to device access tokens? The Edge Setup guide shows step by step where to find a device’s MQTT connection details.In Node-RED, double-click Publish to ThingsBoard Cloud EU and edit its Server configuration. The download already has these connection settings; enter only your token under Security → Username:

Setting	Value
Server	mqtt.eu.thingsboard.cloud
Port	8883
TLS	Enabled, with server certificate verification
Security → Username	Your motor device access token
Security → Password	Leave blank
Topic	v1/devices/me/telemetry
QoS / Retain	1 / false

Click Update → Done → Deploy. The Inject node sends every 5 seconds. Check that MQTT shows connected.If it stays disconnected, recheck the hostname, token and internet connection. Use the token belonging to Industrial Motor 01, not another device: that token determines which device receives the data.

Keep your token private. Never disable certificate verification or include the token in shared project files.

3

Check the data in ThingsBoard

1. Open Devices & assets in ThingsBoard.
2. Click Devices.
3. Open Industrial Motor 01.
4. Click Latest telemetry.
5. Find speedRpm, the simulated motor speed.
6. Watch its value and Last update time for at least 15 seconds. Timestamps should advance every 5 seconds.
7. Open Dashboards.
8. Open Motor RPM to see the gauge follow the speed.

Briefly pause the local publisher: timestamps should stop, then resume when you restart it. 0 RPM can simply mean that the simulated motor is stopped.

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Step 4 – Build the bigger dashboard with AI

Update this dashboard for the existing Industrial
Motor 01. Rename it Motor Overview and keep the same
device alias and live MQTT telemetry.

Make a compact industrial panel using built-in widgets
and their default card appearance:
Top: four compact horizontal label-and-value cards
for voltageV (V), currentA (A), powerW (W) and
energyKWh (kWh). Avoid square cards with cramped text.
Middle: standard status cards for Motor Status from
motorOn and Motor Fault from fault on the left.
In the centre, use a basic ring or arc gauge for the
latest speedRpm, with a scale from 0 to 1600 RPM.
On the right, add a wide orange vibrationRms chart.
Use a real-time telemetry window of the last 1 minute
with no aggregation, so a short demo shows raw values.
Show minimum, maximum, average and latest vibration.
Bottom: a compact device Alarms Table showing time,
type, severity and status, including cleared history.

Move temperature, humidity, availability, cycleCount,
cycleTimeSec, goodParts, rejectRate, faultCode and
alarmLevel, plus the speedRpm trend, into a Details
state. Use compact horizontal value cards there too.
Add small Details and Back navigation buttons.

Keep it readable and uncluttered. Reuse built-in
widgets. Do not create devices, emulators, motor
controls, notifications or alarm rules in this step.
Show the proposed changes for approval.

1. Open Dashboards.
2. Open Motor Overview.
3. Watch the electrical values, RPM gauge and vibration chart change as the simulation runs.
4. Click Details to see the secondary measurements.
5. Click Back to return to the overview.

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Step 5 – Add alarm conditions with AI

1

Open the alarm assistant

Open Alarms → Alarm rules → Configure with AI. Confirm that the assistant targets Industrial Motor 01 before approving any changes.

2

Give the alarm prompt

Create or update three alarm rules for the existing
device Industrial Motor 01. Use latest telemetry,
immediate conditions and an always-active schedule.

Motor Fault: CRITICAL when fault=true.
Clear when fault=false.

High Vibration: WARNING when vibrationRms >7 and <=9;
CRITICAL when vibrationRms >9. Clear when <=7 mm/s.

High Temperature: WARNING when temperature >30 °C.
Clear when temperature <=30 °C.

Treat missing data as unknown, not zero or false.
Reuse matching rules; do not create duplicate devices
or alarms. Show me the proposed changes for approval.
Do not add email, SMS or other notification actions.

Check the target device, severities, and clear conditions before approving:

Alarm	Trigger	Clear
Motor Fault	fault=true → CRITICAL	fault=false
High Vibration	>7 and <=9 → WARNING; >9 → CRITICAL	<=7 mm/s
High Temperature	>30 °C → WARNING	<=30 °C

Vibration uses one alarm type; Critical takes priority above 9 mm/s. Check device/profile scope and reuse matching rules, avoiding duplicates. These are simulation thresholds, not real-motor operating limits.

Want to compare with hand-built alarm rules? Step 5 of the Vibration Monitoring guide configures ISO 10816 alarm rules manually on a device profile, using real sensor data and calculated fields.

3

Check the result

Return to Motor Overview. Its Alarms Table must use the same device and show active and cleared alarms to reveal automatic clearing.The normal simulation may not cross every threshold during your check. Use the two controlled payloads below to demonstrate both alarm creation and clearing, then restore the repeating simulation.Pause the repeating Inject and startup injection, then Deploy. Add a non-repeating Inject with a JSON payload, connected directly to Serialize telemetry as JSON. Send:

{"speedRpm":0,"motorOn":false,"temperature":31,"vibrationRms":10,"fault":true,"faultCode":101,"alarmLevel":2}

Expect Motor Fault and High Vibration to be CRITICAL, and High Temperature to be WARNING. Send the following normal values to clear them:

{"speedRpm":1100,"motorOn":true,"temperature":24,"vibrationRms":2,"fault":false,"faultCode":0,"alarmLevel":0}

Cleared alarms remain in history but disappear from an active-only table. Restore the five-second Inject and startup injection, then Deploy.

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Where AI still needs a human

• Unrequested resources: Review proposals and remove extras before approving.
• Needle gauge: AI cannot select the analogue Speed gauge. Use the optional manual instructions below, or see the ISO-banded Speed gauge built by hand in the Vibration Monitoring guide.
• Font size and scaling: These controls are not exposed in this AI workflow; use Edit mode when available.
• Alarm history: AI cannot set a separate Alarms Table time window here. Select a longer global dashboard window for older alarms.
• Rule scope: AI may attach rules to a device profile, affecting every device using it. Confirm the intended scope.

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Your result – a bigger dashboard using AI-supported widgets

Optional manual editing

Use Edit mode for optional appearance changes, separate from the AI prompts and opening GIF. See Edge Setup Step 5: Create Dashboard for widget basics.To add a needle gauge, open Edit mode → Add widget → Analogue gauges → Speed gauge. Use the existing motor alias and speedRpm; set RPM, min 0, max 1600, and 0 decimal digits, then enable the digital value. For the pictured style, use Motor speed as the Units title, #048AD3 for Arrow and scale default color, and white for Plate color. Replace the old RPM widget and Save. See the Speed gauge guide.

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Resources

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Node-RED Motor Simulation Flow

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Simulator Source Code (optional)

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ThingsBoard Dashboard and Alarm Rules

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Further reading

• Next step with real hardware: Real-Time Vibration Monitoring with ThingsBoard and Calculated Fields uses a physical Balluff sensor, a virtual PLC and ThingsBoard Calculated Fields.
• Official ThingsBoard guides: AI Solution Creator, dashboard AI and alarm-rule AI.
• Simulation limits: values and faults are synthetic, and in-memory counters reset when Node-RED restarts. availability indicates running time, not OEE.

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