Hands-On Sparkplug B for Industrial Automation

Name: Hands-On Sparkplug B for Industrial Automation
Rating: 4.2 (8 reviews)

Go Beyond MQTT — Design and Deploy Sparkplug B Solutions For Industrial Systems

Created byEmile Ackbarali

Last updated 8/2026

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Configure a complete Sparkplug B lab environment using HiveMQ, Node-RED, Modsim, Ignition Maker Edition, and MQTT Explorer — all free.
Build a Sparkplug B Edge Node in Node-RED that publishes NBIRTH, NDATA, and NDEATH and handles incoming NCMD commands.
Connect Modbus TCP field devices to a Sparkplug B Edge Node and publish their data as DBIRTH, DDATA, and DDEATH messages.
Implement report by exception with analogue deadband filtering in Node-RED to minimise unnecessary DDATA publishes.
Send NCMD and DCMD commands from Ignition through HiveMQ to the Edge Node and write setpoint values back to a Modsim register.
Configure Ignition MQTT Engine to auto-discover Edge Nodes and devices and display live Modbus-sourced data on an Ignition dashboard.
Build a Node-RED MQTT Application Node that decodes Sparkplug B payloads and displays a live read-only metric feed on a dashboard.
Configure persistent sessions correctly for Edge Nodes and the Primary Host Application and explain why CleanSession = false is mandatory.
Buffer metrics locally during a comms outage and replay them with is_historical = true on reconnect to maintain data continuity.
Validate a complete end-to-end Sparkplug B system covering all four actors using MQTT Explorer and a structured implementation checklist.

Course content

7 sections • 29 lectures • 2h 5m total length

Introduction4:37
Build your own spark plug B system through hands-on practice and theory, recognizing spark plug B as a standard built on top of MQTT for industrial automation.
Accessing Attached Resources and Setting Optimal Video Resolution2:23

The Three Problems Encountered with Plain MQTT in Industrial Automation1:53
Problem #1 - No Standard Topic Namespace2:48
Problem #2 - No Defined Payload Structure1:55
Problem #3 - No Session Awareness3:32
How Sparkplug B Solves These Problems6:01
Sparkplug B, atop MQTT 3.1.1, enforces SPB v1.0 topic structure and protobuf payloads: name, data type, value, timestamp, plus a mandatory session model.
Architecture: EoN Nodes, Devices, Primary Host Application, Application Nodes3:11
Explore Spark Plug B architecture: field devices, edge of network nodes, an MQTT broker conforming to 3.11, the primary application that can publish, and read-only application nodes.
The Link Between Architecture and Standard Topic Namespace4:58
Report By Exception (RBE)2:25

Building Our Sparkplug B System - An Overview2:39
Installing the Mosquitto MQTT Broker5:31
Download and install the mosquitto mqtt broker on windows, run it as a service, and verify installation by setting the system path environment variable and testing mosquitto -h.
Testing the Mosquitto MQTT Broker5:29
Installing Node-RED4:08
Learn to install Node.js and Node-RED, set up npm, start the Node-RED service, and access the visual programming environment at localhost:1880 for MQTT-based workflows.
Installing and Testing MQTT.fx2:34
download and install mqtt.fx on windows, obtain license keys from softblade emails, enter the license key to activate an 88-day temporary license, then open mqtt.fx for testing.

Connecting MQTT.fx to the Mosquitto Broker5:07
Connect mqtt.fx to mosquitto broker on localhost, configure 1883, subscribe to test topic, publish hello world, decode payload as plain text, and subscribe to SPB v1.0 to receive sparkplug messages.
Simulating NBIRTH and NDEATH Topic Messages8:27
Report By Exception (RBE) and Aliases6:40
Learn how report by exception and aliases optimize bandwidth in Sparkplug B, showing how d-birth and d-data messages convey only changed metrics using alias mapping.
Simulating DBIRTH, DEATH and DDATA Topic Messages9:07
Simulate dbirth, ddeath, and ddata messages at edge of the network node, wiring metrics like flow rate, total volume, flow alarm, batch volume, and flow set point via Node-RED.
Self-Describing Birth Payload3:33

Overview of Section Goal1:56
Downloading and Installing Modsim1:53
Download and run mod sim 32, the 32-bit executable, in trial mode. If needed, obtain mod sim 64 from win dash tech dot com and use its demo mode.
Making Changes to the Node-RED Flow to Use Modsim - Part 16:10
Plan and map Node-RED flow data points to Modbus memory locations in ModSim, configure holding registers 4001–4004 and input status 10001, and enable Modbus TCP polling with Node-RED-Contrib-Modbus.
Making Changes to the Node-RED Flow to Use Modsim - Part 23:34
Modify the node-red flow to use modsim by adding function nodes and scripts 02.txt to compare previous and current modbus holding-register values and build a json metrics payload for report-by-exception.
Running the New Node-RED Flow5:17
Learn to run a new Node-RED flow that polls Modbus-tcp data from an edge node, uses report by exception, and enables auto-simulation to emulate real-world industrial data.

Requirements

Industrial automation concepts — SCADA, historians, engineering units, signal scaling, and report by exception.
MQTT 3.1.1 — brokers, pub/sub, QoS, retained messages, LWT, persistent sessions, and topic structures
Basic TCP/IP networking — IP addressing, ports, and how TCP client-server connections work.
Modbus — master/slave model, holding registers, function codes, and Modbus TCP addressing.

Description

If you work in industrial automation and you have heard the buzz around Sparkplug B but are not sure where to start — this course is built for you.

Sparkplug B is rapidly becoming the standard for IIoT data exchange, and for good reason. It solves the problems that plain MQTT leaves wide open — no standardized topic structure, no defined payload format, no reliable session management. Sparkplug B fixes all of that, and this course shows you exactly how, using real tools in a hands-on lab environment you can build on your own machine for free.

In just hours you will go from zero Sparkplug B knowledge to a fully working system — a Modbus field device feeding live data through a Node-RED Edge Node, over HiveMQ, into an Ignition SCADA dashboard, with commands flowing back in the other direction. Every step is practical, every concept is tied to something you will actually build, and every tool used in the course is either free or available on a free trial.

This course assumes you already know MQTT 3.1.1 and have a background in industrial automation. That means no time is wasted explaining the basics — instead you go straight into the architecture, the message types, and the hands-on labs that matter. You will learn how report by exception and deadband filtering reduce unnecessary network traffic, how persistent sessions protect your data during comms outages, how to replay buffered historical data on reconnect, and how to validate your implementation end-to-end with a structured checklist.

By the time you finish you will be able to design and build a Sparkplug B system from scratch — and more importantly, you will understand exactly why it works the way it does.

Who this course is for:

Electrical Engineers
Electrical Technicians
Electrical Tech or Engineering Students
Process Control Technicians and Engineers
Process Automation Engineers
Systems Integrators
Industrial Automation Engineers
Industrial Automation Technicians

Hands-On Sparkplug B for Industrial Automation

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction2 lectures • 7min

Why Sparkplug B?8 lectures • 27min

The Theory We Need Before We Start Building Our System3 lectures • 18min

Building Our Sparkplug B System - Downloading and Installing Simulation Tools5 lectures • 20min

Building Our Sparkplug B System - EoN Node and Device Simulation5 lectures • 33min

Building Our Sparkplug B System - Adding a Modbus TCP Device5 lectures • 19min

Bonus Section - How to ALWAYS Get the Lowest Prices on my Courses1 lecture • 2min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: