IoT for ice machine manufacturers

An ice machine fails quietly. The bin empties over a busy evening and the operator finds out when there is no ice. A controller on the machine reports the bin, the water supply and the compressor load, so your service network hears about it first.

A bartender scoops ice from the open bin of a stainless steel ice machine into a metal bucket

What an ice machine needs to answer

Is it keeping up

The bin level over a day shows whether production matches use. A bin that never recovers after the evening is a machine that is too small or one that is making less than it should.

Is water reaching it

A machine with no water makes no ice, and a blocked filter looks the same from the front. Inlet pressure separates a supply problem from a machine problem before anyone drives to site.

When is service really due

Run hours from the compressor current let cleaning and filter changes follow actual use and not the calendar.

What gets read on an ice machine

A starting list, not a fixed kit. The ports are set from the dashboard, so the same controller takes a different mix of sensors on a different model.

SignalHow it is readWhat it tells you
Bin levelLevel sensor in the bin, RS485 or analogueWhether production is keeping up with use
Water inlet pressureAnalogue pressure transducerSupply faults and blocked filters
Compressor currentClamp-on current sensor over RS485Run hours and cycling
Condenser air temperature1-Wire or PT1000 probeA blocked condenser or a plant room that is too hot
Power stateSupply sense on a digital inputOutages, and machines switched off overnight

Four ports on one controller, and RS485 devices share a bus, so most of this list fits on a single unit.

What your service team sees across the fleet

One machine reporting is a gadget. Every machine you have shipped reporting to the same place is a service business.

Every unit in the field, on one screen

Each machine reports to the same cloud. Your service desk sees which units are running, which are in alarm and which have gone quiet, before the customer calls.

Dealers and customers see only their own

Accounts nest: you sit above your dealers, and each dealer above its customers. A parent account cannot grant more than it holds, and a unit can be shared with a service company without handing over a login.

A record you can export

Readings and events are stored with their time and export to Excel, for a warranty claim, a service report or a disagreement about what happened and when.

Your own systems, through the API

A REST API with scoped tokens covers what the dashboard covers, so fleet data can feed your service system, your ERP or your customer portal directly.

How it fits into your product

Power from the machine

The controller takes 6 to 32 V DC, so it runs from a 12 or 24 V supply already on the machine. Its internal rechargeable battery keeps it reporting after the machine loses power, which is when the reading matters most.

Cellular, so nothing depends on the site

It connects over 4G-LTE from wherever the machine is installed. There are no Wi-Fi credentials to collect and no IT department to convince at each customer.

Your controller, over Modbus

If the machine already has a controller with an RS485 Modbus RTU port, give us its register map and we add it as a supported device. Its values and alarms then arrive alongside the sensor readings.

Your name on the dashboard and the apps

The web dashboard is served on your domain with your name, logo and colours, and the iOS and Android apps are published under your own developer accounts. Your customers log in to your product.

Nothing lost in an outage

Readings are held on the device while the network is down and sent in order when it returns, so the record has no gap where the incident was.

Sensors from the catalog for this equipment

Frequently asked questions

Can service intervals follow actual use?

Yes. Compressor run time is recorded from the current sensor, so cleaning and filter changes can be planned from hours run. The figures export to Excel or go to your service system through the API.

Will it work in a kitchen with no usable Wi-Fi?

Yes. The controller reports over 4G-LTE, so it does not depend on the site network at all.

Do you sell the controller on its own, or with the cloud?

Either. Every controller comes with OmniCloud included, and the REST API does what the dashboard does if you would rather build your own front end on top of it.

What do you need from us to start?

The supply voltage available on the machine, the signals you want reported, the register map if the machine has a Modbus controller, and how your dealers and customers should be separated. A first batch on machines already in the field is the usual way to begin.

How is the firmware kept up to date once units are in the field?

Over the air, by cellular. Where there is no network at all, the unit raises its own Wi-Fi access point and takes the update from a phone or laptop beside it.

Tell us about the machine

What it is, what you want it to report, and who needs to see which units. We come back with how the controller wires in and how the accounts would be laid out.

Talk to us →