Devices

In Formant, a "device" is any kind of computer-based data source, most typically an autonomous robot. Formant identifies a device by a unique ID. When an agent is running on the device, it connects to Formant with that ID, identifying the source of any data that may come from that device.

In practice, a device must be Linux-based computer. This device will be "provisioned" in the Formant system and given a unique ID, or "provisioning token." Formant's agent will use this token when sending data to Formant so the device source can be identified. The agent will send basic system metrics, including a heartbeat to determine if the device is online.

Provisioning

To "provision" a device means to generate a unique ID, associate that ID with your account, and to have Formant track and store any data sent from an agent with that ID. Think of it like an API token. A provisioning token has a one-to-one relationship with a device.

Devices can be "reprovisioned," which means a new token is generated, but new data is still associated with data from the old token. This is typically done when devices have files and settings wiped, such as in reinstalling an OS. See more here.

Device Groups

A device group is an organizational structure in which devices with matching Properties are grouped together. You can think of it as filtering all your devices based on some property that they share.

Device groups give you a quick overview of your devices health and metrics. They're useful if you have fleets that you want to group by customer, job site, type, or any other logical grouping.

Overview Page

See information about all of your devices. Here's how to set it up:

Further reading

To learn more about setting up devices in Formant, see Setting up your device.