How RISER works

Let’s look at the whole system. There are four main pieces. Data flows from the boiler room all the way to the people who manage buildings.

[ Boiler + sensors + relay ]   the real machine in the basement
            |
            |  wires
            v
[ Controller + edge agent ]    a small computer that thinks locally
            |
            |  internet (HTTPS)
            v
[ Backend + PostgreSQL ]        a cloud server + a database
            |
            |  internet (HTTPS)
            v
[ Operator web app ]   and   [ Marketing website ]

The pieces, one at a time

The boiler and sensors. The boiler makes heat. Sensors are like thermometers. They measure how hot the water is. A relay is a switch. The controller flips this switch to let the boiler run or to stop it.

The controller and the edge agent. The controller is a small, rugged computer. The edge agent is the program that runs on it. (“Edge” means out in the real world, not in the cloud.) The agent reads the sensors, decides what to do, and flips the relay. It does all of this by itself. It does not wait for the internet.

The backend and the database. The backend is a program on a cloud server. It receives data from many controllers. It saves that data in a database called PostgreSQL. A database is just a very organized place to store information. The backend also holds settings and commands.

The web app and the website. The operator web app is the dashboard people log in to. They watch their boilers and send commands there. The marketing website is the public page that tells new customers about RISER.

What is telemetry?

The agent sends little reports to the backend over and over. Each report says things like “supply temperature is 71 degrees” and “the boiler is firing.” These reports are called telemetry. It is a fancy word for “measurements sent from far away.”

What happens when the internet breaks?

This is the part to remember. If the internet goes down:

• The agent keeps running its loop. The building stays warm.
• The agent saves its telemetry on the controller. It does not throw it away.
• When the internet comes back, the agent sends all the saved telemetry. Nothing is lost.

The cloud is helpful, but the building never depends on it for heat.