System User Guide

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1. SuperBox System Overview

Think of SuperBox as a smart, always-on factory watchman — it continuously listens, records, and alerts you the moment something unusual happens with your machines or power supply.

🔌
Sensors on machines
Measure power, heat & vibration non-stop
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📡
Sent over Wi-Fi
Data securely uploaded to the cloud
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📊
Shown on Dashboard
Live charts, updated every second
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🔔
Instant alerts
Email or Telegram when issues arise

A small device is attached to each machine on your factory floor. It constantly measures key indicators — like a doctor monitoring a patient's vitals — and sends that data to your web dashboard over Wi-Fi. You can see everything live from your phone or computer without setting foot on the shop floor.

See everything, anytime
How much power is being used? Is the machine running or idle? Any temperature spikes? All of this is visible on one screen, updated live.
Know before machines break
The system analyses the subtle vibrations of each motor. When something seems off — even before you can hear or feel it — SuperBox alerts you early so you can plan maintenance and avoid unexpected shutdowns.
Your data, yours alone
Every business using SuperBox has its own completely separate data space. Nobody — not even other customers — can see your operational data.

2. Device Activation & Installation

Setting up a new SuperBox device is simple — just 3 basic steps, like setting up a new Wi-Fi router at home:

🖥️ Step 1: Get Organization Credentials from Portal

You don't need to manually create devices on the system — the Web Portal will automatically register the device once it connects to the network. Before installing, obtain 3 credentials from your account:

  1. Log in to SuperBox, and navigate to your Profile page by clicking your email address in the top-right corner.
  2. Click the Settings button → select the Integrations tab.
  3. Copy the Organization Slug, Username, and Password by clicking the 📋 button next to each credential.
📶 Step 2: Connect the Device to Factory Wi-Fi

On initial power-up, the device broadcasts its own temporary Wi-Fi network. Connect to this network with your phone or PC to configure factory Wi-Fi credentials and account credentials:

  1. Power on the device. On your phone/PC, find the Wi-Fi SSID SuperBox_AABBCC and connect.
    Password: capitalized ESP + the last 6 characters on the device label (e.g. ESPAABBCC)
  2. Open your web browser and navigate to http://192.168.4.1 to load the configuration page.
  3. Select your factory Wi-Fi SSID, enter the Wi-Fi password, and paste the Organization Slug, Username, and Password copied in Step 1. Click Save Configuration.
🔍 Step 3: Check Status LEDs and Perform Mechanical Mounting

After saving, the device will reboot and attempt to connect. Observe the status LEDs on the enclosure to confirm status:

  • Solid Green LED: Successfully connected to Wi-Fi and MQTT Broker. The device is measuring and shows as Online on the Web Portal.
  • Blinking/Solid Yellow LED: The device is establishing connections (See the LED status table below for details).
  • Blinking Red LED: Measurement error or disconnected sensor cables. Turn off power and check all sensor cable connections.
Note: When the Web Portal is loading the latest data, the device status shows a spinning indicator instead of "Offline" — this is normal and does not mean the device has lost connectivity.
Vibration Sensor Mounting Note: The vibration sensor must be rigidly mounted using screws or industrial epoxy onto a flat metal surface of the machine. Do not use foam tape as it dampens vibrations, leading to incorrect diagnostic metrics.
Provisioning Checklist: The step-by-step onboarding checklist on the main Dashboard can be dismissed at any time by clicking the "Hide" button to keep your dashboard clean. This visibility state is preserved throughout your session.

3. Status LED Signals

The SuperBox device is equipped with three colored status LEDs (Red, Yellow, Green) to help operators debug connection states and hardware errors directly on-site:

LED Signal Device State Description & Troubleshooting
⚫ All LEDs Off Booting The device is loading its firmware program on power-up. If it stays off, check the power supply.
🟡 Yellow Slow Blink (1Hz) Provisioning Broadcasting the configuration Wi-Fi AP. Complete Step 2 to configure the network.
🟡 Yellow Fast Blink (5Hz) Wi-Fi Connecting Attempting to locate and connect to the factory Wi-Fi SSID using saved credentials.
🟡 Solid Yellow MQTT Connecting Wi-Fi connected with IP assigned. Currently handshaking with the secure MQTT Broker.
🟢 Solid Green Running Connection successful. The device is publishing sensor telemetry data to the server.
🔴 Red Slow Blink Safe Mode The device entered safe mode due to a critical firmware crash. Contact support to re-flash.
🔴 Red Fast Blink Measurement Error Lost physical connection to a sensor, or a measured value exceeded a configured threshold.
🟡 Yellow Rapid Blink Reset Holding The hardware reset button is being held down. Release to proceed or keep holding to factory reset.
⚪ All LEDs Rapid Blink Factory Reset Erasing all saved Wi-Fi and credential data. The device will reboot into Provisioning mode.

4. Remote Firmware Update (OTA)

When firmware updates or bug patches are released, you can upgrade devices remotely from the Web Portal without disconnecting or opening the enclosure:

🔄 How to perform an OTA update:
  1. Navigate to the Devices tab on the main sidebar.
  2. Click on the target device name to open its detail page.
  3. In the Firmware Info panel, select the target software version from the dropdown, then click Update Firmware.
  4. Confirm the prompt to dispatch the remote upgrade command.
⏳ Monitoring the update progress:

Once dispatched, the device detail page dynamically displays a real-time update monitoring card (powered by Turbo Streams):

🔄 Update In Progress
Shows a live progress bar running from 0% to 100% with state strings (e.g. *Downloading*, *Flashing*) published by the device (polled every 5 seconds).
✅ Update Complete! (Success)
Once it hits 100% and boots successfully, the card turns green and shows a "Dismiss" button. Click it to return to normal display.
❌ Update Failed
If downloading fails or firmware signatures do not match, a red card displays with details and a "Clear Error" button. Press it to clear states and try again.
Important during updates: The device pauses monitoring and data reporting during download and flashing. Do not disconnect power.
Self-Recovery Mechanism (Rollback): If a firmware boot fails or loses network connection after upgrading, it will automatically roll back to the previous stable version to prevent downtime.

5. Electrical & Environmental Monitoring

SuperBox monitors raw electrical parameters and local environmental conditions inside your electrical panels to catch anomalies before they cause damage or safety hazards:

⚡ Electrical Parameters (PZEM Sensor)
Metric Unit Practical Description
⚡ Voltage V Input electrical pressure. Voltage spikes or sags shorten equipment lifespan and can cause components to burn out.
🔌 Current A The electrical flow drawn by the machine. Sudden increases suggest mechanical overload or electrical faults.
💡 Active Power W Real energy consumed to perform work. This is the direct factor on your monthly utility bill.
📊 Power Factor 0.00 – 1.00 Efficiency indicator — ideal value is close to 1.0. A low value (under 0.85) indicates wasted power capacity.
🔋 Energy kWh Cumulative energy consumption used for billing. SuperBox breaks this down by EVN Peak, Normal, and Off-Peak brackets.
🌡️ Environmental Parameters (AHT20 Sensor)
Metric Unit Practical Description
🌡️ Cabinet Temperature °C Ambient temperature inside the electrical cabinet. High temperatures degrade electronics and reduce lifespan.
💧 Cabinet Humidity % Relative humidity. Excessively high humidity causes condensation and corrosion; low humidity risks static discharge.
Accessing metrics: View real-time graphs under Devices → click your device → view integrated Dashboard. Configure warning/critical limits under the device settings tab.
⚙️ Machine Operational State Logic

To compute overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and operational metrics, SuperBox automatically synthesizes Active Power (W) and Vibration RMS (G) into one of three states:

🟢 Active / Running
Machine is drawing power above the running threshold (Power > Running Threshold W) and displaying physical mechanical vibration (Vibration > Idle Vibration Threshold G).
🟡 Idle
Machine has power but registers no mechanical vibration (Power > Running Threshold W but Vibration <= Idle Vibration Threshold G), OR when power consumption is low, sitting between idle and running thresholds (Idle Power < Power <= Running Threshold).
🔴 Stopped
Machine is turned off. Active power consumption is below or equal to the configured idle power threshold (Power <= Idle Power Threshold W).
What is the Stop Count (Idle Interruptions) in the Operational Report?
This metric counts how many times the machine transitioned from Active (🟢 Running) to Idle (🟡 Waiting) during the day — i.e. every time an active machining operation was interrupted. The system scans each 5-minute window in chronological order; whenever it detects an Active → Idle sequence, the counter increments by 1. Connectivity gaps (slots with no sensor data) are skipped and do not affect the result.

6. Machine Health Monitoring (Vibration)

An ADXL345 vibration sensor is mounted to your machine's enclosure, listening to microscopic structural vibrations. The system analyzes these to detect mechanical issues and compute a health score:

Why Z-axis only? The ADXL345 sensor records vibration along 3 axes (X, Y, Z). However, the Z-axis — perpendicular to the mounting plane — captures direct radial impacts from bearings and rotors, making it the most sensitive axis for common defects under ISO 10816.
Metric Formula / Physical Basis Diagnostic Purpose
RMS (Z-axis) Root Mean Square of acceleration amplitude on the Z-axis. Reflects overall vibration energy. Steady increases indicate unbalance, misalignment, or structural looseness.
Kurtosis (Z-axis) Statistical measure of the 'peakedness' of the vibration signal. Extremely sensitive to early bearing defects, showing sharp spike spikes before overall energy rises.
Crest Factor The ratio of Peak acceleration to RMS acceleration. Detects severe localized impacts (e.g., chipped gear teeth or damaged bearing races).
Predictive Maintenance (PdM) Health Score

The system rates your machine's overall mechanical health on a scale of 0-100 by referencing RMS vibration measurements against the ISO 10816 baseline standard:

90 - 100: Normal
70 - 89: Early Warning
50 - 69: Maintenance Alert
<50: Emergency Stop
Recommended Actions by Score
ScoreStatusRecommended Action
90 – 100Operating normallyNo action needed; continue routine monitoring.
70 – 89Early watchIncrease bearing inspection frequency.
50 – 69Maintenance requiredSchedule maintenance within 2 weeks.
< 50CriticalStop machine and perform urgent technical inspection.

7. Threshold Settings & Notifications

The system dispatches multi-channel alerts to operators to ensure early detection of mechanical wear or electrical faults.

📡
Readings Received
Device sends telemetry data continuously
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⚙️
Threshold Check
Alert engine checks values against settings
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🔍
Deduplication Check
Filters alerts based on cooldown & quiet hours
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🔔
Instant Alert
Delivers via Email/Telegram/Discord/Slack/MS Teams...
Notification Channels Gated by Subscription Plan:
  • Starter Plan: Only receive alerts via Email and mobile push notifications. This is the no-cost base tier.
  • Standard & Professional Plans: Receive alerts via Email, mobile push notifications, and Telegram.
  • Enterprise Plan: Unlock all channels (Email, mobile push notifications, Telegram, Discord, Slack, MS Teams, and Messenger).
How to set up alerts:
  1. Select the target device from the Devices page.
  2. Navigate to 'Alert Configuration'.
  3. Set your thresholds — these values are user-defined to fit each machine type. Example values:
    • Cabinet Overtemperature: AHT20 > 60°C
    • High Vibration RMS: ADXL345 RMS > 4.5 G
    • Overcurrent Alert: Current exceeds rated load amperage
  4. Link your Telegram, Discord, Slack, MS Teams, or Messenger account in your Account Settings to receive instant notifications (subject to subscription plan limits).
Tip - Quick Alert Toggle: You can enable or disable all notifications for a device directly from the Dashboard or Devices list by clicking its speaker icon next to the device name:
  • 🔊 Green Speaker: Notifications are enabled.
  • 🔇 Gray Speaker: All alerts/notifications for this device are muted.
⚠️ Alert Severity Levels (Warning vs Critical)

The alert engine automatically escalates severity based on how far a parameter exceeds your thresholds:

Parameter Warning Severity Critical Severity
Voltage Exceeds your [Min, Max] thresholds Voltage exceeds > 105% of Max or drops below < 95% of Min
Current & Power Exceeds the configured Max threshold Value exceeds > 120% of the configured Max threshold
Temperature Exceeds the configured Max threshold Temperature exceeds the configured Max threshold by + 10°C
Vibration (RMS) Exceeds the configured Max threshold Value exceeds > 200% of the configured Max threshold
🔇 Quiet Hours & Alert Cooldown

Keep notifications under control and avoid alert fatigue with built-in timing configurations:

Quiet Hours Mode
Define a block of time (e.g. 22:00 to 06:00) during which notifications are suppressed. You can toggle "Bypass Critical Alerts" to ensure that Critical severity alerts still reach you immediately even during quiet hours.
Alert Cooldown Period
If a parameter repeatedly crosses a threshold within a short time, SuperBox will notify you once and then cool down for a user-specified interval (adjustable from 1 minute to 24 hours, default 5 minutes) before dispatching another notification for the same issue.
Status banners auto-dismiss: Success/error flash alerts at the top of the interface automatically close after 5 seconds.
Note on Bearing Fault Alerts (Kurtosis & Crest Factor): Mechanical bearing fault diagnostics operate under an Opt-in scheme. The alert system will not trigger if Kurtosis or Crest Factor thresholds are left empty (null).

8. Reports & Data Exports

SuperBox provides intuitive tools to monitor device performance over time and export historical records into spreadsheets:

Energy Report

Tracks cumulative active energy consumption (kWh), average power factor (cosφ), CO₂ emissions, and estimated energy costs calculated using EVN schedules or flat rates.

Operational Report

Monitors actual running time, idle time, and stopped durations (measured in minutes) to analyze equipment utilization rates and OEE indicators.

Diagnostic Report

Compiles historical alert occurrences, tracks trends in vibration acceleration, and records peak temperature and humidity readings inside the cabinet.

📁 Exporting Historical Data (CSV files):
  1. Navigate to the Reports tab in the main sidebar.
  2. Select your desired report type: Energy, Operational, or Diagnostic.
  3. Choose the Target Device and the Date Range (subject to your plan's history limits). Multiple devices can be selected at once; long device names are automatically truncated in the dropdown for a cleaner UI.
  4. Click Generate Report (select CSV format). The system processes the request in the background using a tiered snapshot mechanism, ensuring accurate figures even over long time ranges.
  5. Visit the Export Results tab to download your CSV spreadsheet once ready.
About report data accuracy: Reports are built from a tiered snapshot system that pre-aggregates energy and operational data by day, week, and month. This makes report queries significantly faster and more consistent than computing directly from raw telemetry.
Report file retention limits by plan:
PlanFile RetentionStorage Limit
Starter7 days50 MB
Standard15 days200 MB
Professional30 days1 GB
Enterprise90 days5 GB
Time range auto-remembered: Your selected time range filter is preserved when switching between report tabs — no need to reconfigure each time.
⏱️ Scheduled Automated Reports:

Automate your workflow without manual logins by scheduling recurring reports:

  1. Navigate to Reports -> Report Schedules tab.
  2. Name your schedule, choose the report type (Energy/Operational/Diagnostic), and pick the target device.
  3. Select the delivery interval: Daily, Weekly, or Monthly.
  4. The engine will automatically generate and deliver the files at 02:00 AM daily (ICT, GMT+7) via Email.

9. Administration & Privacy Rights

The Account portal supports corporate administration settings, UI customization, and strictly complies with personal data protection regulations (Decree 13/2023/NĐ-CP):

Single Sign-On (SSO) & Security

When transitioning to detailed Grafana dashboard pages, sessions are automatically authenticated via a secure, encrypted JWT token generated dynamically by the Rails portal.

Personal Data Rights

From the User Profile dropdown menu (by clicking your email address in the top-right corner) and selecting Data Rights, users can export all personal profile and activity data to a JSON file or withdraw consent to terminate account hosting and erase stored logs.

🎨 Customized Dashboard Templates

In the user settings, you can choose from 4 specialized dashboard templates tailored to your specific plant monitoring scenario:

General (Default)
Presents a clean summary of power consumption, active power charts, and basic running/stopped states.
CNC Factory
Tailored for machining centers, displaying tool spindle vibrations and specific PdM indices (Kurtosis, Crest Factor).
Cold Chain
Optimized for refrigeration plants, highlighting cabinet temperatures, ambient humidity, and thermal alert thresholds.
Energy Meter
Focuses on electrical quality, power factor efficiency cosφ, active/reactive power, and tariff hourly load profiles.
💰 Electricity Tariff Configuration

To compute energy expenses accurately in energy reports, SuperBox supports three flexible tariff pricing configurations (either global defaults or custom per-device):

🏷️ Flat Rate (Fixed Price)
A single fixed charge is applied for every kWh of electricity consumed (supports VND or USD) regardless of the hour of the day.
⏱️ Time-of-Use (TOU) Rates
Configures separate prices for Normal, Peak, and Off-peak hours, aligned automatically with EVN (Electricity of Vietnam) standard schedules.
📊 Tiered / Block Rate
Applies a progressive pricing structure based on cumulative energy consumed within the billing period. The 6-block EVN tariff schedule is automatically kept up to date by the system — no manual entry required.
Days of Week Time Interval Bracket (TOU Class)
Monday to Saturday 00:00 – 04:00 Off-peak
04:00 – 09:30 Normal
09:30 – 11:30 Peak
11:30 – 17:00 Normal
17:00 – 20:00 Peak
20:00 – 22:00 Normal
22:00 – 23:59 (24:00) Off-peak
Sunday 00:00 – 04:00 Off-peak
04:00 – 22:00 Normal
22:00 – 23:59 (24:00) Off-peak
📊 EVN Residential Tiered Rate Schedule (6 Blocks)

When the Tiered Rate pricing mode is selected, the system automatically loads the latest 6-block EVN tariff and computes the progressive cost based on the device's actual consumption during the report period. The table below shows the currently active schedule:

Block Consumption Range (kWh/month) Description Current EVN Rate (VND/kWh)
Block 1 0 – 50 kWh Minimal usage — lowest subsidised rate ≈1,893
Block 2 51 – 100 kWh Basic household consumption ≈1,956
Block 3 101 – 200 kWh Average household usage ≈2,271
Block 4 201 – 300 kWh Above-average usage ≈2,860
Block 5 301 – 400 kWh High consumption ≈3,197
Block 6 > 400 kWh Very high consumption — maximum progressive rate ≈3,508
Auto-updated: The EVN tiered electricity tariff is automatically synced by the system from the official source. When EVN publishes a revised rate schedule, the system will apply it automatically — no manual action is required on your part.

10. FAQs & Troubleshooting

Check the LED indicators. If the system is actively syncing or querying the latest telemetry, the Web Portal displays a dynamic loading spinner. If the device remains offline, verify if the LED is blinking rapidly (indicating lost Wi-Fi link or incorrect MQTT credentials), which requires re-provisioning the device using the SoftAP captive portal.

The device automatically restarts after download. If the new image connects successfully within 30 seconds, the version string will update on the dashboard. If it fails, the bootloader triggers a safe fallback rollback to the older partition.

Mount the ADXL345 firmly to a flat metallic casing using screws or industrial epoxy near the bearings. Do not use double-sided foam tape as it dampens physical vibration waves, skewing Kurtosis and Crest Factor readings.

There are two common causes: (1) Your organization is on the Starter plan, which only supports Email and mobile push notifications — upgrade to Standard or Professional or above to unlock Telegram. (2) The Telegram channel may not be enabled in the Alert Configuration of the specific device. Please verify each device's alert settings.

The health score requires at least 24 hours of continuous vibration data for the machine learning model to establish a valid baseline. If the device was recently installed or reset, allow time for data to accumulate before interpreting this metric. An N/A value may also indicate a physical ADXL345 sensor disconnection — check the sensor wiring.

Yes. You can schedule a Diagnostic Report in the Reports section to receive periodic PDF/CSV summaries. Additionally, the embedded Grafana dashboard allows raw CSV export directly from any chart by clicking the chart → Explore → Download CSV.

Repeat the 3-step provisioning process in Section 2. Each new device that connects using your Organization Slug will be automatically detected and added to your account. The maximum number of devices depends on your current subscription plan.

Go to the Devices page → select the device → click Pause to temporarily suspend data collection without losing its configuration, or Delete to remove it entirely. Deleted devices can be restored within 30 days from the Device Trash section.
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