---
title: "Quickstart: see your first machine's data"
description: "The end-to-end path from a sensor in the box to one machine reporting live utilization, for SenseAi, SenseAi Embedded, and BeamTracker: mount and power the device, connect it to Wi-Fi or the 4G/LTE router, create the machine as an asset, confirm data is arriving, and set what counts as running."
category: "Start here"
source_url: "https://www.iotflows.com/docs/get-started/quickstart/"
---
# Quickstart: see your first machine's data

Go from a sensor in the box to a machine reporting live utilization.

This page follows one machine down one path: mount the device, get it online, create the machine in IoTFlows, and check the first hour of data. Plan on an hour, most of which is the machine running while you watch.

It covers all three sensors. Two steps differ by device, mounting and calibration, and each carries a tab strip. Pick your device there; the rest of the page reads the same for everyone.

Two terms carry the whole page. An *asset* is one machine as IoTFlows tracks it: a name, an identifier, a department, and the device that reports its status. *Utilization* is the share of time that device read the machine as running. Every device reports it, from what it senses: SenseAi and SenseAi Embedded from vibration, BeamTracker from parts passing through its laser beam. See [Metrics reference](/docs/monitoring/metrics-reference/).

## Before you start
- A SenseAi, SenseAi Embedded, or BeamTracker that IoTFlows has onboarded to your organization. The device arrives registered; you do not create it. See [IoTFlows hardware](/docs/hardware/overview/).
- The IoTFlows mobile app, signed in on the phone you will carry to the machine. Wi-Fi setup runs over Bluetooth from the app and has no web equivalent. See [Install the mobile app](/docs/get-started/install-mobile-app/).
- Sign in to the web dashboard as an Organization Owner or Organization Administrator. Other roles cannot create an asset. See [Roles reference](/docs/admin/roles-reference/).
- Either the IoTFlows 4G/LTE router, or the name and password of a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network that reaches the machine.

You do not need parts, operations, or an algorithm to finish this page. Those change how IoTFlows counts parts, not whether the machine reads as running. Come back for them in the [Production quickstart](/docs/production/quickstart/).

## Mount and power the device
Where you put the device decides how good every number on this page is.

Go to **Devices** at `/<your-org-id>/devices?select=management` first and find yours in the topology map. It reads offline until the next section.

![The Devices topology map showing assets linked to sensors and on to the cloud](/images/get-started/gs-quickstart-01.webp)

*The Devices topology map links each asset to its sensor and on to the cloud. A green dot marks every device that is online.*

  
    
    
    
  

  #### senseai

1. Connect the external antenna to the sensor before anything else.
2. Pick a spot of flat ferrous metal, close to the spindle, motor, or hydraulic pump. Paint is fine; rubber and plastic give the magnet nothing to hold.
3. Attach the sensor with its magnetic base, flat against that surface, where nothing moving can catch it.
4. Connect the USB cable to the sensor and plug the adapter into an outlet. The LED lights when the sensor has power.

![A SenseAi sensor magnetically mounted on the spindle housing of a machining center](/images/get-started/gs-quickstart-02.webp)

*SenseAi mounted flat against the spindle housing, where the vibration you want to measure actually is.*

A sensor mounted on a guard door reads the door, not the cut. For an enclosed machine or one with no flat steel, see [Install and power up SenseAi](/docs/hardware/install-senseai/).

  #### embedded

1. Connect the external antenna to the unit, hand-tight. Without it the radio has almost no range and the device will not hold a connection.
2. Pick a spot with metal-to-metal contact, close to the spindle or motor, and position the unit so it reads all three axes of that movement rather than one direction of it. The sealed IP67 enclosure means that spot can be somewhere exposed to coolant, cutting fluid, or wash-down.
3. Clean the surface, then attach the unit by its magnetic base. The base needs ferrous metal; on anything else, contact IoTFlows for a mounting option.
4. Connect the M12 cable to the unit, then to the M12 power adapter or a T-splitter if you are daisy-chaining power. The LED lights when the unit has power.

![A SenseAi Embedded unit magnetically mounted near a machining center's work area, with M12 cabling](/images/get-started/gs-quickstart-11.webp)

*SenseAi Embedded held by its magnetic base in a coolant-exposed spot, with the M12 cable run out to power.*

Mounting placement and the M12 power options are the substance of this step, and they have their own page: [Install and power up SenseAi Embedded](/docs/hardware/install-senseai-embedded/).

  #### beamtracker

1. Mount the bracket where every good part passes the beam and nothing else does. A beam that also catches the operator's hand will count hands.
2. Fix the head to the bracket and aim it across the part path, square to the passing part.
3. Connect power. The touchscreen lights and runs its startup sequence.

![A BeamTracker on its bracket beside a conveyor, with the beam crossing the part path](/images/get-started/gs-quickstart-08.webp)

*A BeamTracker on its bracket beside a conveyor, with the beam crossing where finished parts pass and nothing else does.*

Beam geometry is the whole job here. For bracket options and alignment, see [Install and align BeamTracker](/docs/hardware/install-beamtracker/).

## Connect it to the network
Every device takes the same two paths onto the network. Which one you use depends on what you bought.

**With the IoTFlows 4G/LTE router**, there is nothing to configure. Power the router within 100 ft (30 m) of the device, near a window for cellular signal, and the device joins its access point on its own. Skip to the next section. See [Connect through the 4G/LTE router](/docs/hardware/use-the-lte-router/).

**On your own Wi-Fi**, provisioning happens over Bluetooth, from the phone, standing at the machine.

1. Put the device into setup mode. On SenseAi and SenseAi Embedded, hold the Wi-Fi button for ten seconds until the LED blinks blue. On BeamTracker, tap the **Settings** icon on the touchscreen, then **WiFi Configuration**.
2. In the app, open **Connect Device to WiFi** and select your device from the list of nearby devices.
3. Pick the 2.4 GHz network, type the password, and send it. The device reboots and joins the network.

  ![The mobile app's device list before setup](/images/get-started/gs-quickstart-03-1.webp)
  ![Choosing SenseAi, SenseAi Embedded, or BeamTracker in the app](/images/get-started/gs-quickstart-03-2.webp)
  ![Setup-mode instructions with the app scanning for nearby devices](/images/get-started/gs-quickstart-03-3.webp)
  ![Choosing a Wi-Fi network and entering the password](/images/get-started/gs-quickstart-03-4.webp)

  ![A SenseAi with its LED blinking blue in Wi-Fi setup mode](/images/get-started/gs-quickstart-13.gif)

*SenseAi*
  ![A SenseAi Embedded unit with its LED blinking blue in Wi-Fi setup mode](/images/get-started/gs-quickstart-12.gif)

*SenseAi Embedded*
  ![The BeamTracker touchscreen showing its WiFi Setup screen](/images/get-started/gs-quickstart-09.webp)

*BeamTracker*

Reload the **Devices** page. The device reads online within a minute or two of joining the network.

> **Note:**
> **Still offline after a few minutes?** The three usual causes are a 5 GHz-only network, a mistyped password, and weak signal at the machine. Work through [Troubleshoot an offline device](/docs/hardware/troubleshoot-offline-device/) before changing anything else.

The full procedure, per device, is in [Connect a device to Wi-Fi](/docs/hardware/connect-to-wifi/).

## Add the machine
The device is online and reporting to nothing. Give it a machine to report about. This section is the same for every device.

1. Go to **Assets** at `/<your-org-id>/assets` and select **Add asset**.
2. The modal opens on **Select Sensor**. Select **Skip, I'll do this later.**
3. In **Find or add a machine...**, type part of the model or manufacturer, for example `VF-2`, and pick the closest entry.
4. In **Machine Identifier**, type the number your plant already paints on the machine, for example `trx-as800`.
5. In **Machine Name**, type the name operators say out loud, for example `Haas VF-2 #3`.
6. Select **Select Department** and pick a department, or type a new name and press Enter to create one.
7. Select **Add Asset** and wait for "Asset has been added".

![The Add Asset modal with numbered callouts on catalog search, custom ID, and department](/images/get-started/gs-quickstart-04.webp)

*Adding a machine. The catalog search is a convenience; a machine that is not listed can be typed in.*

Both text fields are optional, and leaving **Machine Name** blank costs you: the card falls back to the catalog model name, so a shop with four Haas VF-2s gets four cards reading `Haas VF-2`.

Department is required and the catalog model is the one field you cannot change later. Everything else is editable afterwards. Field by field, see [Add a machine](/docs/monitoring/add-an-asset/).

## Pair the device to the machine
Nothing on the machine's card fills in until a device is tied to the asset, and this is the one step you do not perform yourself. There is no web path for it, and the **Select Sensor** step you skipped is not the way in.

Contact IoTFlows to tie your devices to an asset. See [Get support](/docs/get-started/get-support/).

Pairing usually happens during onboarding, so for most readers it is already done by the time the asset exists. Wait for confirmation before continuing: everything below assumes this device reports to this machine.

## Confirm data is arriving
1. Run the machine normally for ten minutes.
2. Go to **Assets** and find the card you just created.

The card's status ring turns green while the device reads the machine as running, and gray when it does not. A card that changes color as the machine starts and stops is the whole point of this page.

![The Assets page listing machines with status timelines, parts made, current operation and utilization](/images/get-started/gs-quickstart-06.webp)

*The Assets page. Each machine carries a status timeline for the shift, the parts it made, its current operation, and its utilization.*

Open the card to see the first hour as a timeline: green where the machine ran, gray where it did not, with a utilization figure over the same window. One hour is enough to prove the path works and not enough to judge the machine.

If the card is still blank ten minutes after the machine started, the device is reporting to a different asset. Check with support which asset it is tied to rather than creating a second one.

For everything else on this screen, see [The Assets page](/docs/monitoring/assets-overview/).

## Set what counts as running
A new device reports raw signal until you tell it what running looks like on this machine. *Sensitivity* is that setting, and it takes a different form on each kind of device.

  
    
    
  

  #### vibration

Set a **Running Threshold**: a line above the machine's idle vibration and below its running vibration.

1. Open the machine's asset page and select the sensor image at the top right to open the sensor modal, then open the **Calibration** tab.
2. Start the live capture, run the machine through two or three normal cycles, then stop it for a moment so the trace shows both states.
3. Drag **Running Threshold** to sit between the two levels. IoTFlows saves each change and confirms with "Vibration Upper Threshold Updated".
4. Stop the capture.

![The Calibration tab with a live vibration trace, Running Threshold and Stopping Threshold sliders](/images/get-started/gs-quickstart-07.webp)

*The Calibration tab, with a live vibration trace. Running Threshold is the level the signal must pass for the machine to read as running.*

A machine that reads as running while it idles has a threshold set too low. Raise it until the idle stretch of the trace falls below the line. SenseAi also reads acoustics; SenseAi Embedded is sealed and reads vibration only. See [Calibrate SenseAi](/docs/hardware/calibrate-senseai/).

  #### beamtracker

BeamTracker reads parts crossing the beam, so you describe the part instead of a signal level. Two settings do it, and you can set them on the touchscreen or in the dashboard.

1. Open the machine's asset page and select the BeamTracker image at the top right, then open the **Calibration** tab.
2. Set **Depth of View (cm)** to the distance the beam has to reach across the part path.
3. Set **Min Object Thickness (cm)** to the width of the part as it passes the beam.
4. Run a few parts through and check the count moves once per part.

![The BeamTracker Calibration tab with the Depth of View and Min Object Thickness fields](/images/get-started/gs-quickstart-10.webp)

*Depth of View and Min Object Thickness describe the part crossing the beam. Everything that breaks the beam and matches them counts as one part.*

Live calibration needs firmware 2.3 or later. Reading speed, downtime filter, and blocked-sensor stop time sit on the same tab and can wait. See [Calibrate BeamTracker](/docs/hardware/calibrate-beamtracker/).

You do not need the rest of the Calibration tab today. One setting per device decides whether the machine reads as running, and it is the only one worth tuning before you have a few days of data to check it against.

## What to do next
Leave the machine running for two or three days before you read anything into the numbers. Utilization over one shift tells you about that shift.

When you want part counts rather than run time, the next decision is which algorithm the operation uses. BeamTracker uses **Counter**, because the beam already counts parts. The vibration devices infer parts from the signal and choose among the other algorithms. See [Choose an algorithm](/docs/production/choose-an-algorithm/).

Then repeat this page for a second machine. The account work is done, so the second one takes the twenty minutes of mounting, provisioning, and calibrating rather than the full hour.

## See also
- [Calibrate SenseAi](/docs/hardware/calibrate-senseai/)
- [Calibrate BeamTracker](/docs/hardware/calibrate-beamtracker/)
- [Production quickstart](/docs/production/quickstart/)
- [The Assets page](/docs/monitoring/assets-overview/)
- [Alerts quickstart](/docs/alerts/quickstart/)