Documentation

Deploy, connect, validate, promote

Everything needed to take a line from first connector to bounded autonomy — written for rolling engineers and OT teams, not for a marketing page.

API reference Ask an engineer

Written by the deployment teamVersioned with the runtimeDownloadable for offline sites

01 Getting started

02 Sensing & instrumentation requirements

03 Connectors: Level-2, historian, inspection

04 Edge runtime install & fleet

05 Envelopes, objectives & autonomy levels

06 Twin calibration

07 Model governance & promotion gates

08 Audit, export & claims

09 Security & OT architecture

10 Troubleshooting & replay

Docs used during commissioning at design-partner sites

NordStrip Steel

Kalyon Metals

Ferrata Group

Aurum Flat Rolled

Meridian Coil

Volkan Çelik

Sections

Start here

The four paths people actually take through the documentation.

I am commissioning a line

Sensing requirements, connector mapping, edge install, shadow-mode validation and the promotion gates. Read sections 02–05 in order.

Commissioning path

I am integrating a system

The write-back contract, OPC UA node layout, webhook payloads and SDK reference. Start at section 03 and the API reference.

API reference

I am reviewing security

OT architecture, segmentation, control-path guards, tenant isolation and the control matrix. Section 09, plus the security package under NDA.

Security overview

I am governing models

Golden datasets, evaluation harnesses, CI gates and the promotion record. Sections 06–07.

Governance path

I am investigating a coil

Audit export, replay tooling and the claims bundle format. Section 08 and 10.

Audit path

I am planning a rollout

Fleet management, rollout rings, rollback and multi-site model registry. Sections 04 and 07.

Enterprise rollout

Install

Edge runtime installation

A signed container image, a GPU node and a profile for the line type. Nothing else.

docs/04-edge-install.sh

# 1. verify the signed image before anything else
cosign verify --key steelira.pub steelira/edge:2.4.1

# 2. install for a line profile (tandem-cold, hot-strip, cgl, plate)
steelira edge install \
  --line tcm-2 \
  --profile tandem-cold \
  --historian ip21://plant-hist:10014 \
  --level2 opcua://l2-tcm2:4840 \
  --mode shadow

# 3. confirm every required signal is present
steelira edge probe --strict

# 4. start read-only. no writes are possible in shadow mode.
steelira edge start --mode shadow

# 5. after the promotion gate, and only then:
steelira edge promote --loop roll_gauge --to assist --approver a.kohler

Instrumentation

Minimum signals per line profile

What each profile needs before a model can be trusted. Missing signals degrade specific models rather than blocking deployment.

Profile	Required	Recommended	Degrades without
Hot strip	Exit gauge, roll force, looper tension, pyrometers	Shape-meter, surface cameras, accelerometers	Chatter, surface
Tandem cold	Exit gauge, roll force, inter-stand tension, speed	Shape-meter, accelerometers, oil-film sensing	Chatter, shape
Reversing cold	Exit gauge, roll force, tension	Shape-meter, accelerometers	Chatter, shape
Plate	Thickness, roll force, pyrometers	Flatness measurement, surface cameras	Flatness, surface
Anneal / CAL	Line speed, zone temperatures, strip temperature	Elongation, tension, surface cameras	Property prediction
Coating / CGL	Line speed, pot temperature, coating weight gauge	Air-knife position, surface cameras	Coating control

See docs section 02 for sensor specifications, mounting requirements and acceptable sampling rates.

Configuration

Envelopes and autonomy, as code

Every safety-relevant parameter lives in version control, reviewed like any other mill change.

mills/tcm-2/envelope.yaml

line: tcm-2
profile: tandem-cold

envelopes:
  # per setpoint, per grade family
  default:
    stand.*.roll_gap_mm:     [-0.05, 0.05]
    stand.*.tension_mpa:     [4.0, 12.0]
    stand.*.bending_kn:      [-120, 120]
    line.speed_mpm:          [0, 1250]
  DX54D:                        # tighter for deep-drawing grades
    stand.*.roll_gap_mm:     [-0.03, 0.03]
    approval_above_mm:       0.015

autonomy:
  roll_gauge:   auto
  roll_chatter: auto        # veto rights, cannot be disabled
  temper_coat:  assist

fallback:
  watchdog_ms: 250
  on_timeout:  release_to_level2
  on_model_confidence_below: 0.85 -> demote_to_assist

Promotion

The four gates, documented

Nobody promotes autonomy on a feeling. Section 07 defines each gate and the evidence required.

STEP 01
Gate 1 — shadow to assist

6–8 weeks of shadow, model accuracy versus measured outcome above the threshold for the loop.
STEP 02
Gate 2 — assist to bounded auto

≥90% recommendation acceptance over 4 weeks, zero envelope breaches, ROI confirmed against baseline.
STEP 03
Gate 3 — bounded to mill auto

Sustained performance across grade changes and campaigns, signed by rolling, quality and OT leads.
STEP 04
Gate 4 — expansion

The same evidence, repeated on the next loop or line. No gate is ever skipped because a previous one passed.

Troubleshooting

The problems that actually happen

Section 10, summarised. All of these have happened on a real line.

Historian tag mapping errors

The single most common cause of misleading shadow results. Always run edge probe --strict and reconcile against a known coil before trusting anything.

Sensor drift

Gauge and shape sensors drift. Steelira detects divergence between predicted and measured beyond a threshold and raises it rather than silently learning the drift.

Grade-change transients

Models trained on steady state degrade across grade changes. Confidence drops, autonomy demotes to assist automatically, and the transient is flagged for labelling.

Level-2 acknowledgement latency

If your Level-2 acknowledges slowly under load, the watchdog will release control. Section 10 covers tuning and the diagnostics to run first.

Camera contamination

Surface inspection degrades with lens contamination long before it fails. Steelira scores image quality per camera and alerts on trend, not on failure.

Replay divergence

When a replay does not reproduce a production decision, the model version or the envelope changed. The audit trail pins both.

Connectors

Connector documentation index

Each connector has its own page covering tag mapping, sampling, failure behaviour and required permissions.

Level-2 & control

Primetals Level-2
SMS X-Pact
Danieli Automation
TMEIC mill drives
ABB Ability
Siemens SIMATIC / PCS 7

Gauge, shape & surface

IMS X-ray gauges
Vollmer thickness
Shape-meter rolls
ISRA Vision surface
Parsytec inspection
Thermal line scanners

Plant systems

Level-3 MES / QMS
SAP PP-PI
OSIsoft PI / AVEVA
OPC UA & Classic
Historians (IP.21, Canary)
CMMS / EAM

See connector docs and the write-back contract

Security

OT-safe by construction

Steelira writes to mill equipment, so security and safety are product requirements, not paperwork.

SOC 2 Type IIISO 27001IEC 62443 alignedGDPRSSO / SAMLData residency

Read the security overview

Segmented OT pathEdge runtime sits in a Purdue Level-2/3 DMZ with signed, rate-limited write-back and hard setpoint clamps.
Deterministic fallbacksEvery control loop degrades to the mill's existing Level-2 setup on watchdog timeout — the mill never stops because Steelira does.
Grade-IP isolationRecipes, grade specs and coil histories are tenant-scoped, encrypted at rest with per-tenant keys, and never used to train another producer's models.
Assurance-grade auditEvery perception, recommendation, approval and actuation is written to an immutable, exportable log keyed to coil ID.

Get the full documentation

The complete documentation set, including the OT architecture pack, is provided during evaluation. Offline copies are available for air-gapped sites.

Request documentation API reference