====The Anatomy of an Asset====

An [[asset|asset]] is the fundamental component of ARDI.

They represent everything from a single component of a system to an entire facility, and all stages in between. They relate to physical objects, such as buildings, sensors and staff members, and logical things such as production units, areas, subsections and departments.

Basically, //everything is an asset.//

The most important information that an asset contains is its [[properties|properties]] and [[relationships|relationships]].

**Properties** describe details about the object. Model number, serial, measurements (such as temperature or pressure) and GPS location are all examples of properties an asset may have.

**Relationships** are the //connections// between your assets. These connections can be physical - as in pipes or cables - or they can be logical, like how one asset controls another (even though there's no direct cable between the two).

----

Let's take a look at how we would describe a very simple system in conversation.

<code>
The main room is lit by a 60W light bulb, turned on by a wall switch.
</code>

This simple sentence describes three **assets** (the //main room//, the //switch// and the //bulb//), one **property** of the bulb (the //power// is '60W') and two **relationships** (the switch //powers// the bulb and is //inside// the main room).

ARDI can be told any and all of this - and the more ARDI knows, the more powerful its visualisations become. 

But storing the information is half the battle - getting it out to the people who need it is just as important as having it.

For that, you'll need our [[Visualisations and Clients|visualisations and clients]].