Timer

Overview

Counts down from a set duration and emits an event when it reaches zero.

Use Timer when:

• Waiting for an external system to respond within a timeout window.

💡 Tip

Use the remaining output to display a countdown on the dashboard.

Inputs

Name	Type	Description
start	any	When receiving a number input, it starts the timer and sets the countdown time according to the number in the input.
stop	any	Pauses the timer until the Resume input is triggered. For bool input types, the timer is only stopped if the value is True.
resume	any	Resumes a paused timer.

Outputs

Name	Type	Description
event	bool	Emits true when the countdown reaches 0.
running	bool	Emits whether the timer is currently running or not.
remaining	number	The remaining time (in seconds) before the event occurs. If the timer is not running, nothing is emitted.

Parameters

Parameter	Default	Valid values	Unit	Tunable
Default countdown	60	0 – inf	s	✅
Emit events before timing out	false	true, false	-	❌
Restart running timer on start trigger	true	true, false	-	❌
Enable automatic state reset	false	true, false	-	❌

Default countdown

Sets the period of time (in seconds) that starts counting down once the Start input is triggered.

Emit events before timing out

When selected, the Event output will continually emit a ‘false’ signal.

Restart running timer on start trigger

If true, receiving a signal on the start port while the timer is already running will restart it. Otherwise it does nothing when the timer is running.

Enable automatic state reset

When the flow must reset node state, this allows the node state to be reset accordingly.

Example

Delay the processing

To verify that the inspection environment is perfectly illuminated, a flow uses the Timer Node to delay the image processing until the lights have reached full intensity. When a product is detected on the line, the lights are triggered immediately, but the AI model processing is postponed to ensure a high-quality capture without flickering or motion blur.

Configuration:

• Default countdown: 5
• Emit events before timing out: false
• Restart running timer on start trigger: true
• Enable automatic state reset: false

Result: The product detection signal triggers both the lights and the Timer Node. The image processing is paused for 5 seconds, allowing the lighting to stabilize. Once the timer expires, the inspection continuous.

Related links

Reference:

• Delay — simple delay for passing data through
• Interval Filter — controls signal flow based on timing