The present disclosure describes systems for data collection in an industrial environment having a self-sufficient data acquisition box for capturing and analyzing data in an industrial process. A system can include a data circuit for analyzing a plurality of sensor inputs, a network control circuit for sending and receiving information related to sensor inputs to an external system, wherein the system provides sensor data to one or more similarly configured systems, and wherein the data circuit dynamically nominates a similarly configured system capable of providing sensor data to replace the system.