One of the biggest challenges currently facing any industrial network environment must surely be enabling existing and legacy equipment to connect to the cloud and becoming 'smart'.
Connectivity is the first fundamental requirement in Smart Manufacturing development. It allows important information to be identified, collected, and used to monitor operations, anticipate malfunction, and gauge efficiency, among many other critical tasks. The potential benefits from the Internet of Things are almost immeasurable, and yet so much of this potential is currently not being tapped into. The challenge is not insignificant, but it is becoming easier – and quicker – to achieve.
As it stands, an incredible 92% of the world’s 60m machines are not attached to any network. The reasons are many, but a significant factor is that equipment investments are large and long term. Most factory assets are kept in operation for years, if not decades. This creates a dilemma for equipment installed before the IoT era. Many of these legacy machines lack network connections or the software capabilities to interface with IT systems.
Until now, there was no easy way to connect these old assets to the IoT. However, with innovations in artificial intelligence and cloud services developing at a rapid rate, it is now possible to upgrade the factory without replacing outdated equipment. It starts by disconnecting the human-machine interface (HMI) display, rerouting that display signal through an IoT-enabled system and reconnecting the HMI into the other side of the IoT system. Using modern Al techniques, these new systems can capture information about the machine and the products it is manufacturing.
Next, the captured data can be converted into an IT-friendly format and sent to the cloud. This can all be done non-invasively, with no modifications to the machine or its software.
For example, the ADLINK DEX-100 IoT device. Their Smart Manufacturing solution can connect virtually any PC-based equipment to the factory’s data network. What is more, built-in cloud connectors make it easy to route data to the cloud for enterprise-wide analytics and control. Its intelligent data extraction system with built-in frame grabber utilises optical character recognition (OCR) to collect and process legacy PC-based display content, converging traditionally fragmented data extraction methods into a unified solution for all types of PC-based machines.
An easy-to-configure utility maps acquired real-time video content with no additional programming required and provides a user-configured interface consolidating machine content of interest into a single predefined page. Unique offline script editing enables system setup offline from the target device, for little-to-no interference with operations. Companies that have implemented the DEX-100 use it for data gathering and analysis, safety monitoring, and even machine-to-machine control. For example, at an SMT factory in China, this non-invasive approach allowed the manufacturer to extract about 85% of the data from 30,000 legacy machines and send that data to the cloud.
The benefits can also go far beyond simple data collection. By connecting to PC-based controllers’ inputs, remote configuration and operation of equipment is also possible.
In PCB manufacturing factories, for example, operators use the HMI to enter data for the beginning of a lot run, and then collect data from the same interface at the end of the run. As this is an area where errors can occur, by using the same interface, this eliminates human errors, enables machine health tracking, and helps improve overall equipment effectiveness.
New applications today require machines to be interlinked and automated as part of a robotics system. For example, at one customer site, the DEX-100 is being used to link a computerised wire-cutting machine and a robot that holds the wire in place. The combined solution knows the positions of the wires, so the robot can perform the cutting and the soldering. This eliminates the need for a person to hold the wire in place and ensures consistent precision in the process.
Connecting legacy equipment to the IoT can also reduce downtime and guard against malfunctions and damage. Because alarms can be monitored remotely, problems can be addressed at the first sign of trouble. In contrast, an on-site operator might not immediately notice a problem, or might not be able to correct the situation right away.
Non-invasive and scalable
The ability to monitor and control machines across an enterprise is also critical. Ultimately, it also must be scalable. There are many equipment manufacturers in the market providing machines that are both smart and not smart, with varying protocols. That makes it difficult to scale a single automation system for all of them.
Scalability and connectivity also apply to different clouds. When looking to invest in a smart factory solution, a key consideration must be the flexibility required to engage all the major cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google.
The future has landed…
There are many different approaches required for getting your network IoT-ready, and the correct approach will ultimately depend on the age, complexity and existing connectivity which is already in place. This article has only examined connecting the equipment that was introduced before online communication was even an option. Hitex also has vast experience of providing gateways and interfaces that can increase existing connectivity, as well as adding new connectivity from scratch.
www.hitex.co.uk
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Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.