Industry 4.0: Remote monitoring of production plants
Researchers at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland FHNW, in collaboration with LCA Automation AG, have developed a new type of diagnostic system that allows the global monitoring of complex production facilities in real time. This should reduce the number of production interruptions.
The company LCA Automation AG builds production plants for the automotive industry. The complex machines produce components for the steering of a passenger car. Smooth functioning is important - interruptions cost the Küssnacht company's customers dearly. To prevent this, regular diagnostics of the systems are common practice. The problem is that any interruptions can only be analyzed after the fact, when it is already too late. In addition, the weekly diagnostic reports are usually too complex to be adequately interpreted by the responsible specialists.
Software takes over the interpretation
In order to simplify the monitoring of production facilities, researchers from the FHNW and experts from the LCA have developed a new diagnostic tool. At its core are numerous sensors, webcams, vibration, temperature and current meters. The sensor data is interpreted by intelligent software that automatically warns when unusual values are measured. The diagnostic tool can also process video data: A simple webcam is used to film a conveyor belt, for example. If wear marks become noticeable on its surface, the software detects this and sounds the alarm at an early stage.
Diagnosis is independent of location
The monitoring tool is web-based: This allows the responsible engineers or managers to monitor the condition of the plants at any time. If a problem occurs, they can immediately get a picture of the situation at the click of a mouse.
Networked production is the trend
The project was co-financed by the Federal Commission for Technology and Innovation CTI. The work of the FHNW research team involved developing the diagnostic methodology and programming the software for visualisation. The close connection of physical plants with software components is typical of the trend towards Industry 4.0, whereby various units of the manufacturing process are digitally networked to form an intelligent production. The first plant with the new sensor system is currently being shipped to Mexico.
