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Industrial Iot: Quality Assurance

The industrial internet of things (IIoT) refers to using internet-connected devices in industrial applications like manufacturing to improve efficiency and operations. The IIoT uses machine-to-machine communication, big data analytics, and machine learning to gain insights from connected industrial equipment. While the IIoT can revolutionize industries, strategies are needed to boost digital transformation securely and maintain availability, scalability, and security with increased connectivity.

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95 views4 pages

Industrial Iot: Quality Assurance

The industrial internet of things (IIoT) refers to using internet-connected devices in industrial applications like manufacturing to improve efficiency and operations. The IIoT uses machine-to-machine communication, big data analytics, and machine learning to gain insights from connected industrial equipment. While the IIoT can revolutionize industries, strategies are needed to boost digital transformation securely and maintain availability, scalability, and security with increased connectivity.

Uploaded by

rujula shinde
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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INDUSTRIAL IoT

The industrial internet of things (IIoT) refers to the extension and use of the
internet of things (IoT) in industrial sectors and applications. With a strong focus
on machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, big data, and machine learning,
the IIoT enables industries and enterprises to have better efficiency and reliability
in their operations. The IIoT encompasses industrial applications, including
robotics, medical devices, and software-defined production processes.

The IIoT goes beyond the normal consumer devices and internetworking of
physical devices usually associated with the IoT. The Industrial Internet of Things
(IIoT), also known as the Industrial Internet, brings together critical assets,
advanced predictive and prescriptive analytics, and modern industrial workers. It is
the network of a multitude of industrial devices connected by communications
technologies that results in systems that can monitor, collect, exchange, analyze,
and deliver valuable new insights like never before. These insights can then help
drive smarter, faster business decision-making for industrial companies.

Adoption of the IIoT can revolutionize how industries operate, but there is the
challenge of having strategies in place to boost digital transformation efforts while
maintaining security amid increased connectivity. With IIoT implementations,
three areas need to be focused on: availability, scalability, and security.

Quality Assurance

IIoT devices can automate certain monitoring functions to reduce human error in
quality assurance (QA). For example, if a part is made incorrectly, a camera or
other sensor connected to the machine can detect the error earlier so the part
doesn’t move forward in the production process, and so a corrected part can be
manufactured.
If QA is only handled by humans, mental and physical fatigue can become a factor.
Mistakes are made, or documentation suffers. That is why at General Electric (GE),
robots with cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) are starting to take part in the
inspections and documentation. However, humans won’t be entirely removed from
the QA process.

According to Colin Parris, VP of GE software and AI research, the AI GE uses has


a zone of competency that is based on the environmental context. For example, if
the AI is basing its inspection on a model made in the summer (a hot and humid
environment) and it is now winter (a cold and dry environment), the environmental
context is different and the AI is working outside of its zone of competency.

Whenever the AI is working outside its zone of competency, a human operator


must verify the data. Parris added that GE looks at what employees do in that
scenario and use that information to improve the AI.

Machine Monitoring

By monitoring the status and health of machines at all times, malfunctions can be
caught sooner. Temperature sensors can be used to monitor the overall status of the
machines. Vibration sensors can monitor the health of a machine’s components. If
the health of one component starts to deteriorate, it can be replaced, which prevents
a failure that could have caused additional damage to the machine.

By identifying health issues earlier, technicians can mitigate damage and machines
are down for repairs for a fraction of the time. In addition, having detailed data on
the overall health of a machine means replacements and repairs can be done when
they are actually needed, and not based on the machine’s suggested timeline. This
avoids long machine downtime from failures between scheduled maintenance and
saves manufacturers money as they aren’t paying for unnecessary repairs and
machine components.

Challenges with Industrial IoT


There are no current communication standards for IIoT devices. This means that to
get machines to communicate with IoT devices, and with each other, an
organization must create its own interpreter software. Dan McFee, senior quality
engineer at Hanwha Aerospace USA, describes that process:

“Where it gets complicated is the automated communication from one of our


machines or devices to another,” McFee said in an email. “If I have direct access to
the API of a machine’s software, I can directly interface with it and make them talk
to each other. Most of the time, we don’t have the luxury of access to the API
interface. When that happens, I have to create an interpreter basically. This usually
entails finding a common file type that both devices’ software understand.”

McFee continued to say how he uses TCP/IP and 802.11 protocols to pass the
shared file type between devices or machines with the help of a common storage
location. In essence, his method uses interpreter software made in-house that works
on top of established TCP/IP and 802.11 protocols.

There are multiple organizations working on standards separately, including the


Industrial Internet Consortium, oneM2M, and the IEEE Standards Association.
This potentially makes the future of standards more complicated, as there will
likely be disparate standards.

With IIoT devices monitoring different parts of the manufacturing facility, material
inventories can be monitored. When supplies are low, those devices can
automatically order more materials. Because of that, more human error is removed.
In this case, when employees don’t keep close enough tabs on the inventory so the
factory runs out of material before more arrives.

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