2,435 research outputs found

    Teknoekonominen toteutettavuusanalyysi etÀyllÀpidon liitettÀvyydestÀ tehtaissa

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    Maintenance activities play a major role in factory operations, as they prevent breakdowns and extend machine life. With the advances in sensor, computing and communications technology, sensor data can be increasingly exploited for real-time supervision of machine condition. However, the acquisition of the data is challenging due to proprietary technologies and interfaces applied in Industrial Networks. Therefore, sensor data is rarely utilized in other processes than automation. As the industry is heading towards a new industrial era, also referred to as Industrial Internet or Industrie 4.0, there is growing need to improve data availability for applications that can realize its potential value. In this research, the focus is on the feasibility of remote maintenance deployment in factories. The topic is approached from the connectivity viewpoint. The research is conducted by reviewing the literature, and by interviewing numerous industry experts regarding the connectivity and data exploitation in factories. These form the basis for the value network analysis, in which Value Network Configuration (VNC) method is applied, to analyze the value distribution among different actors in alternative remote connection cases. As a result of the VNC analysis, three alternative value network configurations are formed. They provide a high-level technical architecture of the remote connection implementation and discuss the accumulated value of each actor concerning remote maintenance service. The insights gained from the VNCs and literature are then employed to propose a future technical architecture for remote maintenance connectivity in factories.Huoltotoimet ovat suuressa roolissa tehtaan toiminnassa, sillÀ ne ehkÀisevÀt konerikkoja ja pidentÀvÀt koneen kÀyttöikÀÀ. Sensori-, laskenta- ja tietoliikenneteknologian kehittymisen johdosta sensoridataa voidaan hyödyntÀÀ yhÀ enemmÀn koneen kunnon reaaliaikaiseen valvontaan. Datan saanti on kuitenkin haastavaa teollisissa verkoissa kÀytettyjen sovelluskohtaisten teknologioiden ja liitÀntöjen takia. Sen vuoksi sensoridataa hyödynnetÀÀn harvoin muissa prosesseissa kuin automaatiossa. Teollisuuden suunnatessa kohti uutta teollista aikakautta, joka tunnetaan myös nimillÀ Teollinen Internet ja Teollisuus 4.0, on datan saatavuutta parannettava sovelluskohteille, jotka voivat realisoida sen potentiaalisen arvon. TÀmÀ tutkimus tarkastelee etÀyllÀpidon kÀyttöönoton toteutettavuutta tehtaissa. Aihetta lÀhestytÀÀn liitettÀvyyden nÀkökulmasta. Tutkimus suoritetaan tarkastelemalla kirjallisuutta sekÀ haastattelemalla lukuisia teollisuuden asiantuntijoita koskien liitettÀvyyttÀ ja datan hyödyntÀmistÀ tehtaissa. NÀmÀ muodostavat perustan arvoverkkoanalyysille, jossa sovelletaan arvoverkkokonfiguraatio-menetelmÀÀ, jolla analysoidaan arvon jakautumista eri toimijoiden kesken vaihtoehtoisissa etÀyhteystapauksissa. Arvoverkkokonfiguraatioanalyysin tuloksena muodostetaan kolme vaihtoehtoista arvoverkkokonfiguraatiota. Ne tarjoavat korkean tason teknisen arkkitehtuurin etÀyhteyden implementaatiosta ja tarkastelevat toimijoiden kerryttÀmÀÀ arvoa etÀyllÀpitopalvelun osalta. Arvoverkkokonfiguraatioista ja kirjallisuudesta saatujen nÀkemysten pohjalta esitellÀÀn lisÀksi tulevaisuuden tekninen arkkitehtuuri etÀyllÀpidon liitettÀvyydelle tehtaissa

    Active learning based laboratory towards engineering education 4.0

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    Universities have a relevant and essential key role to ensure knowledge and development of competencies in the current fourth industrial revolution called Industry 4.0. The Industry 4.0 promotes a set of digital technologies to allow the convergence between the information technology and the operation technology towards smarter factories. Under such new framework, multiple initiatives are being carried out worldwide as response of such evolution, particularly, from the engineering education point of view. In this regard, this paper introduces the initiative that is being carried out at the Technical University of Catalonia, Spain, called Industry 4.0 Technologies Laboratory, I4Tech Lab. The I4Tech laboratory represents a technological environment for the academic, research and industrial promotion of related technologies. First, in this work, some of the main aspects considered in the definition of the so called engineering education 4.0 are discussed. Next, the proposed laboratory architecture, objectives as well as considered technologies are explained. Finally, the basis of the proposed academic method supported by an active learning approach is presented.Postprint (published version

    Ethernet - a survey on its fields of application

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    During the last decades, Ethernet progressively became the most widely used local area networking (LAN) technology. Apart from LAN installations, Ethernet became also attractive for many other fields of application, ranging from industry to avionics, telecommunication, and multimedia. The expanded application of this technology is mainly due to its significant assets like reduced cost, backward-compatibility, flexibility, and expandability. However, this new trend raises some problems concerning the services of the protocol and the requirements for each application. Therefore, specific adaptations prove essential to integrate this communication technology in each field of application. Our primary objective is to show how Ethernet has been enhanced to comply with the specific requirements of several application fields, particularly in transport, embedded and multimedia contexts. The paper first describes the common Ethernet LAN technology and highlights its main features. It reviews the most important specific Ethernet versions with respect to each application field’s requirements. Finally, we compare these different fields of application and we particularly focus on the fundamental concepts and the quality of service capabilities of each proposal

    Market fields structure & dynamics in industrial automation

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    There is a research tradition in the economics of standards which addresses standards wars, antitrust concerns or positive externalities from standards. Recent research has also dealt with the process characteristics of standardisation, de facto standard-setting consortia and intellectual property concerns in the technology specification or implementation phase. Nonetheless, there are no studies which analyse capabilities, comparative industry dynamics or incentive structures sufficiently in the context of standard-setting. In my study, I address the characteristics of collaborative research and standard-setting as a new mode of deploying assets beyond motivations well-known from R&D consortia or market alliances. On the basis of a case study of a leading user organisation in the market for industrial automation technology, but also a descriptive network analysis of cross-community affiliations, I demonstrate that there must be a paradoxical relationship between cooperation and competition. More precisely, I explain how there can be a dual relationship between value creation and value capture respecting exploration and exploitation. My case study emphasises the dynamics between knowledge stocks (knowledge alignment, narrowing and deepening) produced by collaborative standard setting and innovation; it also sheds light on an evolutional relationship between the exploration of assets and use cases and each firm's exploitation activities in the market. I derive standard-setting capabilities from an empirical analysis of membership structures, policies and incumbent firm characteristics in selected, but leading, user organisations. The results are as follows: the market for industrial automation technology is characterised by collaboration on standards, high technology influences of other industries and network effects on standards. Further, system integrators play a decisive role in value creation in the customer-specific business case. Standard-setting activities appear to be loosely coupled to the products offered on the market. Core leaders in world standards in industrial automation own a variety of assets and they are affiliated to many standard-setting communities rather than exclusively committed to a few standards. Furthermore, their R&D ratios outperform those of peripheral members and experience in standard-setting processes can be assumed. Standard-setting communities specify common core concepts as the basis for the development of each member's proprietary products, complementary technologies and industrial services. From a knowledge-based perspective, the targeted disclosure of certain knowledge can be used to achieve high innovation returns through systemic products which add proprietary features to open standards. Finally, the interplay between exploitation and exploration respecting the deployment of standard-setting capabilities linked to cooperative, pre-competitive processes leads to an evolution in common technology owned and exploited by the standard-setting community as a particular kind of innovation ecosystem. --standard-setting,innovation,industry dynamics and context,industrial automation

    Machine Tool Communication (MTComm) Method and Its Applications in a Cyber-Physical Manufacturing Cloud

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    The integration of cyber-physical systems and cloud manufacturing has the potential to revolutionize existing manufacturing systems by enabling better accessibility, agility, and efficiency. To achieve this, it is necessary to establish a communication method of manufacturing services over the Internet to access and manage physical machines from cloud applications. Most of the existing industrial automation protocols utilize Ethernet based Local Area Network (LAN) and are not designed specifically for Internet enabled data transmission. Recently MTConnect has been gaining popularity as a standard for monitoring status of machine tools through RESTful web services and an XML based messaging structure, but it is only designed for data collection and interpretation and lacks remote operation capability. This dissertation presents the design, development, optimization, and applications of a service-oriented Internet-scale communication method named Machine Tool Communication (MTComm) for exchanging manufacturing services in a Cyber-Physical Manufacturing Cloud (CPMC) to enable manufacturing with heterogeneous physically connected machine tools from geographically distributed locations over the Internet. MTComm uses an agent-adapter based architecture and a semantic ontology to provide both remote monitoring and operation capabilities through RESTful services and XML messages. MTComm was successfully used to develop and implement multi-purpose applications in in a CPMC including remote and collaborative manufacturing, active testing-based and edge-based fault diagnosis and maintenance of machine tools, cross-domain interoperability between Internet-of-things (IoT) devices and supply chain robots etc. To improve MTComm’s overall performance, efficiency, and acceptability in cyber manufacturing, the concept of MTComm’s edge-based middleware was introduced and three optimization strategies for data catching, transmission, and operation execution were developed and adopted at the edge. Finally, a hardware prototype of the middleware was implemented on a System-On-Chip based FPGA device to reduce computational and transmission latency. At every stage of its development, MTComm’s performance and feasibility were evaluated with experiments in a CPMC testbed with three different types of manufacturing machine tools. Experimental results demonstrated MTComm’s excellent feasibility for scalable cyber-physical manufacturing and superior performance over other existing approaches
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