This article is written by: Daxin
Since the term “Industry 4.0” was coined at the Hannover Messe in 2011, it has come a long way. The journey towards smart manufacturing continues, but what has truly made an impact in recent years is the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions.
Notably, in 2012, General Electric coined the term “Industrial Internet,” referring to the intelligent connection of various industrial devices to create systems that can monitor, collect, exchange, analyze, and provide valuable insights. Ultimately, the concepts of Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet began to merge, leading to what is now known as Industrial IoT or IIoT.
Whether referred to as Industry 4.0 or the Industrial Internet of Things, the fundamental goal is to achieve the Fourth Industrial Revolution with the help of cutting-edge electronics, alongside steam engines, conveyor belts, and information technology (IT). It elevates manufacturing and process automation to a new level, where tomorrow’s factories will establish interconnected systems that include sensors, actuators, and control systems, all linked together through Internet Protocol (IP) across various types of networks.
Figure 1: Industry 4.0 marks a new height in digital transformation.
The integration of AI applications, such as fault detection and classification, also drives the development of Industry 4.0. The combination of IoT and AI technologies is changing how engineers manage data, disseminate information, and make real-time decisions in production environments. The use of machine learning algorithms and robotic process automation can further save costs and hours, thus optimizing modern manufacturing.
The practical embodiment of Industry 4.0 can be seen at General Electric’s factory in Schenectady, New York, where over 10,000 sensors have been installed across 180,000 square feet of manufacturing space. All these sensors are connected via high-speed Ethernet.
This brings us to one of the fundamental components designed for Industry 4.0: connected sensors.
Internet of Sensors
Connected sensors via wired or wireless links form the backbone of Industry 4.0 or IIoT systems. The machine data transmitted to the cloud by sensors can optimize manufacturing, predict failures, schedule maintenance, and automatically replenish inventory.
A new feature of sensors in the realm of Industry 4.0 is the fusion of localization and communication to create precise indoor positioning systems. This allows factories to monitor tools in real-time and manage worker utilization to improve assembly line efficiency, safety, and quality control.
These high-precision and location-aware systems utilize smart wireless sensor solutions. For instance, sensor supplier Bosch collaborated with the CAB Concept Cluster (CCC) to develop a smart cockpit that integrates cameras and drones into agricultural vehicles, turning them into connected control centers in the field.
Figure 2: In addition to smart manufacturing, the “Industry 4.0” initiative is expanding into other areas, such as connected agriculture. Image: CAB Concept Cluster)
This solution provides farmers with detailed images of crop conditions captured by camera drones and subsequently processed in the cloud. Camera drones can also perform object recognition to alert farmers about activity obstacles such as deer. Additionally, farmers can execute specific functions, such as adjusting nozzle settings based on weather or soil conditions.
Bosch also claims to have improved productivity in the manufacturing of ABS/ESP brake systems at its plant in Breckach, Germany, by recording cylinder movements, fixture cycle times, and temperature and pressure levels during the manufacturing process. Data collected from RFID tags is transmitted to a massive database that digitally maps internal material flows.
Industry 4.0 Chips
Semiconductor devices are another key element in the design of Industry 4.0 and IIoT. These include processors for edge computing, memory for data storage, data converters, and wired or wireless connection chips for remote sensing and cloud platform links.
An example is Texas Instruments’ Sitara AM6x processor series, which supports gigabit industrial communication subsystems for factory automation, motor drives, and grid infrastructure. These processors are built around the fusion of Ethernet and real-time data traffic on a single network. They support multiple protocols, including Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN), EtherCAT, Ethernet/IP, and PROFINET.
Figure 3: Block diagram of the Sitara AM6548 multi-protocol processor, which provides gigabit throughput for industrial connectivity standards (such as TSN).
This TSN-enabled processor integrates a dual-core microcontroller (MCU) subsystem based on Arm Cortex-R5F, which can operate in an optional lockstep mode and supports error correction code (ECC) protection for on-chip memory and external double data rate (DDR) memory. These features allow the processor to enhance security and reduce system-level complexity for applications such as programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and multi-axis motor drives.
The demands for high-performance PLCs in the Industry 4.0 platform are increasing, accompanied by secure connectivity and human-machine interfaces (HMIs). PLCs must also shrink in size and process value chains while increasing the number of I/O channels (analog and digital). These PLCs will need to support new I/O protocols, such as IO-Link.
Additionally, the emergence of powerful system-on-chip (SoC) solutions has made the creation of digital twins possible, which pair the virtual world with the physical world and create a data pool that maps and links all steps of industrial manufacturing. These cyber-physical systems create a virtual replica of the physical world, allowing for lower-cost and more efficient monitoring of physical processes.
Future Factories
In the vision of Industry 4.0, there is a revival of production sites through end-to-end sensor solutions and services. It promotes smarter decision-making, enhances operational efficiency, increases yield, boosts engineering efficiency, and significantly improves business performance.
With the accelerated availability of IoT sensors, big data, and AI applications, the reality of Industry 4.0 is finally beginning to move forward. According to a report by Gartner Inc., in 2018, the number of IoT devices in this field exceeded 6 billion, and it is expected to grow to over 20 billion by 2022.
The factories of the future will steadily evolve with more powerful processing nodes, more automated production processes, and smarter data analytics tools capable of processing and analyzing large amounts of factory data in near real-time, becoming a reality one IoT sensor solution at a time.