Engineering

Technicians using computer in server room

The promise of the edge and IIoT in Asia’s manufacturing industry

Dave Laurello, CEO, Stratus. To remain competitive in today’s always-on world, organisations require near-instant access to data and resources. That’s where the edge comes into play: the place where computing occurs, in between the data centre and the cloud. In Singapore and Asia, edge computing poses a great opportunity to enable improved real-time decision-making – especially in Asia’s booming manufacturing sector. In a rapidly growing industry, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is lighting the way for a highly automated future. The IIoT refers to a combination of intelligent computers and devices that enable instant data sharing and automated processes in industrial manufacturing. The IIoT is set to revolutionise manufacturing by providing accessibility to large amounts of data at far greater speeds. According to a report by Boston Consulting Group, Five Profiles That Explain China’s Consumer Economy, GDP growth in China, the world’s second largest economy, has slowed from more than 10% in 2010 to around 7% in 2017. To remain competitive, Asian economies – once reliant upon low-cost labour and exports – are under pressure to adopt smarter technologies, such as robotics and the IIoT. Going forward, it is predicted that smart technologies and IIoT networks will allow industrial organisations to break open data silos and connect people, data and processes like never before, from the factory floor to executive offices. Automation and the future of manufacturing – So where does edge computing fit into all of this? The promise of edge computing in industrial environments means switching into the right device in near real-time to drive faster decision making. For this to work, the edge device and its embedded software, edge servers, gateways and cloud infrastructure must be up-and-running correctly at all times. According to a recent report by ARC Advisory Group, Is IIot Living on The Edge In […]

Delivering enterprise Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Fujitsu Limited and Blue Prism Group PLC will be working closely together to deliver Blue Prism’s market leading Robotic Process Automation(RPA)(1) offering to enterprise clients across a wide range of industries. With the acceleration of digital transformation in recent years, the use of RPA has drawn attention in the context of automating processes to achieve improvements in productivity and quality of service. As Proof of Concept (PoC) and full-scale RPA deployments gain traction and wide scale adoption, Fujitsu and Blue Prism have agreed to collaborate to meet this demand. Through this collaboration, the companies intend to support the creation of a framework for customers in Europe, North America, Japan and beyond to launch, operate and entrench, and grow their RPA-related activities. They will do this by applying Fujitsu’s AI and other cutting-edge technologies to Blue Prism RPA software through joint planning, proposals, and proof of concept creation for solutions, building on Blue Prism’s proven record of delivering large-scale enterprise systems around the world. Blue Prism was named one of MIT Tech Review’s 50 Smartest Companies for 2017, as well as being the winner of the 2017 UK Tech awards. The company has also been recognized by Everest Research as an RPA market leader in their PEAK Matrix Assessment report in 2018. Billions of transactions and hundreds of millions of hours of work are executed on Blue Prism robots for renowned companies. (1) Robotic process automation (RPA) Software can automate and improve the efficiency of white-collar processes, in particular, by substituting software robots for defined tasks that were previously done by people. It has also been called digital labour, because it can execute processes as a supplement to people.

Vricon Precision 3D Registration (P3DR) available

Vricon unveiled the next in a series of GEOINT solutions — Vricon Precision 3D Registration (P3DR) — at the year’s GEOINT 2018 Symposium in Tampa, Fla. Vricon P3DR is a software suite designed to automatically georegister imagery, regardless of collection platform, against the most accurate 3D geospatial foundation available, The Globe in 3D. P3DR can be implemented as a real-time processing workflow for imagery feeds without the need for GPS location, heading information, or ground control points. While we’ve always been able to perform georegistration of individual data sets using 3D models as an accurate foundation, Vricon P3DR takes this capability to a whole new level. Users now have multiple options for where and when they can automatically georegister their FMV or other imagery sources in real-time and at an enterprise scale. Precisely locating geospatial data from different sources is a persistent challenge for the geospatial community. Imagery data is collected at different times, on different platforms, and with different look angles, sensor characteristics, and raw pointing accuracies. High-off-nadir Full Motion Video (FMV) is particularly challenging, given the relatively narrow field of view, high resolution, and often poor initial pointing accuracy of the sensors. All of these complexities yield data sets that are significantly misaligned with each other and the real world. The alignment is often off by tens or even hundreds of meters. As a result, users are unable to automatically correlate multi-sensor data, making it difficult to fully leverage collection assets on critical targets. This also creates additional work for analysts, who spend hours trying to align various image sources. Vricon P3DR software — enabled by Vricon’s Globe in 3D — provides a way to quickly and accurately georegister data anywhere on the globe. Vricon P3DR provides critical accuracy enhancements to other ISR sources, enabling GEOINT data to be used to […]

Robot see, Robot do: Bots learn by watching human behaviour

Robots following coded instructions to complete a task? Old school. Robots learning to do things by watching how humans do it? That’s the future. Stanford’s Animesh Garg and Marynel Vázquez shared their research in a talk on “Generalisable Autonomy for Robotic Mobility and Manipulation” at the GPU Technology Conference recently. In lay terms, generalisable autonomy is the idea that a robot can observe human behaviour and learn to imitate it in a way that’s applicable to a variety of tasks and situations. What kinds of situations? Learning to cook by watching YouTube videos, for one. And figuring out how to cross a crowded room for another. Cooking 101 Garg, a postdoctoral researcher at the Stanford Vision and Learning Lab (CVGL), likes to cook. He also likes robots. But what he’s not so keen on is a future full of robots who can only cook one recipe each. While the present is increasingly full of robots that excel at single tasks, Garg is working toward what he calls “the dream of general-purpose robots.” The path to the dream may lie in neural task programming (NTP), a new approach to meta-learning. NTP leverages hierarchy and learns to program with a modular robot API to perform unseen tasks working from only a single test example. For instance, a robot chef would take a cooking video as input and use a hierarchical neural program to break the video data down into what Garg calls a structured representation of the task based on visual cues as well as temporal sequence. Instead of learning a single recipe that’s only good for making spaghetti with meatballs, the robot understands all the subroutines, or components, that make up the task. From there, the budding mechanical chef can apply skills like boiling water, frying meatballs and simmering sauce to other situations. Solving […]

Three game-changers for the manufacturing industry in 2018

Antony Bourne IoT being built into the product design, manufacturers adopting a more service-centric business model, and 3D-printing reaching the tipping point of realizing business benefits on a large scale. These are the three game-changing predictions that Antony Bourne, IFS Global Industry Director of Industrial and High-tech Manufacturing outlines for 2018. 1) By the end of 2018, over 50 percent of manufacturers will be building IoT technology into the design phase of their products. In 2018, IoT will take a decisive step forward in its evolution. If we once thought of IoT as a product’s nervous system, this year will see it grow from picking up signals at the periphery to being the brain of the product, constantly sending, receiving, growing and gathering information, from the center of the product throughout its lifetime, and in the process enabling new services and revenue streams. Manufacturing is undoubtedly heavily impacted by IoT today. According to Global Market Insights, IoT in the manufacturing market was valued at over US$ 20 billion in 2016 and will grow at more than 20 percent up to 2024. Current IoT investments that are unique to the manufacturing environment are taking place in three major initiatives: Smart manufacturing to increase production output, product quality, or operations and workforce safety as well as lower resource consumption Connected products to impact product performance, including collecting detailed information on products in the field, remote diagnostics and remote maintenance Connected supply chains to increase visibility and coordination in the supply chain, tracking assets or inventory for more efficient supply chain execution We will see IoT included as a part of the design process in all three of these IoT initiatives. Manufacturers are realizing that by engineering IoT technology into products and equipment already in the design process, you can monitor not only […]

Konecranes strengthens its bulk handling presence in Japan

Konecranes Gottwald Model 4 Mobile Harbor Cranes handling bulk material. A similar crane will handle coal and coconut husk in the Japanese Port of Miike. Konecranes is supplying an eco-efficient, diesel-electric Gottwald Model 4 Mobile Harbour Crane to Miike Port Logistics (MPL). MPL will begin to operate the crane – which was ordered via Chikuho Seisakusho Co., Ltd. (CS) – at the end of 2018 at its terminal in the Port of Miike. The machine will be dedicated to bulk handling, mainly of coal and coconut husk. MPL has been operating a smaller Konecranes Gottwald Mobile Harbor Crane since 2006. This crane has been handling different types of cargo, including bulk, with a motor grab. Miike’s new mobile harbor crane will replace an ageing bulk gantry crane. Makoto Aso, President, CS, explains: “Bulk handling technology from Konecranes has proven to be very productive and reliable at many terminals around the world. MPL has been very impressed by the performance of their Konecranes cargo handling equipment to date. It was logical to opt for a Konecranes Gottwald Mobile Harbor Crane in order to further expand our bulk handling activities.” Holger Schauer, Regional Sales Manager, Konecranes Port Solutions, says: “We are pleased that the fleet of Konecranes Gottwald Mobile Harbor Cranes at Japanese terminals is growing. Since 2003, we have delivered one Model 2 and nine HMK 170 E mobile harbor cranes, the predecessor of Model 2, to nine terminals around the country. The new crane will be the first Model 4 mobile harbor crane to be operated in Japan.” The four-rope grab crane has a maximum lifting capacity of 95 tons, an outreach of up to 46 metres and a high-performance grab curve. To meet the special requirements in Japan, Konecranes will deliver the crane with an additional overload indicator.

BuildIT Construction can be fully integrated with 3D data

. Spokesperson: CHEW Beow Kwan, Product Marketing Associate Manager, Asia Pacific, FARO Technologies Please tell us what BuildIT Construction is all about? The BuildIT Construction software leverages on FARO’s cutting-edge 3D metrology capability. FARO is to first to offer this fully integrated building lifecycle Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) management tool empowering construction professionals to continuously evaluate projects with real time comparisons against CAD designs using 3D scan data. The software from FARO uniquely enables laser scanner users to perform immediate, real-time build and verify analysis throughout the entire project, and facilitates a new level of cost management and operational efficiency. BuildIT Construction can be fully integrated with 3D data collected from FARO Focus Laser Scanners, optimised for the FARO TracerM Laser Projector for placement and layout of structural components and is compatible with the FARO Laser Tracker for prefabricated modular positioning. It can also be used seamlessly with other third-party hardware. Where do you see this software being used most? Application areas that will benefit most from the BuildIT Construction software include Architecture, Civil Engineering/Surveying, Construction, Facility Management, Historical Preservation, and Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP). AEC professionals will find the software useful for: Verifying accuracy of scan data to design models Detecting incorrect placement or missing features such as walls, columns, beams, pipes, etc. Performing important measurements accurately and quickly Inspecting construction for adherence to building standards Verifying shifts and movements within structural performance over time with 4D analysis Performing real time monitoring of adjacent structures throughout the project lifecycle Is there a lot of construction underway across ASEAN? Prospects for construction in the ASEAN region is generally bright. According to the Global Construction 2030 Report[1], the ASEAN construction market is expected to exceed US$1 trillion by 2030, with growth predominantly driven […]

Countries with the highest density of robot workers

Data from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) reveals that industrial automation is accelerating across the globe. In 2015, the average global robot density in manufacturing industries was 66 robot units per 10,000 employees. Just one year later, the number increased to 74 robot units. Europe is the reigning champ, sporting a robot density of 99 units per 10,000 workers. The next highest regions are the Americas and Asia, with 84 and 63 units, respectively. When it comes to overall growth rate, Asia tops the list. “Robot density is an excellent standard for comparison in order to take into account the differences in the automation degree of the manufacturing industry in various countries,” says Junji Tsuda, president of the IFR. “As a result of the high volume of robot installations in Asia in recent years, the region has the highest growth rate. Between 2010 and 2016, the average annual growth rate of robot density in Asia was nine percent, in the Americas seven percent, and in Europe five percent.” Breaking those numbers further down by countries, South Korea had the largest installation of industrial robots per 10,000 employees in 2016, reaching 631. South Korea’s electrical, electronics, and automotive sectors have all contributed to this high installation volume. Singapore comes in second, with 488 units. “About 90 percent of robots are installed in the electronics industry in Singapore,” according to the IFR. Germany (309 units) and Japan (303 units) ranked third and fourth, respectively. Check out the full IFR report here to learn more.

Industrial Software Platform delivers maximum return

Schneider Electric has announced increasing momentum surrounding customer adoption of the company’s Asset Performance Management (APM) solutions, an integral component of the Industrial Software Platform. Through investments in the cloud, advanced machine learning and augmented reality (AR), coupled with new partnerships, the company empowers customers to maximise their return on capital investment and to improve profitability. “Defining and executing an asset performance strategy is a critical component to improving productivity while safeguarding business continuity,” said Kim Custeau, Asset Performance Management Business Lead at Schneider Electric. “We have been delivering proven, industry leading asset performance solutions for nearly 30 years, and continue to invest in a long-term strategy to drive innovation in this area. “Our focus is to provide real value to our customers by empowering them to maximise return on capital investment and improve profitability. We are proud to see our customer results speak for themselves with significant reported savings. “Industrial IoT (IIoT) and Industry 4.0 provide new opportunities to improve overall business performance, particularly for APM. For owner-operators, this includes operational improvements largely involving improved asset reliability,” said Ralph Rio, Vice President Enterprise Software at ARC Advisory Group. “Users have reported that moving from preventive maintenance to predictive or prescriptive approaches provided a 50 percent savings in maintenance labour and MRO materials. With predictive and prescriptive maintenance, near-zero unplanned downtime for critical equipment can be achieved.” Machine Learning and Prescriptive Analytics Machine learning and advanced pattern recognition play a central role within Schneider Electric’s asset performance solutions, enabling customers to more accurately predict – and proactively resolve – issues before they impact their business. This increases reliability, reduces costs and improves safety. Duke Energy prevented an estimated $35 million cost from early warning detection of a steam turbine problem. Ascend Performance Materials now responds faster to alerts with actionable […]

Librestream and Olympus bring remote NDT/RVI experts into the field virtually

Onsight allows customers to share live visuals with remote experts for rapid decision making in the field. Olympus Australia and New Zealand (Olympus) and Librestream Technologies Inc., a leader in remote expert systems for enterprise, are pleased to announce that Olympus is now offering Librestream’s Onsight platform to provide additional functionality to their product portfolio. Using Onsight, Olympus customers in industries including aerospace, manufacturing and oil & gas, can share live visuals from remote visual inspections (RVI) and non-destructive testing (NDT) instruments with remote experts for rapid decision making in the field. “Onsight connects our customers in a way that truly transcends the remoteness we are accustomed to in Australia and Oceania. The ability to instantly share live visuals gives global collaborators a true presence, virtually taking them inside the inspection equipment,” said Brendan Slaven, RVI Product & VM Manager for Maintenance at Olympus. “Librestream complements our technology perfectly with their vast experience in remote collaboration. Onsight brings the experts to you, when you need them, minus the requirement to travel,” Slaven continued. The Librestream solution includes Onsight Connect collaboration software and the Onsight 400R Collaboration Hub device to connect to Olympus videoscopes, ultrasound and other test instruments. Olympus can also provide options to connect a variety of popular virtual reality headsets in order to share visuals in live 3D.

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