Electricity + Control May 2017

SENSORS, SWITCHES + TRANSDUCERS

Sensors Play Key Role in Pushing Industry into Fourth Age Gerry Bryant, Countapulse Controls

Automatic and multifunctional sensors and intelligent controls are relied upon more than ever by manufacturing enterprises.

A s manufacturing enterprises become increasingly automated, tighter control will have to be exercised over processes and equipment to ensure high quality, low cost output and mini- mumwaste. The ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ – with sensing technol- ogy at its heart – is paving the way to achieving this. Automatic and multifunctional sensors and intelligent controls are today relied upon more than ever by manufacturing enterprises, on both the process and enterprise levels. The design, manufacture, optimisation and effective deployment of these systems will be critical to industry in the next century. But what is the Fourth Industrial Revolution and how does it com- pare to previous ‘revolutions’ in the way our industries have evolved?

Mechanisation brought what we now call the first industrial revolu- tion, through the application of steam engines to functions previously conducted in small workshops. The result was large factories that fuelled production levels to scales as yet undreamed of, and new ways of working that defined the industrial age. The movement to mass production techniques and machinery in the early 20 th century ushered in the second industrial revolution; an era consumed by the commitment to productivity. Widespread employment of conveyor belt technology and the adoption of the assembly line drove up production to new heights while reducing unit costs. Consumer goods historically reserved for the wealthy, like motor vehicles, became more affordable, further driving up the market’s demand for mass produced goods. The third revolution came with the advent of automation in industry, mainly through the increased use of micro-electronics and computers coupledwith CNC control systems on the factory floor from about the mid-1970s. This automation also allowed finer tolerances in the production process and a higher quality of output, feeding the evolution of designs and technology across all sectors.

A pioneer on the road into the future is global sensor company Leuze, represented in South Africa by Countapulse Controls, which was recently instrumental in the design of the world’s first commercially attractive interface: the IO-link. This interface allows simple sensors to exchange process and configuration data with the control system, and is another step towards achieving the full benefits of the Fourth Revolu- tion, when process, configuration and diagnostic data is available not just in the control system but all the way up to the cloud.

The IO-link interface allows simple sensors to exchange process and configuration data with the control system.

Electricity+Control May ‘17

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