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A 10-minute conversation saved $12 million

by Colin Paris A call comes through on my tablet. It’s a familiar digital voice letting me know that one of GE’s power generation turbines installed at a utility customer’s power plant was experiencing a change in its operating profile. This change was causing a critical part to wear more rapidly than usual. It would not necessarily cause a problem today, explains the caller, or even in the coming months. But further down the line, it could become an issue that would reduce the overall performance of the power plant and lead to more expensive repairs. That voice on the other end of the line is not a human operator. It is the turbine’s Digital Twin, an exact digital replica of the physical machine built with artificial intelligence algorithms that allow it to see, think and act just like human beings do. In my ten- minute conversation with this Digital Twin, we figure out a solution that would save $12 million for the customer with a simple adjustment in how the turbine operates. The drop-off in performance and higher repair costs will be avoided thanks to a few simple changes the Twin itself recommended based on its assessment of historical data, other turbines in this fleet, and its deep knowledge of the physical stress on the turbine in question. The Internet ushered in the world of connectedness on a level no one had previously imagined. Today, that connectedness has spread from human-to-human, to human-to-machine, to machine-to-machine, and we’ve given it a new name – the Internet of Things. We see the IoT in the home, when we talk to Amazon Echo’s Alexa or to Google and ask them for information or to perform a simple task. To understand those questions and requests, Alexa uses a dictionary that is gained from […]

Analysing performance on operational motors without mechanical sensors

Measuring mechanical loads typically requires load sensors that can be costly or physically inaccessible. The Fluke® 438-II Power Quality and Motor Analyser uses innovative algorithms to analyse not only three-phase power quality but also torque, efficiency, and speed to determine system performance and detect overloaded conditions, eliminating the need for motor load sensors. The Fluke 438-II simplifies the process of motor performance diagnosis by providing analysis data for both the electrical and mechanical characteristics of the motor while it is in operation. Using proprietary algorithms, the 438-II measures the three-phase current and voltage waveforms and compares them against rated specifications to calculate motor mechanical performance. The analysis is presented in simple readouts, making it easy to gauge the operating performance and determine if adjustments are needed before failures cause an operational shut down. The analyser also provides measurements to determine a motor’s efficiency (i.e. the conversion of electrical energy to mechanical torque) and mechanical power under operating load conditions. These measures allow maintenance engineers to determine the motors in-service operating power compared to its rated power to determine if the motor is operating in overloaded condition or, inversely, if it is oversized for the application energy may be wasted and operating cost increased. The 438-II is part of the Fluke 430 Series of three-phase power quality analysers that provide frontline troubleshooting and long-term trending to keep equipment running smoothly.

Solidworks Simulation Professional

Product Engineers can efficiently evaluate structural product performance under a wide range of physical scenarios using the powerful virtual testing environment of Solidworks Simulation Professional. Fully embedded with Solidworks 3D CAD, Solidworks Simulation Professional enables engineers to determine product mechanical resistance, product durability, natural frequencies, and test heat transfer and buckling instabilities. Pressure vessel analysis and complex loading is also supported. You can optimise products for weight, vibration, or instability based on a range of physical and geometrical parameters. With tight integration and a consistent user interface across Solidorks solutions, you can use the powerful capabilities of Solidworks Simulation Professional early in the design process to maximize product quality and reduce costs.

Books for the holidays

Apart from planning your budgets, why not go the library or book store and find a book to read. The list below offers some suggestions: China’s Mobile Economy: Opportunities in the Largest and Fastest Information Consumption Boom —Winston Ma (John Wiley & Sons, 2016; nonfiction) The Seventh Sense: Power, Fortune, and Survival in the Age of Networks —Joshua Cooper Ramo (Little, Brown and Company, 2016; nonfiction) Ordinary Grace —William Kent Krueger (Atria Books, 2014; fiction) Fundamentals of Press Brake Tooling —Ben Rapien (Hanser, 2010; nonfiction) Success and Luck: Good Fortune and the Myth of Meritocracy —Robert H. Frank (Princeton University Press, 2016; nonfiction) Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike —Phil Knight (Scribner, 2016; nonfiction) The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces that Will Shape Our Future —Kevin Kelly (Viking Books, 2016; nonfiction) Between the World and Me —Ta-Nehisi Coates (Spiegel & Grau, 2015; nonfiction) Enter Helen: The Invention of Helen Gurley Brown and the Rise of the Modern Single Woman —Brooke Hauser (HarperCollins Publishers, 2016; nonfiction) The Inner Lives of Markets: How People Shape Them—And They Shape Us —Ray Fisman and Tim Sullivan (PublicAffairs, 2016; nonfiction) The Seventh Sense: Power, Fortune, and Survival in the Age of Networks —Joshua Cooper Ramo (Little, Brown & Company, 2016; nonfiction) The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing —Benjamin Graham (Harper Business, 2006; nonfiction) Australia’s Second Chance —George Megalogenis (Penguin Books Australia, 2015; nonfiction) The Art of Woo: Using Strategic Persuasion to Sell Your Ideas —G. Richard Shell and Mario Moussa (Penguin Books, 2008; nonfiction) The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time —Arianna Huffington (Harmony, 2016; nonfiction) Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela —Nelson Mandela (Back Bay Books, 1995; nonfiction) The Politicians and the Egalitarians: The Hidden History of American Politics —Sean […]

AI deal biggest yet for University of Auckland/UniServices

Intelligent computers that look, think and react like humans are the latest technology being developed at the University of Auckland to become a commercial venture. Artificial Intelligence company Soul Machines was officially launched this week after it attracted US $7.5 million in its initial financing round from Hong Kong-based venture capital firm Horizons Ventures, making it the University’s biggest Series A fund raising deal to date. The company is developing a completely new user interface between humans and their machines, based on technology created by Dr Mark Sagar and his team at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute (ABI) at the University of Auckland. Dr Sagar won two academy awards for his work on the Avatar blockbuster. He becomes the CEO of Soul Machines. He also heads the Bioengineering Institute’s Lab for Animate Technologies. “Our engineering team will focus on bringing human life to technology that is intelligent, emotive and adaptive. Our goal is to define the user experience for Artificial Intelligence systems and platforms,” Dr Sagar says. Auckland UniServices CEO Andy Shenk says Soul Machines demonstrates the phenomenal power that comes from the unique combination of art, science and creative insights that Mark Sagar and his team have produced. “In the same way, we at UniServices believe that Soul Machines also demonstrates the unique power that comes from the combination of world-class research at the University of Auckland and the commercialisation expertise that we have built over almost 30 years,” Dr Shenk says. Soul Machines will develop technology in the rapidly accelerating artificial intelligence sector. Its lifelike, emotionally responsive avatars will have the potential to become the interfaces between humans and machines across a variety of platforms. The new company is backed by Horizons Ventures, which were early investors in Siri, acquired by Apple, and Deep Mind, acquired by Google. Phil […]

Enabling employee productivity through technology

Charlie Camphin, WorkForce Software Vice President of Sales, APJ Employee productivity, or how effectively employee time is managed, is key to ensuring a business can execute its overall strategy. In the competitive manufacturing industry, a sustained increase in employee productivity can give the business a competitive advantage. Manufacturing businesses that implement workforce management technology can achieve a significant increase in employee productivity and improvement in their bottom line. Manufacturers are often at the forefront of automation technology. However, many still rely on old-fashioned time sheets and scheduling systems that require manual input from both the business and its employees. Automating workforce management systems can help to improve communication and save time and resources that could be better spent on strategic priorities. Automation technology lets companies minimise the costs of processes such as absence management. Automated absence tracking, for example, can reduce the time HR managers spend on manual absence-related tasks. Top-performing organisations are increasingly integrating automated absence management tools to relieve managers of the burdens of handling short- and long-term employee absences. There are three key ways that manufacturing businesses can enable employee productivity through technology: Improving engagement and satisfaction Boosting employee engagement has a direct impact on productivity. However, almost half (49.5 per cent) of employees are not engaged and 16.5 per cent are actively disengaged.[1] Workforce management technology can give employees self-service tools for tracking time-off balances and requesting leave. This means they have greater control and insight over their own shifts and holiday time, helping to create an engaged, productive and loyal workforce. Analyse performance Information on employees’ activities and performance is essential to how well a business can harness its true value. The data provided by workforce management systems can provide greater insight than traditional methods of worker observation. Manufacturing businesses with robust workforce analytics and […]

World Robotics Report 2016: Collaborative robots as market driver

Universal Robots welcomes new report that documents how “cobots” are now the hottest growth segment in industrial automation with forecasts showing no signs of slowing. The World Robotics Report 2016 recently released by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) forecasts that compact, user-friendly collaborative robots will become a key driver in the automation market. The report predicts the worldwide annual sales of industrial robots to increase by at least 13 percent on average per year from 2017 to 2019. Human-robot collaboration will have a “breakthrough“ in this period, enabling robots and humans to work safely side-by-side without any fences, while increasing production efficiency and quality. “As the market leader of the cobot industry, Universal Robots welcomes the report which confirms the validity of our mission: lowering barriers and enabling automation in areas previously considered too complex or costly,” said Chief Commercial Officer of Universal Robots, Daniel Friis. “Our installed base of more than 10,000 cobots worldwide illustrates the dramatic growth potential of this game-changing automation technology. We enable small and medium-sized enterprises to optimise their competitiveness on the global stage with an industry leading payback period.” Industries predicted by IFR to adopt cobots at an increasing rate include automotive, the plastics industry, electronics assembly and the machine tool industry. These are all sectors where Universal Robots is seeing strong traction. “UR robots are now increasingly deployed on the auto assembly line, working hand-in-hand with employees, by relieving them of ergonomically unfavourable tasks. We have recent case studies documenting how cobots quadrupled injection moulding production, and how our new UR3 table-top robot is now a sought-after automation tool for light assembly, such as circuit board handling,” said Friis. In Australia and the Asia region in particular, strong, continued robot growth is forecasted by IFR, with the recent report suggesting a rise […]

Robot revolution: rise of the intelligent automated workforce

-Danushka Bollegala, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Computer Science, University of Liverpool. Losing jobs to technology is nothing new. Since the industrial revolution, roles that were once exclusively performed by humans have been slowly but steadily replaced by some form of automated machinery. Even in cases where the human worker is not completely replaced by a machine, humans have learnt to rely on a battery of machinery to be more efficient and accurate. A report from the Oxford Martin School’s Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology said that 47% of all jobs in the US are likely to be replaced by automated systems. Among the jobs soon to be replaced by machines are real estate brokers, animal breeders, tax advisers, data entry workers, receptionists, and various personal assistants. But you won’t need to pack up your desk and hand over to a computer just yet, and in fact jobs that require a certain level of social intelligence and creativity such as in education, healthcare, the arts and media are likely to remain in demand from humans, because such tasks remain difficult to be computerised. Like it or not, we now live in an era dominated by artificial intelligence(AI). AI can be seen as a collection of technologies that can be used to imitate or even to outperform tasks performed by humans using machines. We might not first see it but we cannot avoid running into one or more systems that use some form of an AI algorithm in our day-to-day activities – such as searching for some information using Google, purchasing a recommended product on Amazon, or recognising faces in an image uploaded to Facebook. Deep learning Recent breakthroughs in AI are largely attributable to a technique called deep learning. Often known as machine learning or neural networking, […]

Hypertherm releases Rotary Tube Pro tube cutting software

Hypertherm, a U.S. based manufacturer of plasma, laser, and waterjet cutting systems, has released Rotary Tube Pro, software that makes it easier to design and cut tube and pipe parts with no 3D CAD experience required. The software features a parametric design interface that allows main tubes and side-wall cutouts to be added from a list of pre-defined shapes. Alternatively, users can add tubes and cutouts directly from a CAD program. This flexibility means fabricators and manufacturers can enjoy greater productivity by increasing programming speed, and improving cut quality for improved fit-up with fewer secondary operations. The software also includes an optional rotary bevel interface provided with bevel cut charts based on True Bevel™ technology, which greatly reduce bevel setup time. Rotary Tube Pro software includes more embedded cut process expertise in the NC code than other tube and pipe software. By drawing on years of research and development, Hypertherm software developers were able to deliver optimal outcomes based on factory-tested and proven job parameters including leads, separations, kerf, feedrate, and cutting techniques. Also, Hypertherm has applied feedback received during months of testing to the Rotary Tube Pro version. Enhancements include: New 3D geometric modeling engine that delivers a faster, more responsive 3D model when entering dimensions and other properties Ability to import STEP file formats (*.step), for the quick exchange of 3D objects from one platform to another Cut sequence enhancements that allow for the cutting of interior parts first and improved sequencing flexibility Simplified bevel material selection in which only materials and classes that can be beveled are displayed New setups, spreadsheets and machine files that enhance cut quality and accuracy on beveled tubes Rotary Tube Pro supports plasma, laser, waterjet, and oxyfuel cutting processes for virtually all brands of tube cutting machines, including stand-alone units and cutting […]

Key ingredients for designing smart machines and equipment

By: Dan Seger, Principal Application Engineer, Rockwell Automation OEMs have always been expected to innovate and keep pace with end users’ requirements. Yet, today in the era of smart manufacturing, end users want to optimise their production and supply chain by bringing together islands of information – and they want OEMs to help. Delivering on the promise of smart manufacturing is paramount. At the heart of a smart operation is The Connected Enterprise. It consists of converged information technology (IT) and operations technology (OT) systems into a single network architecture. It also uses smart machines and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies for seamless connectivity and information sharing across people, plants and supply chains. As a result, end users need smart machines and equipment that are designed to thrive in The Connected Enterprise and provide nearly endless opportunities to improve their operations. It also can help them address their most pressing needs, such as: • Remaining globally competitive by keeping business models relevant and moving from mass production to mass customisation. • Addressing workforce issues, including retaining the skills of retiring workers, and ensuring IT and OT workers are prepared for the influx of new smart technologies. • Addressing risks, including security threats and increasingly complex regulations. • Making the most of Internet- and Ethernet-enabled technologies. This all may be daunting for industrial OEMs. However, they can meet customers’ needs and simplify the design of smart systems by focusing on three key elements: processes, technology and people. Processes: Meet End Users on Their Journey An end user’s journey to The Connected Enterprise generally follows four stages (see sidebar). Still, every journey will be distinct. Factors, such as operational needs, available resources and workforce availability, will be unique to each organisation and influence their Connected Enterprise roadmap. OEMs will encounter end users […]

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