8 May 2008

Consumer tech in industrial automation

By Jim Pinto

The rapid growth of Internet access via cellular phones, handheld PDAs, and the like is inevitably rubbing off in traditionally conservative industrial environments. Factory and industrial personnel are increasingly using widely available Internet services such as text messaging, graphic and video transmissions for remote alerts, reviews, consultation, diagnostics, and troubleshooting. Increasingly, remote experts are virtually present, providing greatly enhanced effectiveness and productivity improvements. More and more software applications and systems will become available, specifically for industrial automation applications.

Ethernet technology has now become ubiquitous in commercial business enterprises, and high-speed networking is becoming increasingly common in the home through a variety of consumer devices such as PCs, routers, switches, and wireless hubs. Usage of these products will increase in the industrial controls, factory, and process environments.

The difference between consumer/commercial and “industrial” technology is often purely psychological; most consumer products are designed for high reliability in a broad range of environments. And they are functionally equivalent, in many cases—e.g., an Ethernet hub from a retail outlet is not different from that of a more expensive “industrial” hub from an automation supplier.

To assure reliability and performance in factory and industrial plant conditions, hardware installed in industrial environments are presumably designed to perform reliably in adverse conditions—wider temperature ranges, high electrical noise, dirt and dust, etc. In many cases, they are merely “tested” to comply. As CISCO and other mainstream suppliers enter the industrial arena, look for more products to be offered as “industrial” versions.

Related links:

• Consumer technology on the factory floor?
  http://instrumentation.co.za/news.aspx?pklNewsId=9153&pklCategoryID=58
• ISA – Wireless meshes with industrial automation:
  http://www.isa.org/Content/ContentGroups/InTech2/Departments/Industry_Views/200411/Wireless_meshes_with_industrial_automation.htm
• Industrial Ethernet:
  http://ethernet.industrial-networking.com/articles/articledisplay.asp?id=53

Behind the byline

Jim Pinto is an industry analyst and founder of Action Instruments. You can e-mail him at jim@jimpinto.com or view his writings at www.JimPinto.com. Read the Table of Contents of his book, Pinto’s Points, at www.jimpinto.com/writings/points.html.