Today, the knowledge about material behaviour, continuous stress under alternating loads and the like is far more advanced than 10 or even 20 years ago.
Another aspect is the significantly higher computing performance available today as well as smarter analysis, FEM (Finite Element Method) and simulation software. They allow the remaining service life to be determined and predicted with a high degree of precision – and this knowledge benefits predictive maintenance.
Chatting with Machines
The increasing performance, flexibility and intelligence of machines and plants results in ever more complex systems posing the greatest of challenges for the developers of concepts for operating human-machine interfaces (HMI). By HMI hardware we mean terminal devices with touch-screen functionalities that most people know from their smartphones or tablet PCs. This means they can build on existing knowledge for learning to handle these machines and plants – this motivates and definitely shortens familiarisation time.
One central aspect in the development of graphical user interfaces is to ensure that these machines can also be safely operated by people without specific vocational training and often also without sufficient language skills. To avoid operating errors the developers of GUIs rely on intuitive graphical elements instead of language. Also up and coming are photo-realistic 3D CAD displays of machines, plants and components. Furthermore, HMIs have to live up to the needs of various users – in line with their skills and authorities. Therefore, machine operators see different graphical user interfaces to shift managers, maintenance staff or production managers. This means, every user only sees the data that corresponds to their area of responsibility and is of relevance to their specific situation. Furthermore, the data is limited to the essentials; this ensures an easy-to-grasp display and an instant presentation of the key machine parameters and production data.
Other characteristics of modern HMIs are mobility and consistency. There is a trend towards mobile devices with which the user can control machines and equipment remotely depending on their authority level. This saves time and travel expenses especially in the field of service and maintenance.
Working in Virtual Worlds
When it comes to the Internet of Things, there is hardly a topic that currently causes as much a stir as virtual, or rather digital twins. The technical basis for virtual twins are high-performance 3D CAD,
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