Making the most of the industrial metaverse
EDITOR ’ S CHOICE A HOST OF BENEFITS
BURCKHARDT COMPRESSION
Making the most of the industrial metaverse
Modern industrial machinery is already benefitting from Industry 4.0 and digitalization with predictive maintenance solutions that can identify potential issues before they develop into unplanned downtime . The next step is providing live , expert technical support from a remote location using virtual and augmented reality , enabling local technicians to recreate their machinery virtually and receive step-by-step instructions for troubleshooting and maintenance operations .
Greg Griggs , Sales Engineer for Burckhardt Compression , looks at how the industrial metaverse is bringing a host of benefits to operators in challenging locations .
Local environments can be recreated to support faster diagnosis
Reciprocating compressors are working across the world in refineries , gas transfer stations and offshore installations , which makes many of them difficult to access . Rather than wait for days for support to arrive , mobile devices such as phones , tablets or virtual reality ( VR ) wearables will become commonplace . By scanning the local environment and recreating it in the cloud , it is possible for remote experts to assess the situation and provide live feedback and support .
The advent of the metaverse has enabled the secure exchange of huge amounts of data with greatly reduced costs . The technology has developed quickly and now it is possible to use virtual , augmented and mixed realities to deliver live expert support to technicians .
Improving communications
Even in areas where the local networks have low bandwidth , this technology can still be useful . The use of sophisticated data compression techniques enables these important communication processes to reach almost any point on the globe .
There are many industrial sites that are difficult to access , even impossible at certain times of the year , and many of Burckhardt Compression ’ s customers operate offshore or in hard-to-reach locations . This situation can be made more challenging with the zoning of certain areas due to the possible presence of explosive atmospheres . This severely limits the tools and equipment that can be operated in these settings , adding to the complexity of delivering maintenance support .
In the past , modern communications would have stretched to phone calls , faxes or more recently video calls , each of which has their own drawbacks . On-site support for operators in challenging locations is key to continued reliability but flying specialists in by helicopter is limited by available resources and budgets .
Minimizing downtime
Delays in receiving technical support or long waits to resolve issues can have very significant consequences for a business . The advent of highspeed internet and virtual reality has led to a huge step forward in communications technology , which has the potential to drastically reduce unplanned downtime . Realtime support is the ideal solution to investigating a problem ; technicians can be guided , step-by-step , with live feedback to address the findings as they appear .
It is now possible for subject matter experts ( SMEs ) to communicate more easily , to discuss technical issues in depth on a one-to-one basis with ability to overlay technical drawings and images to support the understanding of the subject .
The ability of two remote teams to simultaneously look at the same data , decide on the best course of action
26 PECM Issue 67