Key elements of Industry 4.0 are machines capable of adapting autonomously to changing ambient conditions. The EU’s HARCO project has developed components for metal-working machinery which are able to compensate automatically for tool vibration. This enables much higher quality of the machined item and improves productivity.

Vibration is actively reduced

Cutting operations, such as in milling machines, create vibration as soon as the tool touches the surface of the workpiece. The precision and quality of the finished surface is heavily dependent on the control of such vibration. Companies and research institutions from Italy, Germany, the UK, Spain and Belgium have developed an adaptive component that connects the chisel to the machine’s tool fixture and is able to actively reduce vibration.
This “adaptronic” component is equipped with sensors and intelligent actuators. The sensors measure the vibration level and relay the information to the internal controller. Intelligent algorithms use that information to compute a strategy for control of the actuators, which eliminate the unwanted vibration by their movements. The system is thus able to predict the active damping needed for the specific process.

Additional modules complete the system

Vibration damping is only one part of the machine tool solution developed by the HARCO project however: additional modules provide adaptive tool fixing as well as compensation for thermal expansion resulting from the machining process. The intelligent, modular adaptronic components – known as Adaptive Smart Components, or ASCs – can be configured as required.

Fast, precise robot positioning

Spanish research organisation Tecnalia uses ASC technology to provide vibration damping for robots with serial and parallel kinematics, highlighting the benefits of a holistic design approach. The specific goal was to cut the cycle times of parallel robots developed for fast, high-accuracy pick-and-place tasks. The high acceleration means that the actuator – such as the robot’s gripper arm – is subject to unwanted vibration at its stop position. This results in longer cycle times. Tecnalia adopted two strategies to enhance the accuracy and productivity of the robots: Firstly, an adaptive torque controller was developed and implemented. And secondly, the company developed a Smart Device capable of damping the vibration of the robot’s mobile platform at the placement position.

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In-house logistics is without doubt one of the areas in which the ideas underpinning Industry 4.0 are already in most widespread use: goods, work centres and load carriers such as pallets and containers are fully interconnected. Technologies such as barcode labels enable pallets and the articles on them to be uniquely identified, so the warehouse management system “knows” exactly where articles are currently located, and in what quantities. Incoming purchase orders and subsequent order confirmations are handled automatically, with orders being passed on to the relevant operational departments. Materials handling systems provide the picking-and-packing staff with the articles needed to fulfil an order, appropriately sequenced as necessary. Light signals or monitor displays indicate exactly how many of which articles need to be picked. The warehouse management system continuously monitors all the processes involved and logs all article movements. The Internet plays a key role. Customers order their goods online, often also incorporating the upstream supply chain – in many cases including manufacture and assembly. All the parties involved are able to track product features and availability and monitor the status of an order in real time. The data stream controls highly complex automated goods movements in order to fulfil orders and ship them to their recipients.

Industry 4.0 demands flexible transport options

However, transport procedures are currently still reliant either on “immobile” materials handling systems such as conveyor belts – or on people, such as forklift truck drivers, who have the necessary flexibility to handle a wide variety of different transport tasks. Even state-of-the-art driverless transport systems can only operate on pre-programmed routes. By contrast, the CubeXX system from Still offers the flexibility essential to Industry 4.0: though still a research project, the prototype demonstrates how materials handling in the Smart Factory of the future might look. The system is able to assume different forms based on a modular design, enabling it to transport loads as a low-lift or high-lift pallet truck, a picker or a forklift, for example.

The truck is aware of its surroundings

With its extensive sensor and scanner technology, the system becomes an interactive robot, capable of analysing its immediate vicinity and responding appropriately to any obstacles in its way or unexpected events. A laser scanner enables the CubeXX to determine its own position based on pre-determined orientation points, for example, and analyse its immediate vicinity in three dimensions. Still Corporate Communications Manager Matthias Klug explains: “The new innovations will enable the CubeXX to respond flexibly to changing situations, adapting its hardware and software so as to pick up pallets where they are actually located rather than where they were supposed to be, for example.” Nicola Magrone, Sales Manager of another of the companies involved in the project, Sick, adds: “Industry 4.0 poses new challenges to sensors. For machines to communicate with machines, sensors need to be one thing above all else: intelligent.”

Control by app or over the Internet

To provide flexible operation of entire fleets in large-scale logistics centres, the truck can also be controlled using a new beermat-sized universal Smart Device rather than on a tablet. The “Coaster” developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML will make the CubeXX highly user-friendly and cost-effective to operate. The app installed on the Coaster – likewise developed in conjunction with Fraunhofer IML – communicates both with the warehouse management system and with the truck’s robotics system. This means staff can receive an order while the Coaster calls the nearest available CubeXX and configures it as needed to handle the job. The Smart Device, slimmed down to the essential functionality, features a high-definition camera and is able to detect barcodes, machines and people. This enables it to scan products, storage bays and destination containers during picking-and-packing operations, for example.
The CubeXX can also receive and autonomously process transport jobs directly from a Cloud-based ERP solution. Using the supplied data indicating the type, location, quantity, weight or size of the articles to be picked, it can automatically transform into the appropriate handling system, such as a pallet truck or forklift.

(picture credits: STILL)

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Industry 4.0 is an initiative of the German Federal Government. In late February 2015, Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel toured the Siemens electronics plant at Amberg in Bavaria to see for herself how far the ideas underlying the concept can already be turned into reality. At the plant, Siemens makes products including programmable logic controllers (PLCs) which control machinery and plant and automate production processes. The portfolio comprises more than 1,000 product variants, and the plant produces some 15 million of the PLCs a year. At 230 working days a year, that means one rolls off the production line every second. The plant celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2014. It has increased production volumes eight times over in recent years, without increasing its footprint and with almost constant workforce numbers. Production quality levels are 99.9988 percent defect-free.

One unified barcode label

That performance is made possible by a highly automated production system in which the products control their own manufacture. The basic prerequisite for this is that all objects in production – all components, all process steps, and all products – are identifiable. To that end, the Siemens Amberg plant has introduced a unified barcode label, holding all the relevant information, across all processes and departments. Based on the product code, the PLCs tell the machines what they need and which production steps are next in the process.

50 million items of process data per day

All the plant’s process data is recorded. Solder temperatures, machining times, torques – over 50 million items of process data a day are measured. The production facility is equipped with 1,000 scanners, and over 1,000 machines relay their data directly online. Software tools convert this “Big Data” into “Smart Data”, with the resultant analyses serving directly as management information. In addition, relevant systems are equipped with so-called “watchdogs” – components that monitor the correct functioning of a system. In the event of an error, the monitored system notifies the responsible personnel by e-mail.

People are still vital

Production is largely automated. In-house transportation is also handled with no human intervention. A fully automatic conveyor system ensures that the material gets from the warehouse to the machine in 15 minutes. 75 percent of the value chain is handled autonomously by machine and computer, with the employees handling the rest. Only at the start of the production process is the initial component – a blank printed circuit board – touched by human hand, as a member of staff places it on the line. From then on, everything is controlled by machine. Nevertheless, people are still a vital element – in developing products and production processes, in production planning, and when it comes to dealing with unexpected incidents.
Chancellor Merkel was clearly impressed by the possibilities of Industry 4.0 following her visit to the Amberg plant: “This process will substantially change industrial production. The availability of data will in turn open up opportunities for designing entirely new products.”

(picture credits: www.siemens.com/press)

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As laboratories, factories and warehouses operated by suppliers, manufacturers and customers exchange increasing volumes of data within Industry 4.0, the factory gates are inevitably pushed open. So it is key to the success of Industry 4.0 that no unauthorised persons can use that access to tap into the participating companies’ know-how or tamper with machinery.
Cybersecurity is thus a critical factor for Industry 4.0. However, as Veit Siegenheim, Head of Cybersecurity with Capgemini Germany, points out: “For many top management executives, cybersecurity is a mystery, which is why they often neglect it. The increasing number of external interfaces entails a greater security risk, as business data is more easily accessible and susceptible to cyber-attack.”

Incorporating security right from the design phase

According to Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security BSI, effective security is founded on three pillars. The first is Security by Design. This involves incorporating security requirements right from the design phase of a product, machine or line. It must be established at this early stage what information is available, how it is transmitted, and what technologies – such as encryption – are used to protect it. The second pillar is “whitelisting”: this means assembling a list of programs, commands or apps which are known to be trustworthy. Only those elements are then allowed to execute any actions on the Smart Factory components.

Proof of identity for plant and machinery

One of the special challenges to the IT architecture of Industry 4.0 is its ability to adapt to change. New plant and machinery or production processes need to be integrated into the system, or existing lines modified, in order to make a new product variant, for example. To maintain maximum security in this context, it must be ensured that only authenticated components are allowed to join the factory communications network. The method employed in doing so is termed Trusted Computing, and is the third pillar of effective protection. The electronic components are a key factor in Trusted Computing, as it involves fitting critical production elements with an authentication chip, known as a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). TPM chips serve as proof of identity for computers, routers and machines, and ensure that only authorised persons and non-manipulated machines have access to IT networks. As soon as an unauthorised element attempts to connect to the network, the other stations detect the fact and exclude the suspect machine from their communications. Only once authenticity has been safely established is data transmitted, in encrypted form over secure telecommunications networks, or any action allowed to be executed.

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Industry 4.0 is not just a research topic. Machinery and plant with embedded, interconnected systems (CPS) are already in widespread use in the industrial environment. Specific applications particularly include object monitoring in production processes and preventive maintenance of machinery and plant based on real-time data. The increasing connectivity of objects in production processes is also demonstrated by transport technologies and products capable of transmitting data – often using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). Some companies are also already using CPS platforms to collate, process and analyse the data from the connected objects. So, many companies have started making the first steps towards connected production, and towards implementing unified data platforms. Mark Alexander Schulte, consultant and project manager with IDC, comments: “Even if the implementation is still in some cases in the pilot project or test phase, or restricted to individual production departments, companies are already gathering experience in the collection and analysis of data from connected production systems. That is a sound basis for the launch of more far-reaching Industry 4.0 initiatives within businesses.
” The applications of Industry 4.0 technologies are not restricted to manufacturing industries however. Digitisation and smart solutions have already proved their capabilities in sectors as diverse as container logistics and agriculture, and even in commercial laundries.

Combine harvester to tractor: Come in …

Agricultural machines that “talk” to each other? That sounds like futuristic fantasy, but has in fact already been turned into reality by “Farming 4.0”, a pilot project run by Deutsche Telekom in conjunction with the agricultural machinery manufacturer Claas: When a combine harvester detects that its grain tank is full, it automatically signals the fact. The tractor and trailer are made ready to empty the tank just in time. This avoids waiting times, optimises workflows and relieves staff of unnecessary stress. The machines are equipped with sensors which send data via a mobile communications link every second, providing the driver with real-time information on the status of the harvest.

The thinking laundry

The Kannegiesser company is employing Industry 4.0 technologies to make commercial laundries more intelligent. The washing process is optimised according to the energy price, the degree of soiling of the articles and the laundry’s available capacity – to achieve maximum hygiene, cut throughput times or minimise energy consumption. If heavily soiled laundry requiring disinfection is delivered, for example, the cleaning power is dramatically increased, though this does, within certain limits, entail an increase in energy consumption or longer throughput time. Parameters such as temperature, detergent dosage and wash time are then automatically adapted to the specific requirements.

Selling fruit when it is ripe

Fruit needs to get to market fresh and in good quality, with as little spoilage as possible on the way from the producer to the consumer. In the Smart Container developed by the University of Bremen, the cargo is identified by RFID technology, with sensor networks continuously monitoring the temperature in the container and the condition of the fruit. The container’s software is able to monitor and predict the fruit’s ripening progress in transit. This data can be used to bring fruit to market at just the right time, as well as to aid decision-making in the management of logistics processes.

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Prof. Wolfgang Wahlster, CEO of the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence DFKI, comments: “Smart Data is used for preventive maintenance, to optimise efficiency, and to achieve the optimal operating point. It can deliver as much as 30 percent savings on material, energy, cost and labour, as well as helping to protect the environment. In most cases, however, that added value can only be realised if the data is evaluated in real time, enabling the output from Smart Data analysis to feed directly into process control – ‘Smart Data analytics in the loop’, so to speak. We developed such systems in our world’s first Smart Factory for Industry 4.0 (…), and we are now trialling them in upgraded plants such as for beer bottling, drug packaging and valve manufacture.”

Intelligent data loggers collecting and analysing data

One way of processing the enormous volumes of data in quasi-real time is through distributed intelligence. That means making individual components or modules intelligent and autonomous, so that they are able to decide for themselves what information is valuable. Data loggers can be installed to avoid having to equip every sensor and actuator on the line with such intelligence.
Processor-controlled memory units cyclically receive and store the data from one or more sensors. Data loggers consist of a programmable microprocessor, a storage medium such as a hard disk drive or flash memory, at least one interface to communicate with higher-level structures, and one or more channels for connection of the data sources. State-of-the-art data loggers are able not only to collect and store data, but also to process and analyse it at high speed.

In-memory computing as a basis of fast analysis

In the Industry 4.0 concept, this pre-filtered data is then routed over a network into a database. Software makes it comparable, and establishes correlations. However, existing database systems are not adequate to actually make the information available for decision-making in real time. The reason is that factory data is often distributed across different databases, and possibly even on different storage media. So fast access is often impossible. However, developments in memory technology are now making it possible to hold data in a computer’s main memory. This so-called “in-memory computing” – allied to the general increase in computing speeds – is enabling real-time analysis of large volumes of data. In-memory computing is thus key to the realisation of powerful Big Data applications. All large-scale Web applications involving lots of users and data also run “in-memory” for reasons of speed. Prominent examples include Google, Facebook and Amazon.

Cloud offers resources on demand

The best way to provide such resources flexibly and on demand is from the Cloud. This also means the data can be accessed by lots of different users, wherever they might be around the world. That is important where a company has integrated multiple branch operations into its Industry 4.0 setup, or where data from suppliers or customers also needs to be accessed.
Stefan Schöpfel, Global Vice President for Big Data and Analytics Services with software company SAP, comments: “Big Data solutions enable businesses to boost sales of existing products, bring new products to market more quickly, develop new business models to better serve their customers, and cut operating costs.” SAP has created SAP HANA, an in-memory platform providing a range of solutions by which companies can evaluate large volumes of data in real time and integrate the outputs directly into their business processes.

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With machines and sensors producing an ever-increasing amount of data, companies are facing an unprecedented challenge. They need to act in real time with the incoming data and work within the limits of available bandwidth,” comments Kip Compton, Vice President and General Manager of the IoT Systems and Software Group at Cisco. At the same time, demands in terms of minimising runtime and of reliability are also rising. These are all reasons why the Industrial Ethernet standard is being used increasingly widely at field level – that is to say, in the sensors and actuators used in production. It is based on the long-established Ethernet standard in the PC and office sector, and as such uses the base technology for the world’s biggest network: the World Wide Web, or Internet for short. “In many respects, the value proposition for industrial Ethernet parallels those for emerging concepts such as Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things, adding further substance to its longevity prospects. Industrial Ethernet aligns well with both of these concepts by providing flexibility and ease of integration to support Industry 4.0 and connectivity for the Industrial Internet of Things,” according to Vice President Chantal Polsonetti, the principal author of ARC’s “Industrial Ethernet Devices Global Market Research Study”. In fact, according to a study by Swedish company HMS Industrial Networks, the number of Industrial Ethernet network nodes is growing at around 17 percent a year.

Into the gigabit age

But unfortunately, not all Ethernet is the same. There are over 20 different application protocols for Industrial Ethernet, such as Profinet, EtherNet/IP, EtherCAT, FLNet, and many others. Those systems differ, among other ways, in their application areas, their technical properties and their real-time capabilities, but above all they are mutually incompatible. So open communications need interfaces with network processors which support all protocols as far as possible.
Industry experts expect that so-called Gigabit Ethernet will become the general standard for handling Big Data in future. It can manage transfer rates of 1 gigabit per second – though researchers are already working on Ethernet systems capable of running at up to 400 gigabits per second (by comparison: current commonly used DSL connections have maximum transfer rates of 100 to 200 megabits per second – 2,000 times slower).

Flexibility based on wireless ­communications

A key factor in the Smart Factory, however, is wireless communications, as Dr Barbara Staehle, group leader Wireless Automation Networks at the Fraunhofer Institute for Embedded Systems and Communication Technologies ESK, highlights: “For the Industry 4.0 idea to work with flexible, adaptively self-configuring production plants, reliable wireless technologies are essential. This is where cable-bound solutions come up against their limits, particularly when mobile machine components or production items have to be localised within the process and need to communicate in order to interact.” For long-range transmission within a factory, WLAN based on IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) standard 802.11 will predominate. The new specifications 802.11ac and 802.11ad permit data transfer rates of one gigabit per second and more.

Robustness in demand

“The use of wireless technologies in industry offers lots of benefits. Wireless devices not only reduce installation costs compared to wired components, they also give mobility to applications with difficult cabling. Users should nevertheless be sure to verify the reliability and availability of wireless devices when using them in mission-critical applications,” says Paul Hsu, Business Development Manager Industrial Wireless with Moxa Europe. Because there are numerous obstacles to stable wireless connections in warehouses and factory buildings. Ceiling or wall claddings, machinery, shelving or items in storage can all block wireless signals. “Industrial wireless devices need robust design, including advanced EMC protection against electrical interference as well as uninterrupted wireless roaming for extended network availability,” Hsu adds. This is achieved using so-called Seamless Roaming. In this, the “client”, such as a forklift truck, is connected to two access points simultaneously. If it loses contact with one of them, it automatically searches for the nearest and connects to it. This means seamless data traffic is continuously maintained even when such “clients” are moving around.

Chip as digital memory

Not only WLAN technology will be found in Industry 4.0, however. For short-range communications, systems such as NFC, Zigbee, Bluetooth or RFID may also be used. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) in particular offers interesting possibilities for Industry 4.0. Objects fitted with an RFID chip can not only transmit information, such as their identity, they can also receive and store data, so creating a digital memory. This means that a workpiece fitted with an RFID chip can provide information at any time indicating which process steps it has already passed through and what the next step will be. The demands placed on industrial wireless systems are very high however, as Dr Staehle points out: “They must above all be stable and robust, and have real-time capability, so as to guarantee cable-like quality. So the key factors are choosing the right standards, protocols and algorithms for the specific application scenario, as well as thorough planning and careful monitoring of wireless data transfer.”

Communication by light

As an alternative to data transfer over radio waves, research is currently also being conducted into optical systems. Back in late 2013, Dr Frank Deicke, group leader for optical sensors and data transfer at the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS, presented an optical wireless communications module capable of transferring data at speeds of up to 5 gigabits per second. He has since succeeded in doubling that speed. Deicke and his team developed a transceiver for optical wireless communication which is the size of a sugar cube and can transmit data at speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second via infrared. Compared to familiar wireless technologies such as Bluetooth or WLAN, this communications module offers much higher data throughput, extremely low bit error rates and substantial energy savings. It does require line of sight between the transmitter and receiver, however.

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Actuators, or drives, provide the movement in a factory – driving conveyor belts, opening valves, and lifting robot arms, for example. They have conventionally received the necessary commands by way of separate control units. With the decentralisation of control engineering, similarly to the trend in sensor technology, that intelligence is shifting into the drives themselves. State-of-the-art drive units incorporate both the control system and the motor. Open interfaces enable direct access to all the drive parameters, meaning drives can be integrated directly into networks without the need for switch cabinets. If a sensor is then also integrated into the drive unit, miniature autonomous systems are created which need no higher-level control.
This opens up the possibility of creating a conveyor line, for example, on which a workpiece logs on to the motor autonomously and is identified by the integrated sensor. The first drive unit passes on the signal to the downstream drives, which then all together ensure that the workpiece is transported to where it is needed.

More efficiency with electronic speed control

The numbers of actuators being used in production environments are rising as automation becomes more widespread. To minimise power consumption throughout the production process despite this growth, drives featuring electronic speed control have been increasingly used in recent years. Their speeds can be precisely adjusted to the changing demands of the line, so saving energy. The drives are also highly precise, positioning to within micrometre accuracy. That is one of the key prerequisites in assuring efficient processes and high quality in production.

Power electronics as an integral element

Power electronics in speed-controlled drives ensure that the electric power is converted into the required form with maximum efficiency. This is done using special semiconductor components such as MOSFETS (Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors) or high-efficiency IGBT (Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor) modules. As automation becomes more widespread, and the trend towards autonomous, self- controlling units advances, these power semiconductors will have to meet the highest demands in terms of reliability and robustness.
With their sensors and microprocessors, these smart drives are essentially autonomous cyber-physical systems in their own right, and represent the “muscles” of Industry 4.0.

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Sensors are indeed the sensory organs of Industry 4.0, because without them production plant would be deaf and blind. The trend towards decentralisation in automation – culminating (for the time being) in the Smart Factory – is driving the demand for more and more smart sensors. In its recent study “Sensor Trends 2014”, the German Association for Sensors and Measurement AMA found that previously quite simple sensors are increasingly being developed into more highly integrated and intelligent sensor systems. And the range of functionality which sensors provide is continually increasing: they perform their own error correction computations, monitor themselves, or have their own communications interfaces. In distributed sensor networks, they are even able to generate their own power, using energy harvesting to draw power from light, heat or vibration.
Image processing and the associated imaging sensors play a key role in Industry 4.0. Production and imaging are already closely interlinked today. Image processing systems collect, interpret and evaluate data. With appropriate configuration and preparation, they are able to identify trends and potential sources of defects in the production process at an early stage. The possible applications for image processing systems will increase even more in future, in areas such as classic quality assurance procedures, automated parts feed, completeness monitoring, and in helping robots to see.

MEMS in focus

Thanks to their capabilities and their compact form factor, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) are a key factor for Industry 4.0. They are tiny devices usually combining one or more sensors, actuators and control electronics on a single chip. MEMS sensors contain micro-structures made of silicon which shift when their housings are moved even fractions of a thousandth of a millimetre, and change their electrical properties as a result. That change can be measured, and converted into a data stream. State-of-the-art MEMS sensors are able to measure an increasingly wide range of variables – such as pressure, acceleration, rotary motion, mass flow or the earth’s magnetic field – in a single module, and are becoming steadily more intelligent too.

Only relevant information is transmitted

They are tiny, with some components measuring just four micrometres – that’s a seventeenth of the breadth of a human hair. Because micro-mechanical sensors transmit only weak electrical signals, the modules house integrated electronics alongside the sensor – or in some cases even directly on the same chip. The electronics unit processes the small signals, amplifying them and converting them into digital data. This enables MEMS sensors to send data directly to control units. Dedicated software is enabling MEMS increasingly to evaluate data as well as merely processing signals. The aim is not to transmit raw data, but only the actually relevant information. So instead of lots of measurements, only limit values or disturbance variables are sent. Here’s an example: Whereas conventional temperature sensors continuously transmit the current temperature, a smart sensor only reports if a critical temperature is exceeded. That is a key factor in minimising network data volumes, especially in view of the large number of interconnected cyber-physical systems in the Smart Factory.

A key technology

MEMS units comprising sensors, signal processing, power supply and transmitter components are now so small, energy-saving and cheap that billions of them can be deployed. Consequently, MEMS represent the key technology when it comes to interconnecting the Internet of Things. They have found a strong market in recent years particularly in smartphones and tablets. But for MEMS also to be used in the industrial environment, they must be made more robust.

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What machine is going to be used to make a product? What is the workflow sequence? And what happens if one of the machining stations fails? Finding the answers to those questions is currently still the job of production planning – based on high levels of employee know-how. In Industry 4.0, such decisions will be automated – that is to say, made by microprocessors. They will be built-in to tools, machines, plant components and end-products too, communicating with other components and areas of the Smart Factory, and using the information they gather to make autonomous judgements in fractions of a second to handle rapidly changing scenarios.

Ever smaller structures

Complex high-performance processors are thus the brains behind the intelligent elements that make up Industry 4.0. The huge volumes of data and complex tasks, such as the application of algorithms in decision-making, demand enormous computing power. At the same time, power consumption has to be minimised, because most processors are mobile units, powered by batteries or using energy harvesting.
Multi-core chips, featuring multiple main processors, are currently standard. In addition to data processing, they provide a wide range of control and program functions embedded in the firmware or in programmable software. The increased performance demanded by Industry 4.0 applications can best be achieved by configuring more and more transistors per chip, while at the same time making the structures smaller. But ever smaller structures entail a number of problems: The amount of leakage current as a proportion of the total power consumption of the integrated circuits increases. As a result, semiconductor manufacturers are employing alternative materials, such as High-k Metal Gate technology, to reduce leakage currents by several orders of magnitude while maintaining a consistent switching speed.

Cutting power consumption

Low power consumption was also a development goal for the new “Tomahawk 2” microchip from the Technical University of Dresden’s Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed). As opposed to current multi-core chips, it is able to adjust the power supply to each of its 20 cores individually up or down within nanoseconds as a means of saving power. The chip is already working reliably at the lab in Dresden, and is achieving speeds six times faster than similar micro-electronic components used in mobile communications based on the same power consumption. It is able to easily interconnect a wide variety of different devices, making it a key element of Industry 4.0 for connected factories and development departments. With the new prototype, the researchers at the Technical University of Dresden’s Micro-electronics Excellence Cluster are preparing for the so-called “Tactile Internet”. This will enable very large volumes of data to be transferred in real time. “It is the next stage of the digital revolution,” says Cluster Co-ordinator Prof. Dr Gerhard Fettweis.

Chips for real-time applications

Real-time capability is a key challenge which chips used in Industry 4.0 applications such as servo drives, actuator-based motion control and inverter control have to meet. Such applications demand not only fast processing and response sensitivity, but also very good real-time behaviour. Conventional solutions such as high-frequency microprocessors with cache memory are not suitable for real-time applications owing to the difficulty in predicting cache behaviour. So microcontrollers with on-chip flash memory are used for real-time controls. But the rising demands in terms of processor power have meant that those chips, too, are reaching their performance limits. One solution is offered by chips in which the processor core accesses the high-speed on-chip memory directly instead of via a cache. This means no disturbances due to cache latency can occur in real-time applications.

Challenges for chip production

However, miniaturisation is also posing new challenges for chip production: as Dr Randhir Thakur, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Silicon Systems Group at Applied Materials, explains: “The reliability and performance of the wiring that connects the billions of transistors in a chip is critical to achieve high yields for device manufacturers.” The company supplies systems for the production of semiconductors. “As wire dimensions shrink to keep pace with Moore’s Law, interconnects are more prone to killer voids and electromigration failures.” Consequently, Applied Materials has developed a new process whereby the copper connections are encapsulated in a thin film of cobalt. This means reliable chips can be produced even as their sizes get progressively smaller. State-of-the-art manufacturing techniques are enabling ever smaller processors. This year, the first chips in 14 nm technology will be launched onto the market – and manufacturers are already talking about 7 nm chips.
So a further step along the road to ever smaller “super-brains” for Industry 4.0 has been achieved, enabling the integration of ever smaller tools and equipment, and so permitting ever increasing penetration of a value chain with intelligence.

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