Adding value with sensor data in the Cloud

PHYSICAL HARDWEAR is only the beginning: Just as the phone in our pocket has far outstripped its original function as a device for making audio calls, so sensor technology has matured far beyond its ability to detect, measure, identify or safeguard. For users, machine designers, and indeed for manufacturers like SICK, the role of sensors is being rapidly redefined.

Customers no longer simply ask us to help them solve classic automation problems to do with engineering sensors, actuators and logic. They also want to know: how do I make the most of all this data that the sensor has gathered? How do I best use it to make my product, machine or process more available, responsive and ultimately more profitable?

Digital Twins

No sensor is an island: Each adds ‘eyes and ears’ to a process, connecting and interacting with other devices and feeding data into software and wider business systems. Now, with the advent of powerful Cloud-based services, sensors can connect the physical with the virtual. Sensors provide a first and simple step in creating the ‘Digital Twins’ that help operators monitor, maintain, and improve the effectiveness of their processes.

The vision of Industry 4.0 is to make information from, and about, all the devices on a machine transparently available 24 hours a day; to monitor digital representations of all your assets and manipulate and control all that data using a real-time virtual environment. With the right systems in place to visualise and route the data effectively, sensors can be used not only ‘horizontally’, to track the progress and efficiency of processes but also, ‘vertically’, i.e. to drill down into the health of the operating assets, from the Cloud right into the heart of a machine.

Cloud services

Achieving this vision is both a challenge and an opportunity for all sensor manufacturers, and at SICK we have created a Cloud-based platform, called Sick IntegrationSpace, as a strategic third pillar of our services to sit alongside our hardware and software offerings. It’s the foundation that enables data from SICK sensors, as well as from third-party devices, to be gathered and represented in a virtual environment. Using dashboard-based tools, operators gain real-time insights into the operating health and service status of their devices and their machines.

The SICK approach is to help you connect your device in three simple steps: First, create a virtual representation (digital twin), then pair the actual device with the virtual representation.  Finally, via the virtual device, manage how the data is routed and forwarded to other SICK data applications, such as individual dashboards, digital maintenance services, as well as third party dashboards or business improvement systems.

It’s important to remember that much of the data generated by, and about, sensors is of most use to those on the front line, looking after the assets day by day. So, we’re not talking here about creating a sophisticated 3D CAD digital twin that becomes a remote development initiative for a project team.  For sensor data to be valuable, it has to be in the hands of engineers and operators.

Mapping the installed base

The beauty of SICK’s modular approach is that you can start out simply by identifying and recording every asset. So, to begin with, use the smartphone App to create a virtual representation – a digital twin in the simplest sense – of each of your devices. Simply tag the 2D code label on the device and begin to collect data on your entire installed sensor inventory. SICK’s Installed Base Manager App automatically detects and logs the serial number and age of the device, assigns it to the machine and plant, and provides an option to add photos and the exact GPS location. You can add non-SICK devices, too. Authorised employees can interrogate and update the installed base and add new devices at any time.

Creating a ‘digital twin’ of your real device gives you the beginnings of an asset management system that can then be viewed and managed in the Cloud.  To expand on this, SICK created a vendor-independent and modular web service, called AssetHub, as the foundation for mapping and managing sensor assets. Here, data can be evaluated so that maintenance happens at the right time, software and firmware are up to date, and that inventories are well planned and optimised. Additional data and documents can be easily stored and retrieved for any asset. You can navigate via a tree structure of your functional locations to view a broad range of asset-related information and documents along the life cycle. 

Connecting to live data

Then, to bring live data from sensors to their digital twins, we established SICK LiveConnect, unlocking a secure, standardised and easy-to-use live data connection from each sensor to the SICK AssetHub via an edge gateway. The sensor’s status can be visualised in the Cloud and process data integrated into monitoring applications.

It’s really easy to connect your sensor with LiveConnect using a standard web browser via the App; all you need is the material- and part numbers for your SICK device. They are easy to find on the device label, and if you have the SICK Installed Base Manager smartphone app, you can access device information via the 2D barcode.

Following the same principles of simplicity and ease of use, LiveConnect manages the routing and forwarding of live sensor data. Using the online module via a standard web browser, a digital twin can be visualised in the Cloud and process data from the device integrated into online monitoring applications. You can get real-time insights into your devices, processes can become more transparent, and maintenance costs can be reduced. You can use live operating data to monitor production efficiency in real time and improve Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).

Condition monitoring

Finally, with real-time access to sensor parameters, you can look for any status changes, for example whether pre-set limits have been exceeded. Alarms and notifications can be set up, and historical data and events presented clearly in a log book format, so they can be used to make application-specific predictions. We developed the SICK Monitoring Box to allow for this early detection of status changes in sensors, machines, and plants. It enables visualisation of data in a browser-based dashboard for condition monitoring and real time analysis.

In these turbulent times, organisations must be resilient and agile, responding quickly to fluctuating demand and maximising uptime. Connecting right into the heart of operations, the data from sensors is an empowering raw material that can be transformative across entire business processes. The challenge is to sculpt with that data as seamlessly, simply, and securely as possible.

Neil Sandhu is SICK UK product manager for imaging, measurement and ranging

www.sick.co.uk