Industrial Automation Magazine India

Edge computing is well on its way to becoming a leading digital technology

Published on : Monday 03-07-2023

Sachin Vaidya, Regional General Manager, Digital ABB Process Industries

What are the latest technology trends dominating the process industries in general?
Predicting digital trends is continuous as technology evolves and improves. Leaders must scan the horizon and identify the most critical areas to pay attention to ensure their companies are fit for the future.  

Artificial intelligence and advanced analytics have been touted as the key value drivers behind digital transformation. Another critical trend is fully autonomous operations. This can include functions like advanced process control that handle multi-variable controls to steer the process to the most optimal setup. One could employ autonomous machines to operate in hazardous environments. Assistive technology such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) for remote operations has been available for some time; however, many companies still need to adopt and prepare for it.

Holistic energy management is far from new, but the objectives and optimisation models are changing fast. In the future digital enterprise, everything is connected. Data flows seamlessly between operational and business systems, enabling new capabilities for Data-driven decision-making.  

Can AI and AR/VR technologies improve productivity, Safety, and Quality for process plants located remotely?
Augmented reality is one of the most exciting and impactful experiences making its way into today’s manufacturing industries. Just a few years back, the best examples of AR could be found in gaming development.

Assistive technology such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) has enabled technicians to provide remote assistance by sending customers’ AR- and VR-enabled devices and walking them through advanced troubleshooting and repairs.

By creating digital constructs directly in a person’s field of vision, AR makes it possible to organize, structure, and perform many tasks remotely, significantly improving productivity, consistency, and mobilisation costs.

ABB recently deployed its augmented reality solution, encompassing audio, video, document sharing, and live annotations for remote factory acceptance testing (FAT) during tight Covid-19 travel restrictions. The cyclo converter upgrade at a steel mill in Spain was successfully completed without ABB engineering visits to the site.

What benefits does edge computing bring to process industries vis-à-vis the traditional model?
During the previous decades, an increasing number of industries benefitted from bringing their IT applications into the cloud, leveraging its scalability as well as its power for big data processing. However, in many cases, more local solutions also have benefits, e.g., in terms of end-to-end latency or data privacy.

This is why edge computing is seen as a promising technology in many areas. Both edge computing and cloud computing have their benefits, and there are always trade-offs when deciding between these deployment alternatives for a specific application. Edge computing is not to be understood as an alternative to cloud computing but as a complement. Industry investment in edge computing has grown a lot within recent years, including efforts for industrial edge computing reference architectures and standardisation; accordingly, edge computing is well on its way to becoming a leading digital technology.

(The views expressed in interviews are personal, not necessarily of the organisations represented)