Electronics and sensor technology play a key role at sensor and information fusion. The importance of data collection and analysis for machine and plant engineering explains Professor Volker Lohweg, project leader and board member of inIT, as follows: “Information fusion will penetrate the markets of mechanical and plant engineering as well as production automation in the coming years. They will make a major contribution to intelligent Automation”.
At CENTRUM INDUSTRIAL IT (CIIT) the researchers from Lemgo are working on the project “DnSPro” together with partners from industry. Jointly the basics for intelligent Industry 4.0-able production plants are developed. These can adapt to changing conditions with simultaneously increased availability.
Via sensor and information fusion the researchers want to coordinate and optimize condition monitoring of a filling process. Furthermore, a predictive maintenance should be realized.
“On the basis of an exemplary filling process for arbitrary liquids the complex interaction of single functional modules up to the entire system shall be represented”, so Lohweg. Project goal is the realization of a decentralized intelligent filling control. Production plants shall autonomously adapt to the materials and products processed in consideration of its characteristics and system parameters. Martyna Bator and Alexander Dicks from inIT integrate various sensory functionalities as well as intelligent autonomous self-diagnostics to the individual components and filling processes. “Special attention is paid on guaranteeing a completely dynamic data security”, so Lohweg.
A decentralized control makes possible rapid action. Changing production processes can be covered. With the help of smart field devices plant parts get a consciousness about its current state and possible problems in the future. Based on this principle the creation of multifarious sensor, actor and subsystems is possible, like e.g. the linkage of flow sensors, pressure sensors, temperature sensors or filling sensors with valves and pumps. Lohweg sums it up: “Applications in Industry 4.0 demand various sensor systems. With an intelligent extension of the sensor technology of production plants, we can check a plant’s state of health and detect problems at an early stage”.
Almost a year after project start, project partners can obtain first results: A first milestone of the project - establishing the requirements of the DnS-Subsystem – was successfully achieved. “The first scenario analysis was concluded and possible research obstacles were edited. The project clearly emphasizes the importance of sensor and information fusion for Industry 4.0 Applications”, so Lohweg, member of AMA science council. Also the meaning of sensor technology must not be underestimated. The mere fact that there is a special funding line for sensor and information fusion at BMBF emphasizes the importance of the topic for Industry 4.0, so Lohweg.
About DnSPro:
The project is funded for three years of the BMBF within the scope of the BMBF-funding line “Select 4.0”. Project management agency is the VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH. Besides the Institute Industrial IT (inIT) of OWL University, project partners involved are: KROHNE Innovation GmbH, KHS GmbH, EPOS embedded core & power systems GmbH & Co. KG, Infineon Technologies AG, WIBU-SYSTEMS AG und Ruhr-Uni Bochum (Embedded Systems). Since 2009 the inIT is doing research under the roof of CENTRUM INDUSTRIAL IT (CIIT).