Minds + Machines: Getting a glimpse of what’s to come
In mid-November, I attended Minds + Machines, a conference dedicated to the industrial Internet. My main takeaway is that the digital transformation of asset heavy industries is starting to become reality. It may be tempting to dismiss this technology as fancy tools that don’t fundamentally change the industries that have largely remained the same for a hundred years or longer. But there is something profound that’s beginning to take shape. The interconnectedness of assets, sensors, cloud computing, and data analytics are getting to the point of inflection that will in the near future allow for operation of energy and transportation industries in ways that could have never been done before.
The concept that best illustrates the potential of digital transformation is something called a “digital twin”. This term is used to describe a digital replicate of an asset that is associated with all of the available data about that asset. A digital twin of an asset can be used to maintain traceability of all its components, model how an asset would react under certain conditions, monitor condition of the asset in real time, and predict and prevent failure. Digital twin concept can be further extended to have a “process twin” and a “system twin”, with data being used at every level to inform operators and optimize performance. With a full implementation of the digital twin concept, it will be realistic to eliminate preventable down time and greatly improve safety.
The Minds + Machines conference also showcased several specific technologies that I found interesting, including:
- A “black box” on locomotives that records all events as the train travels, in a manner analogous to a “black box” on airplanes. GE locomotives used in the U.S. already have that technology and its wider adoption is growing. This will prove very useful for investigation of rail accidents and near misses.
- A smart drone, specifically configured to fly over power lines and analyze information in real-time. Typical drones that have been used up until this point have relied on an operator interpreting information that’s being streamed/recorded by the drone. Smart drones are able to identify issues using advances analytics and can automatically notify operators of areas with vegetation encroachment, sagging lines, cracked insulators, and other issues. This technology can allow for more frequent and safer inspection of power lines, something that can be particularly valuable in California to help manage fire risks due to drought conditions and tree mortality.
- Augmented reality eyewear that can assist engineers and technicians in real-time as they perform different tasks. Augmented reality can display manufacturer information about a component, demonstrate how to assemble/disassemble complex pieces of equipment, and provide safety guidance.
This digital transformation of energy and transportation industries will create very interesting opportunities in regulatory space. Assets of the future will continuously provide data about their condition at a much more granular level than what’s available right now from manual, infrequent inspections. It will soon be possible to model assets before they are put in service, set specific rules for how to handle abnormal conditions, and program controls that will automatically ensure compliance with regulatory standards. This capability will allow regulators to create much more sophisticated policies that are risk-based and performance driven — something that has been extremely challenging to do with a lot of manual processes and data analysis. Of course, there are a lot of things that will need to happen to make this work, including having a digital infrastructure that has traceable, verifiable, and reliable information.
This is my personal blog and views expressed here are my own. Things I write here may or may not have been endorsed by the organizations that I work or have worked for.
