The core of intelligent manufacturing is manufacturing, and its carrier (external manifestation) is intelligent equipment. The components and key technologies of intelligent equipment include the following aspects.
Composition of intelligent equipment
A smart device generally consists of a sensing system, a decision-making system, a motion control system, and an execution system.
Intelligent sensing system
Perception is the input and starting point of intelligence, and the foundation upon which intelligence functions. Perception systems simulate the vision, hearing, touch, and other senses of intelligent agents. It's important to note that intelligent equipment does not completely simulate human intelligence, but rather references human intelligence to solve practical problems. Therefore, it will expand upon this concept, developing various sensors that surpass human perception capabilities, such as ultrasound and infrared sensors. Currently, perception systems are a rapidly developing area for intelligent equipment, and the pursuit of newer, more precise sensors is a relentless goal for researchers and industry professionals. Commonly used sensors in intelligent equipment include: visual sensors (such as cameras), distance sensors (such as laser rangefinders), RFID sensors, sound sensors, and tactile sensors, among others.
Mechanical Actuation System
The execution system of equipment, also known as the mechanical actuator, is a further extension of mechanical tools. Currently, the mechanical execution system of equipment includes mechanisms that generate specific movements and drive devices such as motors, engines, and pneumatic motors that drive these movements.
By equipping the execution system, it is possible to perform operations with higher precision and stability than humans.
Currently, the most pressing need for breakthroughs in execution systems is in end effectors capable of performing complex functions. Due to the need to interact with a large number of sensing sensors and the requirement for small size, the development of end effectors is the area of greatest interest to integrators.
Motion control system
Control systems serve as a bridge for intelligence to function. They enable execution systems to perform complex operations according to given instructions. This frees humans from tedious human-computer interaction, greatly improving efficiency and reducing the possibility of errors.
Control systems provide the foundation for intelligence, and feedback control through sensing systems provides equipment with a basic level of "intelligence".
In industrial precision control, in addition to various sensing technologies, the computing and storage capabilities of computers are mainly relied upon to provide "intelligent" instructions to the actuators under known abstraction and logic (algorithm).
Intelligent decision-making system
Decision-making systems enable true intelligence. Based on information collected by various sensing systems, decision-making systems perform complex calculations to optimize and generate appropriate instructions, which then direct the control system to drive the execution system, ultimately achieving complex intelligent behavior. Intelligent decision-making systems represent a bottleneck in the development of intelligent equipment; currently, there is no truly effective universal solution in the industrial field.
Key technologies of intelligent equipment
There are many key technologies for intelligent equipment, involving application processes, execution, sensing, control, and integration. Each aspect has broad research potential, and each field involves key technologies in both software and hardware.
Taking the key technologies involved in this research group as an example, as shown in the figure below, it requires knowledge from various disciplines such as process research, mechanical design, control systems, control software, visual inspection, measurement, and software development.
The demand for multi-skilled talents in intelligent equipment
The research and development of intelligent equipment urgently requires compound talents with expertise in process technology, mechanics, control, and software. However, according to a detailed survey of 100 enterprises in six cities across three provinces, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Qingdao, Weifang, Changsha, and Zhuzhou, conducted by the People's Daily, the manufacturing enterprises are facing a real "three difficulties" in talent acquisition, and the gap in demand for technical talent in my country is widening.
One of the problems is the shortage of multi-skilled personnel. "Those who understand the process don't understand the software, and those who understand the software don't understand the process."
Currently, university majors are divided into distinct categories. For example, software engineering is often assigned to the Computer Science Department, mechanical engineering and process engineering to the School of Mechatronics, and control engineering to the School of Electronic and Information Engineering. Even within the School of Mechatronics, mechanical engineering and process engineering often fall under Mechanical Manufacturing and Automation, while control engineering falls under Mechatronics Engineering. This traditional division of majors presents significant challenges to cultivating talent for intelligent equipment R&D. Furthermore, the lack of interdisciplinary faculty means that even with a rush of students enrolling in so-called intelligent manufacturing programs, it's merely old wine in new bottles.
