July/August 2020

| 16 | July/August 2020 www.smartmachinesandfactories.com | FEATURES | “E very block of stone has a sculpture inside of it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it”, Michaelangelo once said. In the same way, every sensor produces data as a raw material, and it is the task of the engineer to refine it and use it to add value to drive and improve business processes. In a digitised world, no sensor is an island. It must connect and interact with other devices and feed its data into software and digital services. Only connect The physical hardware 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 the its ability to detect, measure, identify or safeguard. Sensors have become intelligent and programmable tools for enterprise-wide business improvement. With their own decentralised computing power on board, the ways that sensors and actuators connect and collaborate in automated processes has multiplied. They can provide extra information to the control via point-to- point open communications such as IO-Link; they can work independently or in clusters to complete ‘Smart Tasks’ by themselves. Routing through intelligent edge devices such as Sensor Integration Machines and IoT Gateways, provides a control architecture for a data superhighway via higher-level control systems or straight to cloud-based services. Space for applications To turn these connections into applications, you need software. So, five years ago, SICK introduced a framework for software application development. Called AppSpace, some viewed it as a bold and unconventional move for a hardware manufacturer. But now it is completely normal to download a ready-made SICK SensorApp that can take data from a sensor and process it in a way that exactly suits the application. AppSpace has made it quick and easy to create automated applications and to customise them without complex programming, whether you are a user, an integrator, or a machine designer. Intelligent devices have become flexible platforms that can be adapted to changing process and product needs. Bold as it was, AppSpace was just one step along the journey. Operators have come to expect intelligent machines that make their automation more responsive and adaptable. Now, they also want the information from, and about, all the devices on those machines to be transparently available to them 24 hours a day. They want to monitor digital representations of all their assets and to manipulate Neil Sandhu, SICK UK product manager for Imaging, Measurement and Ranging, takes a look at why in a digitised world no sensor is an island, and that it must connect and interact with other devices and feed its data into software and digital services. Adding value in the digital dimension: Sculpting with sensor data