Or how to step up your game and connect your machines as much as your social media.
A Master thesis of Maximilian Aretz
Up to this day many machines and production lines are still not up to date with the newest technologies.
Connecting your machines to IoT Gateways provides a lot of advantages such as more transparency and easier maintenance. For his thesis Maximilian Aretz looks behind the scenes and realizes such a retrofit.
The thesis as a work in progress
Maximilian Aretz is a student at the University of Applied Science in Aachen in the department of Automation and propulsion technology. He works at QA since 2017 and already finished his Bachelor here. Now he started his master’s thesis. His chosen field of topic: the IoT Gateway. Equipped with the hardware and software for an IoT Gateway from Bosch Rexroth he is now testing and visualizing the possibilities and advantages of the Gateway.
In the coming months he will start the process data analysis. This will include preparation and selection of data, the efficiency of the machine including nonoperation periods, production times, maintenance, errors and messages and preventive maintenanceas well as quality management and report generation. Additionally, he will work on messages and warnings via visualization systems, E‑mails and MS-teams.
The IoT Gateway
An IoT Gateway Software offers an efficient solution consisting of controlling hardware and software that provides the connection to the industry 4.0 without messing with the automation logic.For thisSensors must be added to machines to detect data like movements and ambience conditions. The IoT Gateway is used to the collect these data from the sensors. This data can then be evaluated but it must also be protected. The Gateway itself includes a firewall and VPN to provide network protection and secure communication.
New transparency with IoT Gateway Software
IoT Gateway Software allows you to get more transparency about machine and production data. The data can be fetched with real time monitoring of process data like temperature, pressure and vibrations. This data can be used to optimize production processes and helps to keep constant high quality.
Prognostic maintenance and service
Rule-based evaluation of specific information is a big help for predictive maintenance and service on machines and production lines. Additionally, it provides a save solution for remote maintenance while leaving the complete control with the machine operator. This way efforts and costs can be reduced.
