|
by Stephanie Neil, MA Editorial Staff Posted on Friday, November 03, 2006 3:10:08 PM   | Abstract: | Next-generation control technology will think and do for you, making zero-breakdown operations a reality. |
Imagine unleashing a virus on your plant -- on purpose. It quickly penetrates every intelligent controller and sensor, spreading like wildfire to processing tanks, pipelines and even motors and pumps out in the field. What a nightmare. And you, the responsible party, are sure to be fired, right? Wrong. In about five years, this scenario may well become a dream come true for plant managers and CIOs. Right now, engineers in R&D labs and scientists at major universities are designing technologies that experts are calling "intentional viruses." A more attractive term for the technology is "autonomous agents," a type of software that incorporates information and artificial intelligence rules. These software agents are intended to be spread around various devices on a network where they can assess what's really going on outside of an operator's view and even negotiate how devices should interact based on the conditions they detect. Once they become low cost and ubiquitous, autonomous agents, in combination with secure industrial wireless mesh networks, new energy-reducing technologies and predictive diagnostic algorithms, will change the way manufacturers operate everything from the assembly line to recipe management. [Click to continue] |