Case Study

microchip.com

Predictive Maintenance for Industry 4.0Industry 4.0 refers to the current technology period enabled by advanced tech-nologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics and automation.

Embracing Industry 4.0 has become an important source of competitive advan-tage as enterprises incorporate these advanced technologies into strategic plans, manufacturing protocols, factory operations and business procedures. Industry 4.0 will have a disruptive and transformative impact on the economy, business, jobs and society.

Many predict that Industry 4.0 will be different from the first three industrial rev-olutions because of its effect on the nature of work and the future of society. The way we work, the way we are trained and educated, the way we play and the way we live will all be altered and transformed.

SmartWe offer a packaged solution set featuring our PIC32 microcontrollers and SAMA5D27 microprocessors to enable intelligent functionality for Factory 4.0 applications.

ConnectedFor predictive maintenance applications, our Wi-Fi controllers, SAMR30 sub-GHz microcontrollers and comprehensive firmware ecosystem deliver reliable IoT connectivity from sensor to cloud.

SecureOur customers can rely on our pre-configured and pre-provisioned ECC608B secure elements to supply the full range of security such as confidentiality, data integrity and authentication.

The first industrial revolution spanned from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century. The invention of the steam engine and the emergence of mechanization, estab-lished the role of industry as the foundation of economic struc-ture, accelerating the development of the economy and society.

Nearly a century later, from the 1870s onward, the emergence and expansion of electricity, gas, and oil represented the be-ginning of the second industrial revolution. The steel industry began to develop. Chemical synthesis provided us with syn-thetic fabric, dyes and fertilizer. The telegraph and telephone were invented, revolutionizing the way we communicate. The second industrial revolution also enabled the emergence of large factories and the economy of scale made possible by mass production.

In the second half of the 20th century, the third industrial revolution started and brought the emergence of a new type of energy (nuclear energy), the growth of electronics and the development of information technology. This revolution gave rise to the era of high-level automation in production, thanks to two major inventions: Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) and robots.

Today, a fourth industrial revolution is unfolding before our eyes. Industry 4.0 builds upon the third industrial revolution and the digital revolution that has been taking place since the middle of the last century. Industry 4.0 will blur the lines between physical, digital, and biological spheres, enabling us to build a new virtual world from which we can steer the physical world. Cloud computing, big data and IoT allow us to interconnect production equipment and allows that equip-ment to interact in real time with it. Low-cost gene sequencing and techniques such as Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) massively expand our ability to edit the building blocks of life. AI is augmenting processes and skill in every industry, from self-driving cars and drones, to vir-tual assistants in our homes, on our smartphones and in our vehicles. Neurotechnology is making unprecedented strides in helping us understand cognition and enabling us to better uti-lize and influence the brain. AI and automation are disrupting century-old transport and manufacturing paradigms. The ex-tent and depth of these changes will transform manufacturing, production, management, and governance systems on a global scale. These changes are transforming how we communicate, learn, entertain ourselves, and relate to one another thereby helping us better understand ourselves as human beings.

Industry 4.0 promises great benefits and advantages. As these new technologies, such as AI and robotics, are being imple-mented at an accelerated pace. In the years to come, these developments will undoubtedly offer new layers of data-driven visibility and the opportunity for higher levels of efficiency in our professional (and personal) lives.

The Challenge Industrial robotic systems see increasing levels of vibra-tion on their mechanical elements which often indicates the need for service. Factory operations personnel need to find a way to increase their awareness of vibration and use AI/ML analytics to interpret the data and address the issue in a timely manner. This is a fairly standard inter-pretation of predictive maintenance that many Industry 4.0 advocates aspire to.

In the past, service schedules were accommodated using a paper log file, and the intervals between were often decided arbitrarily by a supervisor based on their experience and feel for the operation. As robotic sys-tems in modern manufacturing become more complex, factory managers need to be aware of their maintenance requirements in real time and be on top of both routine and critical service scheduling in order to avoid an inter-ruption in service.

The SolutionThis hyper-aware status and the related collection of data is paramount to a smart factory’s evolution and is best analyzed at the edge.

With our Total Systems Solution (TSS) approach, Micro-chip offers a fully integrated, state-of-the-art technology solution for Linux applications. We have connected all the dots, enabling our customers to efficiently design next-gen solutions in a smart, connected and secure manner.

This application of IoT technology is ideal for those man-aging a sensor network while controlling a robot and re-porting data through a Human Machine Interface (HMI).

An Integrated ApproachAligning the appropriate Microchip microcontroller and mi-croprocessor families with our easy-to-use development tools enables developers to create optimal designs for predictive maintenance applications without the risks, higher system costs and slower time-to-market that they may might encoun-ter with less-integrated approaches.

For example, our SAMA5D27 MPU can be deployed to drive the robotic operations for typical factory automation scenar-ios such as moving, cutting, bending, pressing or connecting pieces or parts altogether. The SAMA5D27 also collects and processes sensor data, reports the status of its operation, supports directives, provides an emergency shut down mode and monitors its environment for actionable maintenance-re-lated information. Sensors are connected to the gateway through a sub-GHz network, based on our SAMR30M module, which supports IEEE 802.15.4 PHY based protocols.

Smart Predictive Maintenance

The advanced capabilities of predictive maintenance are being embraced today in factories around the world. State-of-the-art neural networks and embedded sensors are used to accurately predict potential maintenance issues with equipment used in a variety of industrial, manufacturing, consumer, automotive and other applications. We have made it easy to leverage the Internet of Things with a combination of solutions to monitor and detect wear and tear and operational anomalies that might be affecting the performance of industrial gear in the field while also implementing smart control to manage load and reduce the amount of wasted power. Predictive maintenance reduces downtime and repair costs while also extending equipment life and ensuring output quality.

By partnering with industry-leading solution providers, we can offer a complete predictive maintenance solution that use multiple sensors, account for vibration sensing extremes and enable advanced AI/ML capabilities and features.

We offer a dedicated internal Linux application team, target Long-Term Support (LTS) Linux releases and offer support for official LTS kernels to reduce risk and reduce development times. We can deliver this integrated solution set to your predictive maintenance proj-ects with a total solution approach based on key elements from our product portfolio:

SAMA5D27 MicroprocessorsThe SAMA5D27 is a high-performance, low-power embedded microprocessor (MPU) running up to 500 MHz, with sup-port for multiple memories such as DDR2, DDR3L, LPDDR2, LPDDR3, and QSPI and e.MMC Flash. The device integrates powerful peripherals for connectivity and user interface applications, and offers advanced security functions. The SAMA5D27 is qualified for extended industrial temperature range operation (-40°C to 105°C external temperature).

Wi-Fi Controllers and SAMR30 Sub-GHz MicrocontrollersOur integrated solution features industry-leading Wi-Fi controllers and sub-GHz microcontrollers along with a comprehensive firm-ware ecosystem to enable sensor to cloud connectivity via Ama-zon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud platforms.

Our IEEE 802.11 b/g/n IoT network controllers deliver reliable Wi-Fi and network capabilities and connect to any SAM or PIC MCU with minimal resource requirements. With fully inte-grated power amplifier, LNA, switch and power management features, these devices also provide internal Flash memory to store firmware.

Our low-power SAM R30 series of products utilize IEEE 802.15.4 in the sub-GHz channels of the ISM band. Their ultra-low-power sleep modes, which consume less than 1 uA, also enable your products to meet the standard’s defined ability to sleep virtually forever.

By aligning our Wi-Fi portfolio with a dedicated Linux ecosystem, we have further simplified the development process for our customers. In addition to the AWS-IoT and AWS-Greengrass functionality, we can also offer integrations with Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure approaches.

ECC608B Secure ElementOur Trust Platform is a cost-effective and flexible solution for onboarding our secure elements in your design and accelerating your product’s time to market. The Trust Platform is composed of a family of pre-pro-visioned, pre-configured or fully customizable secure elements. Credentials are generated inside each secure element’s boundary by leveraging our Hardware Secure Modules (HSMs) that are installed in our factories. The devices also come with hardware and software develop-ment tools to make prototyping easy and to fast track your development.

The ATECC608B secure element features advanced El-liptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) capabilities. This device is ideal for the rapidly growing IoT market by easily sup-plying the full range of security such as confidentiality, data integrity, and authentication to systems with MCU or MPUs running encryption/decryption algorithms.

The Microchip name and logo and the Microchip logo are registered trademarks and CryptoAuthLib is a trademark of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are property of their respective companies. © 2021, Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. 3/21 DS00003670B

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In this example, our integrated solution can be leveraged for Industry 4.0 implementations of predictive maintenance with robotic machinery in a smart factory.

This approach could also be applied to interpreting vibration and related analytics for maintenance in civil engineering projects and infrastructure, such as bridges, dams, road mainte-nance, building maintenance on seismic areas, elevator mainte-nance, crane maintenance and agricultural machinery.

Industry 4.0 and Beyond