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A state-of-the-art simulation learning environment is the key to the transition to smart factories, said 51ÁÔÆæ Chancellor Mark Mone, and 51ÁÔÆæ couldn\u2019t have accomplished it alone. \u201cWithout industry, without government support through the (Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation), and without all the other institutions that are part of the Connected Systems Institute, we simply couldn\u2019t deliver,\u201d Mone said.<\/p>\n
In fact, the concept for the CSI is the result of an ongoing conversation Mone had with a past and present CEO at Rockwell Automation \u2013 Keith Nosbusch and Blake Moret, respectively. The two executives expressed the need for their employees to become more comfortable working in a digital environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorkforce development and lifelong learning are intentionally important to us,\u201d said Moret, \u201cbecause all the technology in the world will go to waste without people who understand it and are engaged in using it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the next five years, manufacturing is set to change more than it has in the last 50 years because of connected technologies that analyze data streaming from factory equipment to the industrial internet of things (IIoT), said Sujeet Chand, chief technology officer of Rockwell Automation. \u201cAnd we have a great ecosystem around us to help,\u201d he said, \u201cincluding a premier institute at 51ÁÔÆæ to help us with many facets of research and education that are needed for realizing the connected enterprise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manufacturing is the still the backbone of Wisconsin\u2019s economy, said Missy Hughes, CEO of WEDC. \u201cSo it\u2019s really critical that we think about how to take that into the future. It\u2019s places like CSI that are going to help that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Test bed innovations<\/h3>\n
The digital test bed documents the physical test bed\u2019s behaviors so that irregularities can be spotted, but it also allows for experimentation.<\/p>\n
For example, the conveyor line operates with a linear electromagnetic motor than generates heat, said Ilya Avdeev, 51ÁÔÆæ associate professor of mechanical engineering. The more load the conveyor moves, the more heat is generated, which is something that can be simulated on a digital twin. \u201cKnowing what\u2019s going to happen before you design the plan is the holy grail,\u201d Avdeev said.<\/p>\n
Connective technology will allow factories to include more specialized orders and profit more from e-commerce in the future, said Joe Zaccaria, program manager at Rockwell. \u201cThe test bed introduces machine learning to the production line and takes orders from SAP software, automatically generating work orders,\u201d Zaccaria said. \u201cNo one has been able to do that yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mohammad Rahman, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and his lab members demonstrated how the robotic arms on the test bed can be manipulated from remote locations using a augmented reality program on a tablet or smartphone. Augmented reality in this environment consists of enhancing robots that exist in the real world with computer-generated replicas that a user can interact with virtually, giving researchers another way to try theories and ideas.<\/p>\n
Integrating data<\/h3>\n
CSI also has a million-dollar data server \u2013 the test bed\u2019s networking infrastructure hub that directs traffic from all the related operations, said Matt Eide of Heartland Business Systems. The server has integrated various products of eight business partners.<\/p>\n
Connectivity also applies to the utility industry. In another CSI research project, Jun Zhang, 51ÁÔÆæ professor of electrical engineering and computer science, is working with We Energies to develop artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques that will predict when gas and electricity meters will need maintenance, which can minimize down time and extend the life of the meters. The researchers are able to use the meters\u2019 real-time monitoring data that streams over the IIoT to inform the AI and use it to determine the rate of wear.<\/p>\n
CSI\u2019s next test bed will be focused on cybersecurity, said Kaushal Chari, dean of 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s Lubar School of Business and the interim executive director.\u00a0\u201cWe need to ensure that automated production lines are protected and that students know how to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Members of the Board of Regents and chancellors at other UW System universities on Thursday toured 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s Connected Systems Institute, which just unveiled its first industry test bed, a factory production line and its \u201cdigital twin\u201d that will be used for learning and collaborative research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":836,"featured_media":93525,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"section":[132,246],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[],"uwmnews-feed":[149,162],"class_list":["post-93524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","section-business","section-business-world-affairs","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","uwmnews-feed-engineering-applied-science","uwmnews-feed-business"],"yoast_head":"\n