Chintan Fafadia, Vice President of Product Management at PCTEL answers questions about IIoT.
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People often associate Industry 4.0 with the manufacturing industry, and technologies including the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) networks, cloud computing systems and AI are making tremendous impacts in this market. But they’re also transforming other industrial markets, including the agricultural, mining, public utility, transportation and oil & gas industries, and the common thread amongst them is connectivity.
To learn more about IIoT technologies, RS spoke with Chintan Fafadia, Vice President of Product Management at PCTEL, a supplier of wireless connectivity technologies, including purpose-built IIoT devices, antenna systems and test & measurement equipment.
What benefits does the IIoT offer over competing connectivity, control and communication technologies?
I don’t think it competes; it brings everything together. We have so many different connecting technologies and there are so many different standards for those technologies. The IIoT allows you to choose the technologies you want.
Industry 4.0 technologies like the IIoT have had an enormous impact on the industrial market in recent years. Do you expect that trend to continue?
Yes. If you look across different verticals and sectors, Industry 4.0 technologies are supposed to grow across multiple verticals at a cumulative average rate of 8–9 percent based on multiple reports about sensors and the IIoT published by Markets and Markets. This estimate covers Industry 4.0 technology growth in all industry verticals, whether you’re talking about agriculture, smart factories, mining, or oil & gas, but several different industries are expected to see IIoT technologies grow at a cumulative average rate of at least 5–7 percent over the next five or six years, as well. In fact, the IIoT market is predicted to reach $110 billion by 2025.
If I wanted to deploy an IIoT network in my manufacturing facility but wanted to start slow, what would I need and why?
To simplify things, there are three main components: the edge component, connectivity and the data storage and visualization platform. The edge component is your sensor or whatever means of communication you’re using to collect the data. Connectivity is how you transfer the data you’ve collected to a location where you can combine it and analyze it. The third component, which could be a cloud platform or a server, is where the data resides and can be visualized.
To deploy an IIoT network, you first need to define the use cases for your manufacturing facilities. What are you trying to achieve? For example, if you want to be alerted when the temperature goes above a certain point in an application, you should select an edge device or sensor to measure the temperature and a method for transferring and storing the collected data. If you’re in a controlled environment, like a factory, you can use Wi-Fi to transfer the data to a specified location. The simplest storage solution for anyone starting out in IIoT is a cloud platform, which gives multiple data storage, analysis and reporting capabilities for less of an investment than local servers.
IIoT devices can be categorized into access points, radio modules, antennas and wireless communication sensors.
- Access Points: IIoT access points provide reliable Wi-Fi connectivity wherever it’s required. With their highly scalable Wi-Fi coverage, these access points deliver enterprise-grade connectivity to devices, even in the harshest environments. High-temperature applications in the manufacturing, utilities, transportation and agriculture industries require strong, reliable, small and lightweight IIoT access points engineered to ensure high throughput over a wide temperature range. These industrial-grade solutions offer a wider operating temperature range and more rugged enclosures than commercial-grade access points.
- Radio Modules: Radio modules are widely used in applications including edge computing platforms, autonomous vehicles and robotic cells. These applications typically require rugged, high-power, and small form factor radio modules that are purpose-built to support industrial applications.
- Antennas: Purpose-built antennas for industrial applications are the most cost-effective solution for challenging, high-temperature operating environments. Selecting and integrating a suitable antenna has a significant impact on RF subsystem performance in terms of communication range, overall power consumption and battery life.
- Wireless Communication Sensors: Wireless communication sensors are flexible and cost-effective solutions for improving manufacturing efficiencies. Several sensor types and multiple radio connectivity technology options, such as Bluetooth, cellular and LPWAN, are available.
Are there any physical or electrical characteristics that new adopters should look out for as they’re identifying IIoT solutions?
It all boils down to your application. If you’re working in an industrial market, like agriculture or construction, you’ll need to make sure that the devices you select can handle temperature extremes and physical hazards like shock and vibration, chemical exposure and weather, as well as the power levels that you’re able to supply. In a manufacturing facility or a warehouse, your primary need will likely be constant connectivity. So, you’ll need to select the solutions that support the way you communicate using these devices.
Can you tell us a little more about how IIoT technology is used in a few different industrial market segments?
IIoT is used to enhance operations in a wide range of industrial segments, including the precision farming, fleet management, construction, manufacturing, public utilities and oil & gas markets.
Precision farming employs connectivity devices including Wi-Fi routers, cellular and LoRa radios, sensors, GNSS/GPS antennas and analytics networks to support automation applications like coverage mapping. As more autonomous equipment is being used in the fields, coverage mapping ensures equipment is working in sync and not repeating work that has been done, especially since—in the case of spraying pesticides, for example—it could be harmful to the crops. Other IIoT-enabled precision farming applications include real-time video streaming, crop monitoring and machine-to-machine communications.
Fleet management uses wired and wireless sensors, GNSS/GPS antennas, combination antennas and low-profile antennas to improve safety and efficiency. Recent tragedies involving train derailments are one reason that IIoT devices capable of supporting preventative maintenance and monitoring variables, such as track temperature, are gaining a lot of traction.
Manufacturing uses sensors, industrial access points, custom-engineered antenna solutions and rugged antennas to improve productivity and enable process automation. Sensors are often used to maintain proper temperature ranges when transporting cold or frozen foods. The manufacturing segment accounts for about 50 percent of the total IIoT market in the U.S. The main adoption drivers for IIoT solutions in manufacturing include cost reduction, shorter time to market and mass customization. Several manufacturing plants are also leveraging the potential of IIoT solutions for condition-based monitoring, asset tracking and dynamic routing and scheduling.
Utilities employ devices including sensor communication modules, rugged outdoor-rated antennas and low-profile multiband antennas to reduce outages, automatically detect and anticipate equipment faults, and efficiently manage alternative energy sources in smart metering and smart grid applications based on emerging NB-IoT, LoRa and LTE-M communications technologies. Smart meters enable automatic meter reading for consumers and companies, automatically alert electricity companies of power outages, and allow utilities and consumers to monitor and analyze consumption and gain critical insights.
Oil & gas employs high-power Wi-Fi radio modules and industrial-grade antennas to increase operational intelligence, improve efficiency and minimize response times in applications including drilling management and pipeline monitoring. For example, pipelines are susceptible to multiple structural failures, such as corrosion, cracks and leakages. IIoT devices equipped with LPWAN and cellular communication technology gather granular telemetry data in the field, connect a massive number of geographically dispersed metering points with minimal infrastructure and provide critical pipeline operating condition and structural health data.
Are there any perceived disadvantages of IIoT technologies that you’d like to dispel? Are there any real but surmountable challenges to adopting these technologies?
The first challenge is always inertia. People get so used to the way they’re doing things. So, when you introduce a new technology, it can be a challenge to get people excited about adoption. People also think that implementing IIoT technologies is very costly, but it’s not that costly if you have an optimized solution to make the integration between new and existing infrastructure easier. People need to look at the investment analysis because, in the long run, implementing IoT and IIoT technologies will be beneficial and cost effective for almost every industry.
What do you think is next in terms of IIoT device designs and performance?
I expect more ruggedized form factors, better connectivity, 5G technology and—as Wi-Fi technologies improve—devices with Wi-Fi 6 and 7 capabilities. I also think we’ll see more deployments over the next few years and, as AI and sensor technologies continue to progress, improved data collection and analysis capabilities that will further reduce downtime, make environments safer and improve productivity and efficiency.
Is there anything else you’d like industrial OEMs, system integrators and maintainers to know about the IIoT?
Always begin with your application in mind and work backwards. Find the right partners to work with, because you need people who have the expertise to provide you with the quality products and technical support you need. Gains in efficiency, safety and security can only be realized if your devices stay connected, so networking your equipment and devices shouldn’t be left to just any wireless provider.
For assistance identifying, deploying and maintaining wireless connectivity solutions, reach out to the RS technical support team.
This article was originally published on the RS blog.
