Artificial intelligence (AI) is the buzzword that ABB and IBM are using to develop new solutions that will enable companies to tackle some of their biggest industrial challenges, such as better quality assurance, reduced downtime, speed and yield, in a completely new way. This means that while current systems merely collect data, AI will enable cognitive industrial systems and machines that, according to ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer, not only process data but also understand it, draw conclusions and take appropriate action to effectively support workers in the industry.

Specifically, ABB and IBM will initially use Watson technology to find defects using real-time production images captured by an ABB system and then analyzed with IBM Watson loT for Manufacturing. In other words: As parts move through the manufacturing process, the solution alerts the manufacturer to critical defects in terms of assembly quality that are not visible to the human eye. Among other things, this enables quality inspectors to intervene quickly. Until now, these inspections have usually been carried out manually - an often slow and error-prone process.

ABB and IBM also want to use Watson technology to predict supply and demand patterns for electricity based on historical and weather data, thereby optimizing the operation and maintenance of today's smart grids, which are becoming increasingly complex due to the new ratio of conventional and renewable energy sources. The predictions can be used to forecast demand, allowing energy suppliers to optimize load management and real-time pricing.

Smart Sensor now available

While the announced AI solutions have yet to be developed, another future technology from ABB has now reached market maturity. Otto Preiss, Head of ABB's Motors and Generators business unit, announced at the Hannover Messe: "We are proud to announce that the Smart Sensor has successfully passed the test with many of our customers worldwide and will now be launched on the European market. It will also soon be available in the USA."

The smart sensors of the first generation are compatible with asynchronous motors for direct mains connection (S1 operation) and use in safe areas (IEC sizes 160-450 and NEMA sizes 140-449).

© ABB

As the name suggests, the Smart Sensor is an intelligent sensor technology for condition monitoring that ABB wants to use to transform millions of low-voltage motors into smart, networked machines. The device, which is the size of a smartphone, can be attached to the motors of numerous manufacturers to record operating and performance data. The data is transferred to the cloud and processed into actionable information about the motor's condition and performance. Based on this information, the user can then check the condition of their low-voltage motors via a smartphone or a special internet portal.

ABB believes that predictive maintenance based on sensor data can reduce downtimes by up to 70%, extend motor life by up to 30% and reduce energy consumption by up to 10%. The sensors can be fitted to new motors at the factory or retrofitted to existing motors in just a few minutes. The monitoring functionality will initially include bearing condition, vibrations, surface temperature, speed, feed frequency and number of starts. The range of functions is set to increase further in future versions - for example with the addition of energy consumption monitoring, which ABB expects to be available in the third quarter of 2017. The first systems will use a smartphone app to transfer data. According to Preiss, a gateway for the automatic uploading of data is also expected later this year.