SPRY342 July 2021 AM2431 , AM2432 , AM2434
As a result of the Industry 4.0 trend and massive increase in industrial automation, today’s smart factories are characterized by faster and distributed computing, faster and flexible networking, and more intelligence at the edge. Designers of manufacturing robots, mechanical assistants and connected factories are adding features such as industrial communications, functional safety and predictive maintenance, made possible through the advancement and convergence of real-time computing, ubiquitous networking and edge analytics. Realizing these advancements requires seamless connectivity from the real world to the cloud, pushing technology on multiple vectors at the same time. Figure 1 illustrates an automated factory where real-time control, industrial networking and edge analytics maximize efficiency and productivity.
There are three key technology pillars for industrial automation.