The first industrial revolution has a history of more than 200 years.From traditional mechanical manufacturing to electrical production to highly dependent on automation,the application of various cutting-edge technologies has had a earth-shaking impact on the industrial field.Today,the manufacturing mode characterized by digitalization,networking and intelligence is starting the fourth industrial revolution.As the representative of the fourth industrial revolution,intelligent factory has become the main attack direction of manufacturing enterprises.

The construction of intelligent factory is a very complex system engineering.It should not only run through the five levels of equipment level,control level,workshop level,enterprise level and collaboration level,but also span the whole life cycle of design,production,logistics,sales and service,and also include intelligent functions such as resource elements,system integration,interconnection,information fusion and emerging business forms.

If we cut down the complexity and simplify it,the essence of the smart factory is inseparable from the word”wisdom”,and wisdom will not be achieved overnight,and it needs to be accumulated step by step.Whether it is the installation and commissioning of the underlying industrial control system,the calibration and maintenance of process instruments,or the precise measurement in the laboratory and the fault diagnosis of the communication network,in the process of building an intelligent factory,it is necessary to infiltrate”wisdom”into every detail of production and operation.

Now,in modern factories,”black technology”in different fields is accelerating the integration,and is widely used in production process design,automatic production line,production environment monitoring,automatic control cabinet,operation and maintenance,quality inspection,warehousing and logistics and other processes,so as to monitor and control various parameters in the production process more”intelligently”and ensure the normal state of equipment work.

If a worker wants to do his job well,he must use his tools first.”Black technology”has available products.Now,let’s take a look at several”black technologies”applied in different fields and display their skills in industrial scenes.It is the upgrading of these”micro”technologies that make the factory”smart and visible”.

01.Is your network”fragmented”?

In order to upgrade to intelligent factory,industrial automation pursues three heights,namely,high networking,high informatization and high automation.All kinds of control equipment terminals,intelligent terminals,various types of temperature and humidity sensors and other devices at the field level are using various communication technologies to achieve the goal of high networking.

Industrial control systems have high requirements for the reliability and real-time of information,and half of Ethernet faults in industrial environments can be traced to network wiring.If the network wiring fails to correctly transmit the key information,it will make the smart factory”fragmented”and silly.Therefore,ensuring that the network cabling link has an ideal network transmission capacity plays a vital role in ensuring the normal operation of industrial production.

In the trend of intelligence and informatization,with the complexity of wiring engineering,network cable tester has become an indispensable tool in the factory.The correct test will help to determine whether there is improper wiring or damaged cable in the network environment,and avoid unplanned downtime.

At present,there are many kinds of network cable testers on the market,and different instruments are also different in price,performance and application.Select a good”right-hand man”to ensure the smooth and efficient completion of the work.

02.Watch the temperature with”golden eyes”

In the production and detection links of precision parts die-casting,metal processing,equipment fault detection,etc.,temperature not only determines the overall quality of products,but also affects the operation status of equipment.But the temperature can’t be seen or touched.How can we achieve more accurate temperature monitoring?

Infrared thermal imaging technology is also known as the”sixth sense”of human beings.Its principle is to convert the temperature distribution image of the target object into a video image,which can be imaged normally even when there is no light at all.This technology was first applied in the military field.With the continuous development of technology and the reduction of cost,it gradually plays an important role in industrial scenarios such as industrial detection,production and manufacturing management,electrical automation,etc.

The infrared thermal imager can monitor the temperature changes in the production process of parts and components,ensure that the production process design is correct,help the staff find problems in time,eliminate potential hidden dangers,optimize the production process,improve the quality control system,and help industrial production improve quality and efficiency.For example,Fluke,which is deeply involved in the field of instruments and meters,has launched a number of infrared thermal imagers,which can not only monitor temperature changes for a long time,but also observe more test details through images.

03.”Insight identification”gas leakage

The so-called”hearing is false”and”seeing is true”.Collecting information with eyes is often more intuitive than any other organ.This is also why in intelligent factories,it is necessary to realize”visualization”for complex production processes.The temperature can be seen with the help of infrared imaging technology.How can we see the gases that should not appear in the industrial environment?

The most common energy waste in industrial scenarios is gas leakage.The traditional gas leakage detection methods are mainly spray soapy water or ultrasonic leakage detection.However,these methods have low detection efficiency,can not quickly and accurately find the leakage point,and can not estimate the size of leakage and other relevant information.

The development of acoustic imaging technology can transform the sound waves that are originally invisible to the naked eye and may not be heard by the human ear into visual images,and use the color of the image to indicate the strength of the sound,so as to help enterprises quickly locate which links have gas leakage and other safety problems.

In the past,when we discussed smart factories,we paid more attention to the Internet of Things and various automation systems and digital systems based on artificial intelligence.In fact,intelligent instruments and meters also played an important role.Whether it is infrared thermal imager,acoustic imager or other various instruments and meters,as the”observer”in the industrial scene,as a leading tool for human beings to expand their horizons and explore new fields,the accelerated integration of instruments and meters and innovative technologies in multiple fields not only refreshed people’s cognitive world,but also provided reliable test and measurement support for the stable operation of intelligent factories.

At the forefront of industrial application,there are many”black technologies”similar to the above.In the face of increasingly complex production and manufacturing environment,these”black technologies”have opened a huge space for us to imagine the development of smart factories in the future.Created due to demand,what disruptive technologies will emerge in the technological innovation iteration,and how will it promote the industrial revolution?Let’s follow the path of technological evolution and look forward to it together.