Electricity + Control May 2017

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SENSORS, SWITCHES + TRANSDUCERS
Sensors Play Key Role in Pushing
Industry into Fourth Age
Gerry Bryant, Countapulse Controls
Automatic and multifunctional sensors and intelligent controls are relied upon more than ever by manufacturing enterprises.
As manufacturing enterprises become increasingly automated,
tighter control will have to be exercised over processes and
equipment to ensure high quality, low cost output and mini-
mumwaste. The ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ – with sensing technol-
ogy at its heart – is paving the way to achieving this.
Automatic and multifunctional sensors and intelligent controls
are today relied upon more than ever by manufacturing enterprises,
on both the process and enterprise levels. The design, manufacture,
optimisation and effective deployment of these systems will be critical
to industry in the next century.
But what is the Fourth Industrial Revolution and how does it com-
pare to previous ‘revolutions’ in the way our industries have evolved?
Mechanisation brought what we now call the first industrial revolu-
tion, through the application of steam engines to functions previously
conducted in small workshops. The result was large factories that
fuelled production levels to scales as yet undreamed of, and new
ways of working that defined the industrial age.
The movement to mass production techniques and machinery
in the early 20th century ushered in the second industrial revolution;
an era consumed by the commitment to productivity. Widespread
employment of conveyor belt technology and the adoption of the
assembly line drove up production to new heights while reducing
unit costs. Consumer goods historically reserved for the wealthy,
like motor vehicles, became more affordable, further driving up the
market’s demand for mass produced goods.
The third revolution came with the advent of automation in
industry, mainly through the increased use of micro-electronics and
computers coupledwith CNC control systems on the factory floor from
about the mid-1970s. This automation also allowed finer tolerances
in the production process and a higher quality of output, feeding the
evolution of designs and technology across all sectors.
A pioneer on the road into the future
is global sensor company Leuze,
represented in South Africa by
Countapulse Controls, which was
recently instrumental in the design
of the world’s first commercially
attractive interface: the IO-link. This
interface allows simple sensors to
exchange process and configuration
data with the control system, and is
another step towards achieving the
full benefits of the Fourth Revolu-
tion, when process, configuration
and diagnostic data is available not
just in the control system but all the
way up to the cloud.
The IO-link interface
allows simple sensors
to exchange process
and configuration
data with the control
system.
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