罗克韦尔自动化大型控制器营销经理 Kris Dornan 表示，工业边缘计算设备为使边缘应用成为可能奠定了基础。这些设备通过将您的车间计算硬件移动到您的控制器机柜、控制器机箱甚至控制器本身来取代车间的“白盒”PC。

在此基础上，工程师可以部署操作系统和软件应用程序，使用数字孪生、分析和机器学习等功能，为您的运营创造新的可能性。

“工业边缘计算设备可以是与控制器位于同一机箱中的工业计算机、与控制器位于同一机架上的计算模块或带有内置计算机的工业控制器，”Dornan 说。

“无论你选择哪个选项，你都会得到相似的结果。您将获得一个计算解决方案，该解决方案可以与您的控制器安装在同一位置并加以保护。通过将您的控制和计算组件彼此靠近，或者将它们组合到一个平台中，您可以加快操作中的信息流，”他补充道。



 

Dornan 说，终结果是边缘计算设备的可能性几乎是无限的。例如，您可以将它们与视觉系统结合使用，以检测高速输送线上的异常情况，从而提供原本无法实现的时间戳保真度。您可以通过创建一个计算过程值的应用程序来提高过程可见性，否则该过程值难以测量或传感器易受环境因素的影响。您可以使用“试错”模拟在安全的虚拟环境中测试生产变化，然后再将其实施到您的物理操作中。

罗克韦尔自动化公司设计软件营销经理 Matt Masarik 表示，出于安全原因，越来越多的 PC 被移出并禁止带入车间。

“工业边缘计算设备提供了一种保留这种关键计算能力的方法，同时加强网络安全，提高响应能力和决策能力，”他说。

首先，边缘计算设备提供了固有的网络安全优势。它们不仅可以让您从车间移除 PC，还可以移除将 PC 连接到您的系统所需的电缆和交换机等组件，从而减少您的攻击足迹。边缘计算设备还允许您使用语音或面部识别软件等功能来创建对资产的更安全访问。



 

此外，为边缘设备创建软件应用程序的能力可以帮助您以新的方式监控、管理和优化您的运营。例如，无需员工筛选历史性能数据并手动进行更改以改进您的流程，您的边缘应用程序可以不断学习您的流程并实时优化它。或者您的边缘应用程序可以将您的实际性能与理想状态进行比较，并确定您的不足之处。

“除了解决网络安全挑战之外，工业边缘计算设备还可以帮助解决另一个问题：不断变化的劳动力，”马萨里克说。

许多习惯于连接控制室并使用梯形逻辑和功能块编程的操作员和工程师正在退休。随着他们退休，他们将被具有不同才能和技能的新一代工人所取代。这些员工对技术有不同的期望——特别是“智能”并连接到移动设备。他们也更熟悉其他编程语言，如 Python 和 Java。

“边缘计算设备符合这些工人的期望和技能，”他补充说。“例如，一些边缘计算设备包括一个应用程序编程接口 (API) 库，允许不同的编程语言与控制处理器进行通信。这可以让工程师使用他们喜欢的编程语言来编写控制器的部分甚至全部逻辑。”



 

Dornan said that the end result is that the possibilities for what you can do with edge computing devices are nearly unlimited. For example, you can combine them with vision systems to detect anomalies on high-speed conveyance lines, providing a fidelity of timestamp that may not otherwise be possible. You can improve process visibility by creating an application that calculates a process value that otherwise is difficult to measure or where a sensor is susceptible to environmental factors. And you can use “trial and error” simulations to test production changes in a safe, virtual environment before implementing them in your physical operations.

According to Matt Masarik, design software marketing manager at Rockwell Automation, PCs are increasingly being removed and prohibited from the plant floor for security reasons.

“Industrial edge computing devices provide a means of retaining this crucial computing capability, while at the same time strengthening cybersecurity and improving responsiveness and decision making,” he said.

For starters, edge computing devices offer inherent cybersecurity benefits. They can reduce your attack footprint by allowing you to remove not only PCs from the plant floor but also components like cabling and switches that are required to tether the PCs to your systems. Edge computing devices also allow you to use advanced capabilities like voice- or face-recognition software to create more secure access to your assets.

Additionally, the ability to create software applications for an edge device can help you monitor, manage and optimize your operations in new ways. For example, instead of staff sifting through historical performance data and manually making changes to improve your process, your edge application can continually learn your process and optimize it in real time. Or your edge application can compare how your actual performance compares against the ideal state and identify where you’re falling short.

“In addition to addressing cybersecurity challenges, industrial edge computing devices can help address another concern: the changing workforce,” Masarik said.

Many operators and engineers who are accustomed to tethered control rooms and who use ladder logic and function block programming are retiring. And as they retire, they’re being replaced by a new generation of workers who have different talents and skillsets. These workers have different expectations for technology – specifically that it be “smart” and connected to a mobile device. They’re also more familiar with other programming languages, like Python and Java.

“Edge computing devices align with the expectations and skillsets of these workers,” he added. “For example, some edge computing devices include a library of application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow different programming languages to communicate with the control processor. This can allow engineers to use their preferred programming language to code some or maybe even all of a controller’s logic.”