For most people, WiFi means something that allows them to stream movies or music to their tablet or laptop at their local Starbucks or access their Facebook from their smart phone while flying in a WiFi-equipped commercial airliner.
But WiFi — which is actually an abbreviation of “wireless fidelity” — is becoming more commonplace, especially in industrial applications, according to a new white paper issued recently by Advantech, a Taiwanese industrial solutions company.
“When most people think of wireless in the industrial environment, they think of wireless sensor networks,” the report states. “While that’s one segment of the use of wireless, it isn’t the only one, and it is by far the smallest.”
Monitor Equipment Remotely
For example, WiFi can be used to monitor temperature changes and vibration signatures in motors, blowers and pump shafts. While in the past, these changes could be detected only by workers putting a stethoscope on the piece of equipment, today WiFi-equipped instrumentation can send real time data back to the control system instantly so that maintenance and asset management software can make the necessary adjustments.
WiFi allows facility managers to reduce labor costs and increase efficiency at an affordable price. Multiple sensors for backups and quality monitoring that transmit wireless data can replace several hard-wired gauges that need to be manually monitored by employees who must move throughout the facility.
Reduce Labor Costs, Increase Efficiency
“The cost of wiring new sensors and wired network infrastructure is not going down,” the white paper states. “If anything, it is becoming more costly because of the cost of materials and labor … Wireless devices, on the other hand, are relatively easy to install and usually do not require shutdowns for the installation.
“The price of wireless sensors and network devices is rapidly coming down…. Many of them are Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) devices. Some are industrial hardened versions of commercial devices, and some are purpose built for the industrial environment.”
Non-Traditional Applications
WiFi-enabled devices also can be used to measure non-traditional processes, not just flow, level, pressure and temperature. WiFi also can be used to replace hard-wired Ethernet networking in areas where running wires is difficult, expensive or impractical.
Wireless devices can simplify the process of re-configuring assembly lines, as well as reducing the costs of retrofitting every single sensor to every single controller.
A Wireless R&D Lab
Recently, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturers built a four-story research and development (R&D) laboratory equipped with WiFi and a wireless sensor network as its entire networking infrastructure. The lab’s components were then installed on skids, which allowed them to be wheeled into place on the plant floor, or transported via freight elevator to a new location whenever it was required.
Because the networking infrastructure was wireless, the skids could simply be plugged into the wireless network from their new location. That gave the drug company the flexibility to reconfigure its R&D lab at will.
As the price of WiFi enabled products continues to fall and new industrial applications are discovered, the dream of a “factory without wire” moves closer to reality.