Having been working hard in the automation industry for many years, I have witnessed the progress of PLC from stand-alone operation, network interoperability, to the current intelligent stage step by step.
For a long time, we have all assumed that the core mission of PLC is to stably control equipment. Programming, debugging, and operation and maintenance all rely on human experience and hands.
However, in the past two years, solutions that deeply integrate AI and PLC have gradually entered major workshops, and we can truly feel that this new combination is quietly changing our working model.
Many colleagues feel unfathomable when it comes to AI, thinking that it is a new technology that only large companies can afford and cannot be used by ordinary workshops. Some people are worried that smart technology will replace the work of traditional industrial controllers.
In fact, putting aside the complicated professional interpretations on the Internet, when it comes to the production line, AI + PLC has never been a nihilistic concept, but a new tool that can actually solve old problems.
I believe every practitioner has a deep understanding of the days when pure PLC operations were relied on in the early years.
The operation of the equipment relies entirely on manual monitoring. Whether the parameters are reasonable and whether the working conditions are abnormal can only be judged by the experience accumulated by the masters over the years.
When a minor fault occurs in the production line, the alarm prompt is vague, and we can only investigate along the lines and modules one by one, which consumes a lot of time.
When encountering scenarios where it is necessary to optimize production efficiency and adjust operating parameters, repeated testing and trial and error are required, which makes you exhausted at the end of the day.
Once equipment breaks down suddenly, no matter late at night or on holidays, you have to rush to the scene for repairs as soon as possible. This situation has almost become the norm in the industry.
The essence of the integration of AI and PLC is division of labor and collaboration, learning from each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
PLC is still the “hands and feet” of the production line, firmly controlling core links such as equipment start and stop, logical linkage, and action execution to ensure the stability of production operations. This is also its core value that has stood firm for decades.
AI plays the role of a “smart brain”, responsible for collecting and sorting out the massive operating data returned by the PLC, performing analysis, prediction and optimization, and taking over the data analysis work that is difficult to complete manually.
When it comes to the workshop, changes are reflected in all aspects.
The most intuitive thing is intelligent fault prediction.
AI will continue to capture the current, temperature, load, running time and other data recorded by the PLC to establish a normal operation model.
Once there is a slight deviation in the data, even if there is no obvious fault in the equipment for the time being, the system will send out a reminder in advance.
We no longer passively wait for shutdowns to be reported for repairs, but proactively investigate hidden dangers, significantly reducing the number of late-night emergency calls.
The second is independent parameter optimization.
In the past, debugging equipment relied solely on manually modifying parameters and observing operating effects over and over again.
Now combined with AI algorithms, the system can automatically fine-tune PLC operating parameters based on raw materials, production speed, and environmental changes. While ensuring product quality, it can also reduce energy consumption, increase production capacity, and greatly shorten the debugging cycle.
For newcomers, there is no need to spend several years accumulating debugging experience.
In addition, in the face of some soft faults that are highly concealed and difficult to locate, AI can compare historical operating data to quickly locate the root cause of the problem, shortening the troubleshooting work from hours to minutes.
Many masters will worry whether upgrading this system will eliminate existing equipment?
Will the learning threshold be too high?
In fact, there is no need to worry at all.
The current integration solutions on the market are extremely compatible. Most of the traditional PLCs in use only need to be installed with data acquisition modules and connected to the intelligent platform to complete the transformation. There is no need to replace the entire line of hardware, and the transformation cost is very affordable.
Moreover, the operation interface continues the familiar usage logic. We do not need to delve into complex algorithm principles. We only need to learn basic data viewing and early warning processing to get started quickly.
From manual operation and maintenance to intelligent collaboration, AI empowers PLC, not to replace technical personnel, but to help us free ourselves from repetitive and tedious work and focus on process optimization and technological innovation.
The pace of industry development has never stopped, and the emergence of new technologies is both a challenge and an opportunity.
Nowadays, more and more small and medium-sized factories are beginning to test the AI + PLC model. I wonder if you have come into contact with such applications in your daily work?
What do you think of the intelligent development of the industrial control industry?
