The relationship between non-standard automation equipment and intelligent manufacturing

The 2017 International Conference on Intelligent Manufacturing was jointly sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and was held in Beijing recently. According to a lot of information disclosed at the conference, the promotion of intelligent manufacturing has made significant progress in the transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing industry, and the new intelligent technology will further accelerate the implementation of intelligent manufacturing.

Lu Yongxiang, former vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei gave a keynote speech at the meeting entitled "Deeply Promote Intelligent Manufacturing and Accelerate the Cultivation of New Momentum for Global Economic Development". Zhou Ji, President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Society of Mechanical Engineering, also made a report entitled "Digital Manufacturing, Intelligent Manufacturing 1.0 and Intelligent Manufacturing 2.0".

Digitization and intelligence go deep into the global manufacturing service chain

Today, all countries in the world are stepping up the deployment of intelligent manufacturing to seize the opportunity of a new round of scientific and technological revolution. The new industrial revolution centered on non-standard automation equipment and intelligent manufacturing has become the focus of the international community. Lu Yongxiang pointed out that Germany's Industry 4.0, the American Industrial Internet, "Made in China 2025", the British Industry 2050 Strategy, Japan's unmanned factories and collaborative robots, etc., have injected a strong impetus into the innovation of network intelligent manufacturing services, and also for global cooperation. Sharing offers new opportunities, new ways and new spaces. The development of the world's manufacturing industry is about to usher in a new era.

In the middle of the 20th century, the invention of computers and CNC machine tools opened the era of digital manufacturing. Technical supports such as semiconductors, ICs, program controllers, industrial control software, fieldbuses, AGVs and industrial robots have promoted the development of CNC centers and CNC production lines, and pushed the manufacturing industry to the stage of flexible manufacturing. Entering the new century, technologies such as the Internet, Internet of Things, big data, VR/MR, AI, cloud computing, and 3D printing are advancing with each passing day, advancing digitalization and intelligence to the entire industrial and ecological chain of manufacturing services. From terminal intelligence to terminal/cloud collaborative intelligence, from intelligent control based on measurement sensing and model programs to network system intelligence based on visual perception, mixed reality, cloud computing, and big data, from a rooftop and factory to the world Network intelligent design, manufacturing and services, from micron subtractive manufacturing to nano-precision subtractive/additive manufacturing. It provides new possibilities for the co-creation and cooperation of digital, networked, personalized, customized intelligent design and manufacturing and lean management services to truly realize zero inventory, zero waste, zero downtime, and zero mismatch.

Smart manufacturing is the key to fostering new global momentum

my country's manufacturing industry is in the stage of industrial upgrading from traditional manufacturing to advanced manufacturing. For China, "Made in China 2025" has taken intelligent manufacturing as the main direction and breakthrough. Miao Wei pointed out that China's intelligent manufacturing development has achieved positive results. Grasping the core of intelligent manufacturing will definitely have an important and far-reaching impact on deepening the integrated development of manufacturing and the Internet and consolidating the foundation of the real economy. It is reported that my country has released the "Intelligent Manufacturing Development Plan", "Intelligent Manufacturing Engineering Implementation Guide", "National Intelligent Manufacturing Standard System Construction Guide", etc., high-performance large-scale metal components laser additive manufacturing equipment, distributed control system (DCS) Major progress has been made in some key technologies and equipment, exploring the formation of a number of mature, replicable, and scalable new intelligent manufacturing models such as network collaborative manufacturing and mass customization, and continuing to deepen the internationalization of intelligent manufacturing at the national, local and enterprise levels. cooperate. In general, through the joint efforts of all parties, a social consensus on promoting intelligent manufacturing has been formed, and the results have continued to emerge.

Miao Wei emphasized that it is necessary to actively adapt to the development trend of intelligent manufacturing, and on the basis of a good start, accelerate the cultivation of the development ecology of intelligent manufacturing, and promote the in-depth development of intelligent manufacturing: First, in-depth implementation of intelligent manufacturing projects and implementation of the "five, three and fifty" key tasks; The second is to continue to promote the pilot demonstration of intelligent manufacturing, and actively carry out the construction of the national intelligent manufacturing demonstration zone; the third is to focus on enhancing the basic support capabilities of standards, industrial software, industrial Internet and information security; the fourth is to actively cultivate the intelligent manufacturing ecology and create industry-specific products. System solution provider.

Three of the four driving forces of the new economy are related to ICT

Zhou Ji pointed out at the 2017 International Conference on Intelligent Manufacturing that the exponential growth of information technology, the popularization and application of digitization and networking, system integration innovation and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence technology are the four major driving forces for the new round of economic development.

The first is the exponential growth of information technology. The legendary law of the semiconductor industry in the past 50 years, Moore's Law, marks a leap in the entire information industry, not only chips, but also information technologies such as computers, networks, and communications are developing by leaps and bounds. Especially in the past 10 years, new information technologies such as mobile Internet, cloud computing, big data, and the Internet of Things have achieved group breakthroughs at almost the same time, all showing an exponential growth trend.

The second is the popularization and application of digitalization and networking. The scope of digitization and networking applications is omnipresent, bringing information services into the era of inclusive computing and networking, truly sparking a revolution.

Again, technology integration and system integration innovation. System-integrated innovation is a brand-new innovation method, and the various technologies it uses may not be the latest creation, but the combination of these technologies is revolutionary innovation. Apple smartphones and Tesla electric vehicles are successful examples of system-integrated innovation. The greatest opportunities in the future come from the interaction and integration between new and existing technologies, which will disrupt the technologies and industries of the future.

Finally, a new generation of artificial intelligence technology strategic breakthrough. In recent years, artificial intelligence has developed rapidly around the world, not only with quantitative breakthroughs, but also with qualitative leaps. As the learning ability of intelligent machines and the complexity of performing tasks are increasing exponentially, the development and popularization of new artificial intelligence technologies will greatly exceed the speed of previous scientific and technological revolutions. The new generation of artificial intelligence technology has become the core technology of the new scientific and technological revolution and industrial revolution, and will become the core technology of subverting economic development and human society in the next decades.

Zhou Ji emphasized that artificial intelligence 2.0 technology will lead intelligent manufacturing from 1.0 to 2.0. He said that the goal of the intelligent manufacturing 1.0 system is to realize the digitalization and networking of the manufacturing industry. The most important feature is to realize network interconnection and system integration on the basis of comprehensive digitalization, and its technical level is equivalent to Industry 3.5. The goal of the intelligent manufacturing 2.0 system is to realize the digitization, networking and intelligence of the manufacturing industry, and realize intelligent manufacturing in the true sense.

Intelligent manufacturing will be implemented in three stages

Intelligent manufacturing is a big concept, which includes the digitization, networking and intelligence of the manufacturing industry. It is composed of three different paradigms of manufacturing systems: digital manufacturing, intelligent manufacturing 1.0 and intelligent manufacturing 2.0. At the same time, it is also a large-scale systematic project. It must be understood and systematically promoted from the five dimensions of product, production, mode, foundation and system.

In Zhou Ji's view, the intelligent manufacturing system consists of the following four aspects:

First, smart products are the main body. Digitization, networking and intelligence are the technologies to realize the innovation of mechanical products, so that the mechanical products can develop to the "NC generation" or even the "intelligent generation", which fundamentally improves the product function, performance and market competitiveness. For example, rail locomotives have made my country one of the countries with the most developed high-speed locomotive technology in the world.

Second, the intelligent enterprise is the main line. Digitization, networking, and intelligence are also technologies of production technology innovation, allowing the manufacturing industry to develop into an intelligent integrated manufacturing system, building an intelligent enterprise, and comprehensively improving the level of product design, manufacturing and management. For example, Siemens Chengdu project has realized the digitization and networking of the whole process from design, product development, production to logistics distribution and management.

Third, the industrial model is the theme of change. The application of digital, networked and intelligent technologies has given birth to the transformation or innovation of industrial models: on the one hand, from large-scale assembly line production to customized large-scale production; on the other hand, the industrial form has changed from productive manufacturing to service-oriented manufacturing. In general, the most fundamental industrial model shifts from product-centric to user-centric. For example, GE, through technological innovation, enables the collection and analysis of big data on engine blades and all engine data. For engines, it is no longer a fault diagnosis, but a health assurance system. Such a technology of GM makes it not only a way of selling products, but a business service model paid by the hour, from production-oriented manufacturing to service-oriented manufacturing industries.

The fourth is the construction of intelligent manufacturing infrastructure. Including the construction of an information-physical system, actively promoting the construction of industrial Internet infrastructure, strengthening the intelligent manufacturing standard system, information security assurance system and the construction of a network information platform with a new generation of artificial intelligence technology as the core.