by Gary Mintchell | Feb 28, 2023 | Automation, Motion Control, Networking, News, Technology, Wireless
I wish I were in Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress, but at least the sun is shining in northern Illinois as I accumulate news from the event. And the word of the day is 5G. This post focuses on Nokia and how it has moved on from the mobile handset business.
Two things: first of two moves by Dell Technologies this time with Nokia plus 5G positioning (as in manufacturing a piece) technology with Bosch. Check out the “hardware-as-a-service” model and high end compute. I spent some time working with a team at Dell several years ago as they searched for a manufacturing use case. Looks like they’re playing with a new one.
Nokia bolsters MX Industrial Edge Capabilities
- Nokia MXIE to leverage high-performance Dell PowerEdge server family to support the increasing processing needs of Industry 4.0 use cases
- Nokia introduces MXIE GPU support for advanced real-time video analytics applications and to unlock future business-critical AI and machine learning OT use cases
- Nokia to offer MXIE in a Hardware-as-a-Service model, reducing CAPEX requirements to allow more enterprises to digitalize operations leveraging OT data
Nokia announced it is working with other industry-leading technology providers as it boosts the capabilities of the off-the-shelf, Mission-Critical Industrial Edge (MXIE) to manage the growing digitalization demands of industries. Nokia will also make it possible for many more enterprises to realize the value of operational technology (OT) data with the introduction of MXIE in a Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS) model.
As enterprises implement a growing number of Industry 4.0 use cases, such as autonomous robots in a factory or warehouse leveraging real-time situational awareness for safety, or zero-fault manufacturing using advanced real-time video analytics for efficiency, demand is growing for high-capacity, on-premise edge processing. To support this, Nokia is introducing a new high-performance, high-capacity infrastructure platform from Dell Technologies, beginning with the Dell PowerEdge XR11 server to further increase the processing power of the MXIE to handle the most demanding and complex workloads.
The new Dell PowerEdge XR11 server-based MXIE featuring 3rd Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processor introduces physical graphics processing unit (GPU) support. The high-performance NVIDIA A2 Tensor Core GPU enables versatile *AI inference acceleration.
This, for example, will unlock business-critical use cases that rely on real-time monitoring of video feeds and alerts using applications such as Nokia Scene Analytics or Atos Computer Vision Platform, which uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) for quality assurance and video analytics solutions for mission-critical applications.
By offering MXIE in a HaaS model, Nokia will enable more enterprises to begin their digitalization journey. This will reduce up-front capital investment, and allow them to benefit from MXIE capabilities on a subscription basis.
Nokia and Bosch Set a New Bar for 5G Positioning and Look Ahead to 6G
- Proof-of-concept network in Germany demonstrated accuracy within 50 cm
- Nokia and Bosch are continuing their joint research in 6G, exploring the integration of sensing technologies in future 6G systems
Nokia and Bosch announced that they have jointly developed 5G-based precision positioning technology intended for new Industry 4.0 use cases. The two have deployed the proof of concept in a Bosch production plant in Germany, where extensive tests under realistic manufacturing conditions have shown an accuracy within 50 cm in 90 percent of the factory footprint.
The positioning technology tracks mobile and portable devices connected to the 5G network, accurately determining their positions where no global navigation satellite service coverage is available, for instance in factories, warehouses or underground facilities. As part of the factory test, an enhanced private 5G network was able to determine the precise position of assets such as automated guided vehicles (AGVs), mobile robots and mobile control panels – tracking their movements throughout the plant in real time.
Traditionally, 5G positioning works by measuring the time it takes for mobile signals to travel from a mobile device to different base stations and anchor nodes in the network. As signals take longer to reach nodes that are further away, the positioning system can triangulate its source. Nokia and Bosch have built upon that foundation by equipping 5G nodes with multiple receive antennas, which enable the network to detect the incoming angles of signals. Advanced Nokia Bell Labs algorithms interpret this time-delay and angle-of-arrival information to determine the most probable position of the mobile device. Their proof-of-concept achieves a level of accuracy well beyond the current cellular position state-of-the-art, providing a sneak peek at what 5G networks, both public and private, will be capable of in the future.
Precision localization is important for many applications in industrial environments, such as robot navigation, asset tracking and worker safety. Realizing both high-performance connectivity and high-accuracy positioning within a single private network’s infrastructure also has many operational benefits, such as reducing the complexity of IT infrastructure, leading to a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and higher returns on investments.
by Gary Mintchell | Feb 27, 2023 | Leadership, Personal Development
[This is last week’s newsletter. You can sign up for a weekly (almost) newsletter by clicking the envelop icon on the right. I use Hey.com–an email service expressly designed to do away with tracking and other obnoxious Web practices.]
When we go to high school and university, we think we’re supposed to memorize many facts. It’s not a bad thing to learn and remember. The essential characteristics and behaviors of an educated person are these, however:
- Ability to learn on your own
- Ability to think clearly
- Ability to express yourself clearly
Many people learn that one of the best ways to think is to write. I write a couple of thousand words a day. Often there is no clue when I begin a piece where it will end up. In the beginning is an idea—usually from my reading. Then there are thoughts on the initial idea. Then the ideas build upon themselves until there is an essay.
Perhaps you should consider this both when you are hiring new people and when you are counseling young people.
Recently the Rework podcast from the company called 37signals (developers of the HEY email platform where this newsletter resides) featured Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson (co-founders) sharing why writing is at the heart of the success of 37signals and why they believe it’s essential for every employee to be a skilled writer, regardless of their title or role.
===
Speaking of thinking, here is a thought from Nassim Nicholas Taleb from his book Fooled By Randomness, “Trading forces someone to think hard, those who merely work hard generally lose their focus and intellectual energy.”
I am assembling thoughts and notes for a webinar I am giving April 5 most likely on the Myths and Reality of Digital Transformation. One path I am exploring concerns change management and how these initiatives often run low on focus and intellectual energy. I guess maybe I’ve been involved in at least one too many of these.
If you have thoughts about this topic (or any topics), send an email to [email protected]
===
The more data we have the more likely we are to drown in it.—Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Fooled by Randomness
Trade media and marketing types have touted “data as the new oil” or some such malarky for the past 8-9 years. That includes Internet of Things, sensor networks, MES, Industrie 4.0, and the like. Data is, indeed, useful. It’s impossible to perform 5 Why’s or other Lean initiatives without data.
Adding more sensors, more databases, moving compute to the edge, no, wait, move data to the cloud, connected everything, digital twins, and…whew!
Yes, you can drown if not careful. Be careful what you ask for!
==
Be sure to check out the latest news and thoughts on The Manufacturing Connection.
Gary
View this post online
by Gary Mintchell | Feb 24, 2023 | Automation, News, Organizations, Process Control, Standards
One of the meetings I look forward to these days at the ARC Forum in Orlando concerns updates from The Open Process Automation Forum, a working group of The Open Group.
This year I met with OPAF leaders Mohan Kalyanaraman and Ryan Smeltzer for a private briefing and then attended one of the OPAF sessions in the general forum. Widespread interest in their work was evidenced by the turnout of more than 200 people.
The OPAS 2.1 version of the standard is considered to be stable and suppliers can build products to it. Conformance requirements and testing are in process and due this year. Security guidelines and adoption guides are due to be completed this year.
Test beds and a pilot project have been completed. A few companies have scheduled test beds to their requirements. ExxonMobil is proceeding with a field trial that includes DCS/PLC that are commercially available compliant with OPAS 2.1. The project includes a single operator, single console, 2,500 I/O, and 100 control loops.
Further, OPAF is working with OPC Foundation for joint standard for Field Exchange and is also working with NAMUR ZVEI in Europe.
A little history and context
This work was instigated by ExxonMobil made public in 2016. That company faced upgrading its automation platforms at considerable expense. Other end user companies faced the same challenge. Schneider Electric, Yokogawa, and ABB were early boosters from the technology provider side of the equation.
I have followed a few of these initiatives. I can see the value of open systems. They have worked well in the IT market. However, gaining adoption is exceedingly difficult. Many suppliers may talk open systems, but in the end they want to keep everything tied together in house. To the outside world, they’ll say that they can assure all the parts will work together better because they are all designed by the same company. On the other hand, they really want to establish a long-term relationship with a large customer that is difficult to break. Lots of conflicting desires and business needs.
This project is gaining traction. It will only work in the end if enough end users specify the products and enforce procurement and application. Another project I once followed stumbled at this stage. One corporate engineering staff approved the open standard, but they could not enforce procurement at the plant level. We’ll see where this one goes.
by Gary Mintchell | Feb 24, 2023 | News, Software
The invitation to the launch event from Hexagon raised many questions. The most important—what the heck would they mean by “digital reality?”
First principle—it’s not the idea, it’s the execution that is important.
Remember that first principle. I’m reviewing my notes, and I took many, from yesterday’s online launch event. Thirty minutes into the presentation, I wrote “haven’t I heard all this before” and “30 minutes into the presentation and really nothing new.”
I realize they were setting the stage, teeing up the ball, perhaps even casting a vision. (Sorry for those weak metaphors.)
The key words were ecosystem, open platform, partners, collaboration, digital twin, digital thread, connectivity. Oh, and cloud.
Moving past that introduction, recall that Hexagon has been busy scarfing up companies lately. PAS sold to them and immediately disappeared, for example. Hexagon includes design, operations, metrology, security. That is today’s trend in our manufacturing/industrial software market.
Digital Reality appears to have little or nothing in common with the buzz around virtual or augmented reality. It’s the thing we’ve been working out for the past 10-15 years—aligning all our digital manufacturing data with physical reality. People think that’s a new thing. I worked on the beginnings of a project of digital data for manufacturing reality in 1978.
But, times have changed and technology is much better. This answers a question I usually ask leaders of companies busily acquiring a diverse set of companies—will these work together or are simply building a conglomerate. This looks like a platform designed to get their diverse portfolio to play together and perhaps enhance cross division sales.
Now to look at Nexus.
- Nexus’s open cloud platform allows manufacturers to connect Hexagon and third-party ecosystem
- tools to enable real-time collaboration and feedback between engineering and manufacturing
- a cloud-based metrology trend analysis and collaboration App
- a connected workflow Solution to optimise design for additive manufacturing processes
- an App powered by machine learning that predicts the performance of new materials before they are made
- cloud-native material data management App
Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division has launched its digital reality platform, Nexus. The new platform applies the latest cloud technologies to unblock innovation bottlenecks, enabling global teams to collaborate in real-time across the product lifecycle – from design and engineering to production and quality – to solve design and manufacturing problems together and accelerate time to market.
Click here to learn more and download the platform.
by Gary Mintchell | Feb 23, 2023 | Manufacturing IT, News, Security
The latest trend among cyber security firms is to conduct surveys and issue reports. This report comes from Claroty’s Team82. They found that vulnerabilities disclosed declined while vulnerabilities found by internal research and product security teams have increased.
Cyber-physical system vulnerabilities disclosed in the second half (2H) of 2022 have declined by 14% since hitting a peak during 2H 2021, while vulnerabilities found by internal research and product security teams have increased by 80% over the same time period, according to the State of XIoT Security Report: 2H 2022 released today by Claroty, the cyber-physical systems protection company. These findings indicate that security researchers are having a positive impact on strengthening the security of the Extended Internet of Things (XIoT), a vast network of cyber-physical systems across industrial, healthcare, and commercial environments, and that XIoT vendors are dedicating more resources to examining the security and safety of their products than ever before.
Key Findings
- Affected Devices: 62% of published OT vulnerabilities affect devices at Level 3 of the Purdue Model for ICS. These devices manage production workflows and can be key crossover points between IT and OT networks, thus very attractive to threat actors aiming to disrupt industrial operations.
- Severity: 71% of vulnerabilities were assessed a CVSS v3 score of “critical” (9.0-10) or “high” (7.0-8.9), reflecting security researchers’ tendency to focus on identifying vulnerabilities with the greatest potential impact in order to maximize harm reduction. Additionally, four of the top five Common Weakness Enumerations (CWEs) in the dataset are also in the top five of MITRE’s 2022 CWE Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses, which can be relatively simple to exploit and enable adversaries to disrupt system availability and service delivery.
- Attack Vector: 63% of vulnerabilities are remotely exploitable over the network, meaning a threat actor does not require local, adjacent, or physical access to the affected device in order to exploit the vulnerability.
- Impacts: The leading potential impact is unauthorized remote code or command execution (prevalent in 54% of vulnerabilities), followed by denial-of-service conditions (crash, exit, or restart) at 43%.
- Mitigations: The top mitigation step is network segmentation (recommended in 29% of vulnerability disclosures), followed by secure remote access (26%) and ransomware, phishing, and spam protection (22%).
- Team82 Contributions: Team82 has maintained a prolific, years-long leadership position in OT vulnerability research with 65 vulnerability disclosures in 2H 2022, 30 of which were assessed a CVSS v3 score of 9.5 or higher, and over 400 vulnerabilities to date.
