Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1504794
Feature Article by Happy Holden I-CONNECT007 Introduction Sensor technology is at the heart of any manufacturing data collection, especially for the digital stream—it all starts with sensors —but there is so much more. Sensors need connections to instruments, and some actions need predictions; the process is sensing, connection, and predicting. Sensing assumes sensors. Connecting can be any intelligent device that provides a program or signal conditioning and then makes that data available to the rest of the organization. Predicting is the difficult step. The Smart process needs to be implemented immediately. Time does not favor the procras- tinator. Assign or hire an engineer who has the tools and creativity to make digitization work, let them gain the new training that may be required, and just do it. It All Starts With Sensors Sensor Training Options My background is chemical engineering, and we spent a lot of time learning about sensors, control systems, and chemical unit operations. In my college days of the mid-1960s, basic industrial sensors included 1 : • Electrical measurements • Displacement and area measurements • Pressure measurements • Flow measures • Measurement of temperature • ermal and transport properties • Force, torque, and strain • Motion and vibration • ermal and nuclear radiation measurements 34 SMT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2023