Is the Internet of Things a Myth or a Reality?
The Internet of Things (Internet of Things, or shortly IOT) is a topic that is now being discussed everywhere. A big discussion on the Internet of Things was held in Skolkovo at the Startup Village-2015 Forum. And at the Day of Joint Innovations, which SAP conducted for software development companies, this topic was one of the key.
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Still, is the Internet of Things a myth or a reality? Let's try to figure it out.
To begin with, the term “Internet of Things” was born. Recall that at first there was just an online information network. Conventionally - the first stage of development. With the help of the Internet, we allowed ourselves to exchange information in a very fast and efficient way. We no longer need to travel to the Lenin Library, write and rewrite by hand, graduate students, diplomas, etc. And remember the typewriters with a carbon copy. Or postcards for the New Year, which came closer to the March holidays (someone found this time?) And did someone print black and white photos in the bath, then to distribute them to friends during a personal meeting?
Then we moved to the second stage - the Internet of Things, or a network of machines. Sensors, sensors, various devices, computers - they all begin to interact with each other, receive information, process it. That is, human sensors have been successfully replaced by mechanical sensors.
The next stage, the third - the processing of the collected information. To say that this is big data is to say nothing, because we are faced with a huge amount of information that grows exponentially. Now, on the basis of the information collected, the network, the system, etc., perform certain proactive actions. Those. cars already start to think and act for us, practically without our participation!
What's next? Where are we going? Perhaps the fourth stage will come when networks will appear not only of machines, but of the network of thinking mashines - artificial intelligence. And this must be prepared. Because, of course, on the one hand, the future of the Internet of things makes all this much easier, on the other hand, there is a reason to think more strongly about the movie “Terminator: Rise of the Machines”.
But let's not look into the distant future. Let's look at real examples in the mining and oil and gas industries.
So, what are technologies aimed at automating the extraction of solid minerals? There is a clear tendency to gradual exclusion of man from technological processes of extraction. Due to the increasing complexity of mining and geological conditions, the development of the regions of the Far North, it is becoming more and more difficult for a person to be present directly in the production zone. We have reached such a technical and technological level of development that we can develop equipment that is fully robotic. Accordingly, the equipment interacts with each other and with the server to transmit various diagnostic and analytical information.
There is a specialized Internet of things - internet of mining equipment. And this industry is now, in fact, being formed. In Australia, for example, robotic dump trucks are already running, which drive without a driver, they interact with each other, as well as with the server. Man has already been excluded from the immediate mining process. He is simply the highest supervisor who analyzes the processes and deals with the programs for the further development of the enterprise.
More and more industries are seeking to exclude man from processes
because a person is an element of risk (human factor), which can reduce work efficiency.
Consider the second example - the automation of processes in oil and gas companies.
The IoT concept works here to the fullest. In any oil company uses a huge amount of equipment - this is a zoo of information systems, weakly interacting with each other. Of course, there are some elements of general control, but they are used separately and locally. For example, if a signal from the pump of any well is about exceeding the critical pressure, the control station of this well can automatically stop its operation. At the same time, this control station will not analyze what will happen with the neighboring wells that are operated nearby, and the associated infrastructure, although the shutdown of one well directly affects how the neighboring facilities will work.
As a rule, the obtained results are collected somewhere on the server, but are not analyzed at all. To fix this, oil companies have a tendency to introduce the system “intellectual field” or “digital field”, the main task of which is to unite all participants in the process, namely, users, equipment, etc., into a single information infrastructure that will allow you to not only manage current processes, but also to predict what will happen in a day, in a week, etc.
Important when building such systems is the creation of a unified information network using wireless technologies, because deposits are usually strongly scattered geographically. At the same time, it is necessary to establish interaction using secure communication protocols in order to prevent information leaks.
The process of oil and gas production includes exploration, production, transportation, preparation and delivery of oil. Today, all these steps are not informationally sufficiently interconnected. But if we had the opportunity to combine all of this into a single information network, to establish interaction between various sensors and controllers that are used at each stage, then the influence of the human factor on the process as a whole could be minimized.
This whole cycle can be automated to such a level that at the points of delivery of oil volumes will automatically increase or decrease. And a person will simply control these processes - to confirm something, and if something confuses him, then simply stop them. (Apparently, OPEC is already working on this technology).
And one more example from the industry. Sensors from gas stations collect information into a single database that is automatically transmitted to the tank farms. As a result, the equipment itself at the oil depots will form applications for petrol stations, based on the results of the information received and on the forward-looking calculations, to which amount of gasoline and what brand should be delivered.
So what do we have as a result? The human factor as a weak link will be excluded from all possible routine processes. How far is the future? Maybe it is just around the corner? And what will we do? To lie under a palm tree and supervise the work of "smart machines"? Are we bored?
')
Still, is the Internet of Things a myth or a reality? Let's try to figure it out.
To begin with, the term “Internet of Things” was born. Recall that at first there was just an online information network. Conventionally - the first stage of development. With the help of the Internet, we allowed ourselves to exchange information in a very fast and efficient way. We no longer need to travel to the Lenin Library, write and rewrite by hand, graduate students, diplomas, etc. And remember the typewriters with a carbon copy. Or postcards for the New Year, which came closer to the March holidays (someone found this time?) And did someone print black and white photos in the bath, then to distribute them to friends during a personal meeting?
Then we moved to the second stage - the Internet of Things, or a network of machines. Sensors, sensors, various devices, computers - they all begin to interact with each other, receive information, process it. That is, human sensors have been successfully replaced by mechanical sensors.
The next stage, the third - the processing of the collected information. To say that this is big data is to say nothing, because we are faced with a huge amount of information that grows exponentially. Now, on the basis of the information collected, the network, the system, etc., perform certain proactive actions. Those. cars already start to think and act for us, practically without our participation!
What's next? Where are we going? Perhaps the fourth stage will come when networks will appear not only of machines, but of the network of thinking mashines - artificial intelligence. And this must be prepared. Because, of course, on the one hand, the future of the Internet of things makes all this much easier, on the other hand, there is a reason to think more strongly about the movie “Terminator: Rise of the Machines”.
But let's not look into the distant future. Let's look at real examples in the mining and oil and gas industries.
So, what are technologies aimed at automating the extraction of solid minerals? There is a clear tendency to gradual exclusion of man from technological processes of extraction. Due to the increasing complexity of mining and geological conditions, the development of the regions of the Far North, it is becoming more and more difficult for a person to be present directly in the production zone. We have reached such a technical and technological level of development that we can develop equipment that is fully robotic. Accordingly, the equipment interacts with each other and with the server to transmit various diagnostic and analytical information.
There is a specialized Internet of things - internet of mining equipment. And this industry is now, in fact, being formed. In Australia, for example, robotic dump trucks are already running, which drive without a driver, they interact with each other, as well as with the server. Man has already been excluded from the immediate mining process. He is simply the highest supervisor who analyzes the processes and deals with the programs for the further development of the enterprise.
More and more industries are seeking to exclude man from processes
because a person is an element of risk (human factor), which can reduce work efficiency.
Consider the second example - the automation of processes in oil and gas companies.
The IoT concept works here to the fullest. In any oil company uses a huge amount of equipment - this is a zoo of information systems, weakly interacting with each other. Of course, there are some elements of general control, but they are used separately and locally. For example, if a signal from the pump of any well is about exceeding the critical pressure, the control station of this well can automatically stop its operation. At the same time, this control station will not analyze what will happen with the neighboring wells that are operated nearby, and the associated infrastructure, although the shutdown of one well directly affects how the neighboring facilities will work.
As a rule, the obtained results are collected somewhere on the server, but are not analyzed at all. To fix this, oil companies have a tendency to introduce the system “intellectual field” or “digital field”, the main task of which is to unite all participants in the process, namely, users, equipment, etc., into a single information infrastructure that will allow you to not only manage current processes, but also to predict what will happen in a day, in a week, etc.
Important when building such systems is the creation of a unified information network using wireless technologies, because deposits are usually strongly scattered geographically. At the same time, it is necessary to establish interaction using secure communication protocols in order to prevent information leaks.
The process of oil and gas production includes exploration, production, transportation, preparation and delivery of oil. Today, all these steps are not informationally sufficiently interconnected. But if we had the opportunity to combine all of this into a single information network, to establish interaction between various sensors and controllers that are used at each stage, then the influence of the human factor on the process as a whole could be minimized.
This whole cycle can be automated to such a level that at the points of delivery of oil volumes will automatically increase or decrease. And a person will simply control these processes - to confirm something, and if something confuses him, then simply stop them. (Apparently, OPEC is already working on this technology).
And one more example from the industry. Sensors from gas stations collect information into a single database that is automatically transmitted to the tank farms. As a result, the equipment itself at the oil depots will form applications for petrol stations, based on the results of the information received and on the forward-looking calculations, to which amount of gasoline and what brand should be delivered.
So what do we have as a result? The human factor as a weak link will be excluded from all possible routine processes. How far is the future? Maybe it is just around the corner? And what will we do? To lie under a palm tree and supervise the work of "smart machines"? Are we bored?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/261045/
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