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How Rockwell Automation is Adding AI to Its Products

See how the company is building artificial intelligence into products to improve design, performance, throughput, quality, maintenance and extend lifespan.

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By Mike Bacidore, Chief Editor, Control Design and Contributing Editor, The Journal

Industrial production systems are designed, operated and maintained throughout their lifespan. During the 2024 Automation Fair

® event in November, Jordan Reynolds, vice president of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy at Rockwell Automation, explained how the company is introducing AI as a meaningful technology change across the various stages of a production asset’s life cycle.

The task of reimagining systems and products with the ability to learn, generate instructions and optimize complex decision-making processes is an ongoing endeavor. The core portfolio is broken down into five categories: design, operations, logistics, automation and maintenance.

“It’s a pretty standard automation portfolio from a company like us,” Reynolds said.

“We think of AI not as a sixth category,” he added, “but are looking at ways we can incorporate AI and advanced analytics into the products our customers already use every day.”

AI-Assisted Opportunities

By using predictive models, embedded AI can come up with plans and materials recommendations, so operations management doesn’t need to, Reynolds explained. “Maintenance teams need to detect anomalies and know what to do about them, and AI can help there, too.”

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Some efforts are already underway. “We’ve introduced generative AI in our programming environment, turning natural language into code. This improves the efficiency of automation systems development. And if you don’t yet have any production data, you can use an Emulate3D simulation

as a training environment.”

Meanwhile, manufacturing execution system (MES) software from Plex

by Rockwell Automation enables fleet management against the OTTO Motors autonomous mobile robot
(AMR) portfolio. “We’re incorporating optimization capabilities based on AI,” he noted. Prescriptive recommendations can increase throughput and yield. The difference between a feasible and an optimal solution can be 10%.

Coding, Quality and Anomaly Detection

The Rockwell Automation FactoryTalk

® Analytics
™ family has already added LogixAI
®, VisionAI
™ and GuardianAI
™ capabilities. “We currently have 3 to 4 million programmable logic controllers in operation, generating massive amounts of data. They’re industry’s predominant aggregators,” Reynolds said. “Anyone using ControlLogix
® should have the ability for the controller to learn and adapt.”

Jordan Reynolds, Vice President of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy, Rockwell Automation, speaking at the 2024 Automation Fair event.

“We are looking at ways we can incorporate AI and advanced analytics into the products our customers already use every day.” — Jordan Reynolds, Rockwell Automation

VisionAI was introduced for quality inspection, with no programming necessary. “Point a camera at a product coming down a conveyor. It learns what ‘good’ looks like and what ‘bad’ looks like.”

For condition analysis and maintenance, Reynolds said the company has tens of millions of variable-frequency drives

(VFDs) and motion control systems
in the marketplace.

“We have customers with 2,000 or 3,000 of them in one facility. These contain integrated sensors to measure motor current. We can tap into this motor current sensor and apply anomaly detection to determine the condition of the asset being driven. By integrating GuardianAI with the Fiix

® by Rockwell Automation
[computerized maintenance management system], you can determine what work order is necessary. It’s even better when these capabilities are integrated,” he explained.

Catch up with the 2024 Automation Fair® event on demand

for keynotes and other activities at the show.

 

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Topics: The Journal Drives Motion Control Programmable Controllers

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