Machine Monitoring
One of the issues involved in machine monitoring is whether or not it can be accomplished automatically in a practical way. In the 1980s monitoring was typically done by having a menu on the DNC terminal where the operator had to manually indicate what was being done by selecting from a menu, which has obvious drawbacks. There have been advances in passive monitoring systems where the machine condition can be determined by hardware attached in such a way as not to interfere with machine operations (and potentially void warranties). Many modern controls allow external applications to query their status using a special protocol. MTConnect is one prominent attempt to augment the existing world of proprietary systems with some open-source, industry-standard protocols and XML schemas and an ecosystem of massively multiplayer app development and mashups (analogous to that with smartphones) so that these long-sought higher levels of manufacturing business intelligence and workflow automation can be realized.
Read more about this topic: Direct Numerical Control
Famous quotes containing the word machine:
“The chrysanthemums’ astringent fragrance comes
Each year to disguise the clanking mechanism
Of machine within machine within machine.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)