Firstly, a happy new year to all. I hope you have returned from the festive season refreshed and ready for whatever the next months hold, whether interesting or disruptive.
African digitalisation
Conferences are an excellent way of keeping up with the latest developments and at the end of last year I attended two very interesting ones which gave insight into what industry can expect in the not too distant future. At the first, Siemens presented the findings of its African Digitalisation Maturity report, which benchmarked the extent of digitalisation in four African countries across their key vertical industries – transport, manufacturing and energy. There were some interesting conclusions.
Manufacturing was found to be the most mature industry digital-wise, although the adoption of smart technologies that could accelerate Industry 4.0 was at the foundation stage. However, awareness of the significance and potential of these technologies was found to be high. Another key finding that resonated with me was that in the African context, disruptive digital technology will drive development, not disruption. Conventional global views of digitalisation are being reworked for local fit – glocalised digitalisation – while advanced technologies offer the opportunity to solve socio-economic problems. The potential is massive.
However, the report also warned that digitalisation in Africa will only happen in small isolated areas unless governments drive overarching policies to ensure consistency of standards. It’s covered in this issue of Motion Control and the full version is available from [email protected]
Technology trends in the disruptive age
At the second conference the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association gave us a fascinating look into the future and how technology will disrupt business. With the theme ‘Mastering The Fourth Industrial Revolution’, we were treated to a thought-provoking account of technology trends in the disruptive age that will change the manufacturing industry in the next 30 years: anything from self-healing materials to human-computer integration to the disappearance of physical money to designer babies to the first human colony on Mars. Driven by three primary forces – technology, globalisation and demographic change – digital disruption is fundamentally changing the way the world works. There’ll be another billion people on the planet by 2025, and today 1,5 million people leave rural areas and move to cities every week. Today's businesses, government and individuals are responding to transformative trends that would have seemed unimaginable even a few years ago.
The digital mesh
Gartner Group is a master at identifying megatrends. The top technology trends for this year are the digital mesh, smart machines, and the new IT reality. My favourite is what they call the ‘device mesh’ and it’s already here. It’s an evolving digital mesh of smart machines, devices and appliances connecting billions of things in a continuous digital experience. We are using it to access applications and information, and interact with people, social communities, governments and businesses. Gartner says we will see significant development in wearables and augmented reality, especially virtual reality. What opportunities this offers for training.
But there is a caveat. The complexities of digital business, combined with an emerging hacker industry, significantly increase the threat for an organisation. In the new IT reality, IT leaders must focus on detecting and responding to threats, as well as more traditional blocking to prevent attacks.
A camless engine
Getting more down to basics, an innovation which recently attracted my attention is the camless engine developed by FreeValve, which is edging closer to production. Instead of a camshaft, the camless engine relies on pneumatic valve actuators to open the engine’s valves, which are then closed by air pressure or springs. This results in much more precise and customisable control over valve duration and lift on both the intake and exhaust sides.
According to FreeValve, the benefits are increased power and torque; and when combined with downsized engines, you also get a reduction in fuel consumption. Engines also no longer need parts such as the throttle body, camshaft, cam drive, timing gear and cover, wastegate, pre-catalytic converter systems and direct injection systems, helping to further reduce size, weight and complexity. I’m looking forward to seeing this one in action.
Something different
In this issue of Motion Control we have something a bit different. In one story we describe how researchers at the University of California are studying hydraulic fluids at the nano level using molecular dynamic simulation, with the goal of developing more efficient hydraulic fluids. We also have an account of how hydraulics contributes to the Top Thrill Dragster, rated tops for aggressive thrill at the Cedar Fair in Ohio; and to finish, I couldn’t resist another one on how hydraulics lifted the stage during U2’s 360 concert tour.
Kim Roberts
Editor
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