Omron releases Sysmac AI controller for predictive maintenance

January 10, 2019 – The Sysmac AI Controller for human-machine collaboration is now available from automation solutions provider Omron Automation Americas.

The Sysmac AI Controller handles several key steps in the data-driven decision process for predictive maintenance, thereby freeing up industrial professionals from calculations, analyses and infrastructure upgrades.

The solution can help manufacturers reduce the risk of bad parts or equipment damage by detecting issues early on and prompting immediate action to resolve them.

The AI functionality – also known as “machine learning” – is able to identify abnormal machine behaviour without being explicitly programmed to do so. Since there could be many different factors and measurements that indicate an issue when observed together, automating the feature extraction process saves a significant amount of time and resources. Leveraging the machine learning results during production is key to ensuring end-user cost savings.

The process of collecting raw data from machines is completely automated by the new AI controller, which operates on the “edge” within the machine, ensuring higher data fidelity and consistency. In addition, the controller automatically creates data models from correlation analysis and monitors machine status based on that model. 

The hardware is based on the Sysmac NY5 IPC and the NX7 CPU and includes Omron’s AI Application Components, a library of AI predictive maintenance function blocks. Several additional AI specific utilities are also included.