Blog

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an area in which activity is now ramping up at a phenomenal rate. There are many different constituent branches to AI – the more popular ones include data mining to find previously unknown relationships between data points, and machine learning (ML), this can help create smarter factories. By Mark Patrick, Mouser Electronics

The high productivity and throughput achieved by implementing automated processes is a key benefit to manufacturers considering a transition from more manual approaches. Down-time due to planned or unplanned maintenance can quickly negate efficiencies if production processes are halted for too long. Every second an automated production is offline costs money, which soon adds up. In this article, TME reviews different maintenance strategies and ou...

Over the past two decades, satellite-based positioning has become an indispensable, every-day technology that we constantly rely on - often even without being aware of it. With the relentless expansion of applications and use cases, driven largely by falling cost of ownership and improvements in positioning accuracy, there will soon be one GNSS receiver in operation for every person on the planet.

I have always been interested and somewhat fascinated by machines, especially the ones that are used to build other machines. I have good memories of my visits to an enormous foundry or a ship factory. This dates back 30 years when I was working in a machine shop as a high school senior. I loved the industrial saws used to cut 2” thick sheets of mica or the G-code programmed CNCs. Enough of this and back to the topic of the Fourth Industria...

The EU currently represents more than 30% of the overall global investment in Industry 4.0, and smart factories (particularly those concerned with making automobiles) are on the rise across Europe. One essential concept is for smarter factories that of the digital twin. This integrates at the system level sensor/IoT devices, data analytics, data storage and machine learning. By Mark Patrick, Mouser Electronics

If you’re into cars you’ll be able to run-off a list of classic, iconic vehicles that were pivotal in automotive history. The same goes for aviation, with quintessential designs being memorable for their shape, role or performance. Compared to these sectors, semiconductors are a fledgling industry, having only really got started back in the 1950s. Some 70 years into its history, now is a good time to reflect on our history in order th...

Bridging the gap between information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) is an essential step in realising a truly smart factory. When IT and OT converge, data collected from IoT devices can be efficiently analysed and quickly turned into valuable information. Edge computing sits right in the space between IT and OT and can therefore facilitate the converge of these seemingly distant worlds.

The advent of Industry 4.0 is driving significant changes across the whole of the contemporary industrial landscape. As covered in our previous two blogs, the increasing use of sensor devices and the latest forms of connectivity have enabled access to far more comprehensive datasets for thorough analysis for smarter factories. By Mark Patrick, Mouser Electronics

The use of 3D printing technology to build devices with embedded electronics has evolved. In the early days, special 3D printers injected dielectric inks onto a layer of a build, creating electronic traces, to build electronic parts. Here Nano Dimension's CEO, Yoav Stern, talks about new trends to create PCBs.

Over the past year or two, low power wide area cellular technologies, the likes of LTE-M and NB-IoT, have played a vital role in growing the industrial IoT. By delivering reliable service up to 100km from the nearest cell tower, connected devices that communicate using LPWA technologies can increase the geographical area within which they stay connected to the cloud.