Source: Microsoft
Headline: How AI is helping Siemens and thyssenkrupp bridge skilling gaps in manufacturing
Schoenherr said the task of programming these complex machines is time-consuming. Each machine has a PLC, or Programmable Logic Controller, which Schoenherr compared to a laptop running Windows. The PLC links and controls all the smaller devices, each with its own programming, inside a machine like the one testing EV battery cells.
Schoenherr says this is one of the areas where the Industrial Copilot has proven very useful. He cites a situation he was dealing with that day, where a camera captures data about each individual cell from an inscription on its side; the camera wasn’t always able to read the inscription.
“You have a certain component, like the camera that is part of the machine, but it has its own program,” he says. “Someone gives you the program to use the camera, but you never used it before.” The camera’s programming contains the key to solving the problem, but breaking down the code can be a patience-testing task.
“That’s the situation where you ask the copilot, ‘Please explain the source code to me. What can I do? What’s the input A for, what’s the input B for?’ And it explains, so that’s great. The copilot helps you put things together more simply.”