Yokogawa and NTT Docomo, Inc. announce in a press release that they have conducted a proof-of-concept test (PoC) of a remote control technology for industrial processing. The PoC test involved the use in a cloud environment of an autonomous control A.I., the Factorial Kernel Dynamic Policy Programming (FKDPP) algorithm developed by Yokogawa and the Nara Institute of Science and Technology, and a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communications network provided by DOCOMO. The test, which successfully controlled a simulated plant processing operation, according to Yokogawa, demonstrated that 5G is suitable for the remote control of actual plant processes.
The trend to locate production facilities in remote and/or hazardous areas in recent years is fueling a growing demand for remote industrial operations, according to the company. Meanwhile, equipment used in plants to purify and refine resources and materials for essential products can deteriorate after many years of use, so remote, autonomous regulation and control may be beneficial.
Yokogawa says it has already proven that its FKDPP algorithm is a feasible autonomous control A.I. solution. In a field test at a chemical plant in February, for 35 days FKDPP successfully controlled processes known to be difficult to automate using existing PID and APC control technologies, and which therefore had been performed manually, according to the company. The combination of FKDPP and the cloud with 5G, which offers low latency and the capability to connect a large number of devices, promises to be a core technology for achieving industrial autonomy, says Yokogawa.
Following an agreement between Yokogawa and Docomo announced on April 14, 2021, the demonstration test was conducted to verify whether a three-tank level control system could be controlled using FKDPP in the cloud via a 5G network. A target water level was set, tests with low- to high-speed control cycles were conducted and the effects of mobile-communications latency on FKDPP control were confirmed. Compared to 4G, the test demonstrated that especially with high-speed control 5G delivers lower latency, less overshoot relative to the target water level and is capable of handling a control cycle as short as 0.2 seconds, thereby achieving better control for more stable quality and higher energy efficiency, according to the company.
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