Industrial Internet "new infrastructure", the opportunity for sensors is here!

　　At the just-concluded National Two Sessions, the Industrial Internet was once again written into the government work report, and upgraded from "building an industrial Internet platform" to a more comprehensive "developing the industrial Internet". As the "eyes, ears, noses and tongues" of industrial equipment, sensors are considered to be the foundation and core of the Industrial Internet. What role does the sensor play in the Industrial Internet? What new demands does the Industrial Internet put forward for sensors? What opportunities does the construction of the new infrastructure Industrial Internet bring to the sensor industry?

　　Sensors and Industrial Internet complement each other and promote each other

　　The Industrial Internet is the product of the deep integration of a new generation of information technology and manufacturing. Through the comprehensive interconnection of people, machines and things, a new manufacturing and service system with all elements, the entire industrial chain, the entire value chain, and the entire connection is built. The Industrial Internet is the interaction of data flow, hardware, software and intelligence.

　　Li Weiping, chairman of Nanjing Gaohua Technology Co., Ltd., told the "China Electronics News" reporter that sensors are the key components of automated intelligent equipment. They can perceive various status information of products, equipment and industrial environments through "seeing, smelling, listening, and cutting". . "Wang" includes various visual sensors, infrared sensors, and ray sensors, "smell" includes various gas sensors, "listen" includes various sound sensors, and "cut" includes various pressure, temperature and humidity, vibration, displacement and other sensors. He said that one of the cores of industrial interconnection is the intelligent monitoring of industrial processes and industrial environments. The application of sensors and wireless sensor network technology to intelligent monitoring is helpful for the optimization of industrial production process technology, and at the same time, it can improve the ability and level of production line process detection, real-time parameter collection, production equipment monitoring, and material consumption monitoring, making the production process more efficient. The level of intelligent monitoring, intelligent control, intelligent diagnosis, intelligent decision-making and intelligent maintenance has been continuously improved.

　　Since the 1980s, there has been a "sensor fever" in the world. All advanced industrial countries have attached great importance to the research, development and production of sensing technology and sensors. The production of sensors and their systems has become an important emerging industry. . Zhang Jianqi, deputy general manager of Xi'an Aerospace Automation Co., Ltd., said in an interview with a reporter from China Electronics News that in the development process of the industrial Internet, in order to achieve industrial interconnection, it is necessary to build a complete industrial sensor networking system, because the era of industrial Internet is about to Machines, equipment, personnel, materials, etc. are connected through a new generation of information technologies such as cloud computing and big data, and data aggregation, processing, and analysis are carried out at the same time, which provides decision-making basis for industrial production, and ultimately improves the intelligence of manufacturing and industrial enterprises. level.

　　Therefore, in the era of the Industrial Internet, sensors are the source of network interconnected data and the nerve endings of the Industrial Internet, providing the most basic data support for the entire ecological construction of the Industrial Internet. "If we describe the closed-loop process of CYBER spatial data flow in a system or a slightly intelligent system as 'state perception-real-time analysis-autonomous decision-making-accurate execution-learning improvement', then sensors provide the forefront of data That is, the most initial source, which provides data support for the system."

　　"Industrial Internet and sensors complement each other and promote each other." Xu Jing, Industrial Internet Research Office, Institute of Information Technology and Software Industry, China Electronics and Information Industry Development Research Institute, put forward, "Sensors are the entrance of industrial Internet data collection and industrial Internet. The foundation and key components of the Internet. The industrial Internet platform provides a platform for data cleaning, storage, exchange, and value mining for the data collected by sensors, and promotes the application of data in a wider range, wider field, and deeper level.”

　　Industrial Internet presents new challenges for sensors

　　The vigorous development of the Industrial Internet not only brings huge opportunities to sensors, but also puts forward new requirements for sensors.

　　Li Weiping believes that the development of the Industrial Internet has obvious stages from low-level to high-level. No matter what stage of development, it is inseparable from the wide application of sensors. "The requirements for sensors are different in different stages of the development of the Industrial Internet. In the current application situation, sensors are mainly used by enterprises for data collection and analysis based on the Industrial Internet. With the deepening of the development stage of the Industrial Internet, the future The requirements for the accuracy of sensors and related technologies will also be higher and higher, mainly reflected in higher requirements for sensitivity, stability, reliability, etc." Li Weiping said.

　　Zhang Jianqi further analyzed the development direction of sensors in the industrial Internet era. He pointed out that sensors will develop in the direction of intelligence, miniaturization, multi-function, low power consumption, and high precision. First of all, the era of the Industrial Internet requires the interconnection of all things, which requires that the sensor cost as a data aggregation perception should be low. Only low-cost sensors can truly realize the interconnection of all things. Kong Hanning, the father of German Industry 4.0, also pointed out that low-cost sensors are a necessary condition for realizing Industry 4.0. Secondly, under the requirement of low cost of sensors, it is also necessary to ensure that the sensing accuracy of sensors meets the requirements of industrial scenarios and the accuracy of sensing data. Third, the era of the Industrial Internet puts forward higher requirements for sensor power consumption. Only by ensuring that the power consumption of sensing components is low enough, can the goal of energy saving and consumption reduction of sensing terminals under the Internet of Everything be achieved. At present, sensing terminals based on bioenergy, solar energy and other power supplies are emerging, providing a new technical support for the development of sensors in the industrial Internet era. Finally, in order to ensure the data security and reliability of the Industrial Internet, more and more industrial scenarios have put forward high requirements for the security and reliability of sensor equipment data. The high reliability of sensors is a major challenge for the development of sensors in the industrial Internet era, especially the recent frequent network security issues have brought new issues to the security characteristics of sensors.

　　In addition, traditional sensors are being upgraded to smart terminals at an accelerated pace, laying the foundation for building a new "device-edge-cloud" architecture. Zhang Jianqi told reporters that with the massive access of low-cost sensors, massive amounts of data will be generated. If this data is sent directly to the cloud without processing, it will have catastrophic consequences for the cloud. Therefore, traditional sensors are being upgraded to smart terminals at an accelerated pace. After optimization and processing on the edge side, reliable and reliable data is uploaded to the cloud.

　　Xu Jing believes that the industrial Internet puts forward higher requirements on the collection density, operating conditions, and autonomous control of sensors. In terms of collection density, industrial production requires high-frequency, large-throughput, non-destructive and full-time stable data collection capabilities. In terms of operating conditions, unlike sensors in the consumer field, sensors in the industrial field need to be resistant to high temperature and extreme cold, salt corrosion and acid and alkali corrosion, humidity, flying sand and dust, severe vibration and shock, and resistance to noise capability. In terms of autonomy and control, the current sensor industry in my country is seriously hollowed out. 90% of high-end industrial sensors are monopolized by foreign manufacturers. Most of the Chinese manufacturers are in the low-end field, and there are data security risks. In the past, data leakage was limited to a factory or an enterprise, but in the context of the comprehensive interconnection of the Industrial Internet, data leakage may extend to the entire industry chain, resulting in the loss of economic benefits for the entire industry.

　　The construction of new infrastructure and industrial Internet further drives the development of sensors

　　As an important part of the new infrastructure, the construction of the Industrial Internet will have a comprehensive, deep and revolutionary impact on the sensor industry, and my country's sensor industry will usher in unprecedented development opportunities. According to data, the domestic industrial Internet market is expected to grow by 7% this year.

　　Zhang Jianqi told the reporter of "China Electronics News" that in the construction of the new infrastructure industrial Internet, the focus will be on enhancing the Internet perception capabilities of industrial field equipment, strengthening the collection of key data information of underlying equipment, and improving the perception sensitivity of the underlying nerve endings of the industrial Internet, which will promote sensors. The deep integration of the industrial chain at various stages, such as manufacturing, design and development, and optimization iteration, promotes the rapid growth of the sensor industry ecology, so that the sensor industry continues to grow and develop, so as to better promote the high-quality development of the industrial Internet industry.

　　The development of the Industrial Internet has brought a huge market to my country's sensor industry, driving up the demand for sensors. Xu Jing told the "China Electronics News" reporter: "my country's sensor industry has problems of 'small, scattered, chaotic, and weak'. my country's sensor companies can take this opportunity to seize market opportunities, enhance corporate strength, and expand industrial scale."

　　The sensor industry chain includes upstream components, chips, circuits, microcontrollers, coating materials and other companies, midstream packaging and manufacturing companies, and downstream application companies. Xu Jing believes that the industrial Internet, as a hub connecting all elements, the entire industrial chain, and the entire value chain, plays a very important role in promoting the upstream and downstream coordination of the sensor industry chain and forming industrial synergy.