Industrial automation operations work very much like the human body, with the brain (the PLC), the organs and limbs (production machinery) and the nerve endings (sensors).
Just like nerve endings, sensors allow things to happen. They grab all the information and transmit it to the PLC. The whole range of sensors – pressure level, flow, colour, distance, luminescence, and many more – provide different signals that are then interpreted by the PLC/controlling machine, creating a complex organism.
In the same way that the brain makes decisions based on the data it receives from the nerve endings, the information from sensors is used by the PLC and by businesses to optimise production.
Nothing would happen without nerve endings and, in a smart factory, the same can be said for sensors.
Read the full article in DPA's February 2025 issue