The Fourth Industrial Revolution heralds a series of social, political, cultural, and economic upheavals that will unfold over the 21st century. Building on the widespread availability of digital technologies that were the result of the Third Industrial, or Digital, Revolution, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will be driven largely by the convergence of digital, biological, and physical innovations.
Like the First Industrial Revolution’s steam-powered factories, the Second Industrial Revolution’s application of science to mass production and manufacturing, and the Third Industrial Revolution’s start into digitization, the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s technologies, such as artificial intelligence, genome editing, augmented reality, robotics, and 3-D printing, are rapidly changing the way humans create, exchange, and distribute value. As occurred in the previous revolutions, this will profoundly transform institutions, industries, and individuals. More importantly, this revolution will be guided by the choices that people make today: the world in 50 to 100 years from now will owe a lot of its character to how we think about, invest in, and deploy these powerful new technologies.
What is the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
The first industrial revolution came with the advent of mechanisation, steam power and water power.
This was followed by the second industrial revolution, which revolved around mass production and assembly lines using electricity.
The third industrial revolution came with electronics, I.T. systems and automation, which led to the fourth industrial revolution that is associated with cyber physical systems.
What is an Example of the Industry 4.0 Revolution?
Industry 4.0 has already been demonstrated through business models such as offline programming and adaptive control for arc welding, taking the process from product design through simulation and onto the shop floor for production.
There are also examples of businesses implementing Industry 4.0 in automotive manufacture and a variety of smart factories across the world.
Industry 4.0 Technologies
Generally-speaking, Industry 4.0 describes the growing trend towards automation and data exchange in technology and processes within the manufacturing industry, including:
• The internet of things (IoT)
• The industrial internet of things (IIoT)
• Cyber-physical systems (CPS)
• Smart manufacture
• Smart factories
• Cloud computing
• Cognitive computing
• Artificial intelligence
This automation creates a manufacturing system whereby machines in factories are augmented with wireless connectivity and sensors to monitor and visualise an entire production process and make autonomous decisions.
Wireless connectivity and the augmentation of machines will be greatly advanced with the full roll out of 5G. This will provide faster response times, allowing for near real time communication between systems.
The fourth industrial revolution also relates to digital twin technologies. These digital technologies can create virtual versions of real-world installations, processes and applications. These can then be robustly tested to make cost-effective decentralised decisions.
These virtual copies can then be created in the real world and linked, via the internet of things, allowing for cyber-physical systems to communicate and cooperate with each other and human staff to create a joined up real time data exchange and automation process for Industry 4.0 manufacturing.
This automation includes interconnectivity between processes, information transparency and technical assistance for decentralised decisions.
Industry 4.0 at TWI
TWI has been exploring Industry 4.0, with a particular focus on its application to joining and associated technologies. Digital manufacturing is a key area for development through TWI projects and industrial case studies.
These projects include those related to areas such as rapid prototyping, electronics and sensors, and also digital twin for inspection purposes.
TWI’s expertise means that we remain at the forefront of this emerging array of processes, technologies and applications across a variety of industry sectors.
Industry 4.0 at TWI
TWI has been exploring Industry 4.0, with a particular focus on its application to joining and associated technologies. Digital manufacturing is a key area for development through TWI projects and industrial case studies.
These projects include those related to areas such as rapid prototyping, electronics and sensors, and also digital twin for inspection purposes.
Conclusion
It has made our lives much easier and comfortable. Everyone has access to knowledge and information, most of the countries are democratic and People have Right to freedom and equality. In a bad way, technology has caused climate change, It has made us dependent on it.
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