With the growing interconnectedness of manufacturing systems every year, machines, sensors, cameras, RFID readers, PLCs, MES, ERP and other IoT devices generate and send a torrent of operational data. While data acquisition has gotten simpler, the problem lies in efficiently using and analyzing it for informed decision-making quickly.
This is where Cloud AI and Edge AI come into the spotlight. Contrary to a belief that they may be opposing forces competing with each other, they can actually work in tandem in modern manufacturing environments to establish an agile and responsive architecture.
Cloud AI versus Edge AI
The distinguishing factor between cloud AI and edge AI lies in where the processing takes place.
Cloud AI involves transmitting data to centralized cloud infrastructure where its advanced computing power can analyze and process it.
Edge AI, on the other hand, carries out AI inference closer to the origin point of the data – at the machine, on a gateway, an industrial computer, or an edge device itself.
A simplified model of a cloud AI system can be depicted as follows:
Machines Network > Cloud AI Processing > Decision
Edge AI, however, might look like:
Machines > Edge Device AI Processing > Decision
v
Cloud
This implies that edge devices have the capability to make certain decisions independently, while the cloud provides centralized services like massive analytical capabilities, storage, and management across the system.
Why Edge AI Matters for Manufacturing
Traditional consumer-centric AI doesn't adequately meet the unique demands of industrial environments. Think about a large factory packed with thousands of interconnected machines and sensors that constantly stream data. In this scenario, the business objectives often dictate the necessity for near real-time decision-making.
Edge AI allows some applications to make decisions locally at the machine's production line, as opposed to always routing all information through a distant cloud. Some applications where this can significantly impact performance include:
Machine performance monitoring
Anomaly detection
Automated quality inspection
Production line monitoring
Manufacturing automation processes
Industrial safety and alarms
Quick decisions enabled by removing extra communication lines can be a valuable asset to time-sensitive manufacturing processes.
A factory produces vast quantities of information from all sensors, machines, cameras and tracking data that cannot be entirely fed to the cloud in real-time; not without potentially significant cost in network bandwidth. Edge systems can provide data filtering capabilities-collecting and processing informationlocally.
Raw Data > Edge Processing > Critical Events > Cloud This way, not all raw data will need to be transferred for further analysis, only pertinent and vital data to be shared with central data processing entities.
Industrial connectivity is often susceptible to interference or complete loss of connection. Edge AI allows manufacturers to ensure that they can at least continue basic production line analysis and make key monitoring and decision-making processes regardless of intermittent cloud connectivity. This is crucial for operations that cannot afford any lapses.
Real-time Asset Tracking
The increasing interconnectivity in manufacturing makes real-time asset tracking one of the more innovative uses. Using such technologies as RFID, BLE, UWB, GPS and industrial sensors provides manufacturers with accurate visibility into the current location and movement of assets, whether it's machinery, tools or materials currently in production. However, it goes beyond simply tracking asset location. The actual value is in correlating the location information with data that is critical to production.
Asset Location
Production Data
Process Details
Operational Insights
Such correlations can reveal crucial insights such as: Are materials sitting for too long in one production zone? Where are key tools located? Is WIP progressing smoothly? Are there obvious production bottlenecks?
Cloud AI Still Has a Critical Role
It's important to highlight that Edge AI is not a substitute for cloud capabilities but rather a complement. Cloud systems still boast numerous capabilities for high-end and distributed computations. Cloud platform use cases frequently include:
AI model development and training
Large-scale historical data analysis
Comprehensive data storage
Interactive and integrated dashboards
Inter-factory performance benchmarking
Enterprise integration
This division provides clear responsibilities between the edge and cloud environments:
Edge:
Speed
Local operation
Real-time response
Cloud:
Scalability
Centralized nature
Comprehensive analytics
A Combined Architecture for Smart Factories
A smart factory ecosystem can benefit from a system architecture utilizing both Edge and Cloud:
Sensors / Machines > Edge Layer (AI Inference & Filtering) > Cloud Platform (Analytics & Historical Data) > Business Intelligence The edge layer takes care of immediate, on-the-ground operation. The cloud system provides analysis at a much larger scale and intelligence that covers a wider overview of the entire operation, which especially shines in multiple factory settings.
AIoT at Work
When you combine AI capabilities with IoT devices, it typically results in what's known as AIoT - Artificial Intelligence of Things. Traditional IoT focuses more on the collection of data, whereas AIoT enhances it with an layer of intelligence:
Sensor Data > AI Insight > Action This enables significantly enhanced operations across all systems.
AIoT in the Automotive Sector
The Automotive sector serves as a prime example of how AIoT can improve efficiency throughout the complex manufacturing process involving hundreds of tools, several stations and the large scale movement of materials through the factory; this field includes but is not limited to:
Platforms such as CompentraAI specialize in bringing together these capabilities for connected manufacturing and industrial analytics, with a focus on combining IoT, the cloud and real-time tracking technologies.
Platforms such as CompentraAI focus on connected manufacturing and industrial intelligence, bringing together AIoT concepts, real-time visibility, tracking technologies, and manufacturing operations.
Why a hybrid, not opposed approach is most practical
Rather than asking "Will manufacturers choose Cloud or Edge AI?", a better question to ask manufacturers is, "To what extent can they leverage one type of AI technology over the other within their factories?"
| Need | Dominant Technology |
|------|---| | Near real-time monitoring of machines | Edge |
| Prompt alarms | Edge |
| Local sensor data processing | Edge |
| Training machine learning algorithms | Cloud |
| Historically evaluating large datasets | Cloud |
| Extensive data storage | Cloud |
| Data analytics at the factory level | Cloud |
| Decisions that need immediate and precise real-time input | Edge + Cloud |
Ultimately, the chosen architecture will hinge on the particular operational requirements and circumstances of each individual manufacturing facility.
The Outlook: Decentralized Industrial Intelligence
In the long-term, industrial AI is expected to take a decidedly distributed direction. Intelligence will coexist across a variety of forms and locations, from the machinery within factory floors to cloud servers; and integrated enterprise systems will work to bridge all of these platforms together seamlessly.
Machines
Sensors & IoT devices
Edge AI
Near real-time decision-making Cloud-based analytics
Enterprise-level intelligence
This model offers manufacturers the perfect synergy-the sheer speed of the edge combined with the expansive capabilities of the cloud.
Concluding Remarks
The dichotomy between Cloud AI and Edge AI shouldn't be an oppositional debate; in smart manufacturing, they work very harmoniously. Edge AI offers instantaneous local processing and cloud platforms add large-scale analytical power and extensive storage with enhanced insights. Combined with IoT, RFID, BLE, UWB, MES, ERP and other technologies, the path towards intelligent and connected operations opens up for manufacturers. The future might just as likely be a collaborative effort between the edge and the cloud, not a war between the two.