A TV set today, a vacuum cleaner tomorrow - on the same
production line. Industry 4.0 means that production is
becoming more modular and flexible. Individual production
modules are exchanged or rearranged in next to no time. This
has consequences for the connection technology.
While electrical connections were previously fixed, soldered
installations that were subsequently not touched for many
years, today’s flexibility calls for connectors that can be
disconnected thousands of times and still create a reliable
contact.
Connectors are also becoming more modular. They combine
contacts for high currents - for drives for example - with
Gigabit speed data connections and in some cases even
with pneumatics or hydraulics. Everything is easy to configure
and can be reassembled again and again, for example if a
machine is upgraded.
AC’s days are numbered. On the
one hand, photovoltaics generates
direct current, which is converted
into alternating to be fed into the
network and, on the other hand,
an increasing number of electronic
devices (TVs, computers,
smartphones, LED lights etc.)
demand direct current, which first
has to be rectified from the AC
network.
This raises the question of whether
it still makes sense to use AC. The
conversion involves huge energy
losses - numerous power stations
could be shut down if DC voltage
networks were to be installed in
industry and households.
Of course, bringing about the
paradigm shift is not as easy
as it may sound. Conventional
switches and connectors are not
suitable for DC voltage because
the polarity of the voltage does
not change and there is no arc
breakage when switching off - this
is hazardous. New connectors and
automatic switch-off mechanisms
are needed, but these issues can
certainly be resolved.
There are challenges for cable
manufacturers too. There are
strong indications that the plastics
used for insulation and cable
sheaths age differently under the
influence of the fields generated by
direct current. Research projects
are currently exploring these
issues.
These days, wi-fi is almost
ubiquitous in households, while
wireless technology for data
exchange is also gaining its
adherents in factories. Wireless
technology is generally cost-effective
and offers great flexibility
when systems are modified.
However, this does not mean that
cables will no longer be used, as
some people are predicting. On
the contrary: advancing electrification
and networking in factories
will, if anything, require even more
cables to guarantee the high
transmission rates.
In addition, cables have the
edge where data reliability and
latency are important, as industrial
production is based on strict
cycles and information has to
be reliably transmitted in the
millisecond range. This is very
difficult to achieve using wireless
solutions without disproportionately
high costs. This is because
multiple wireless connections can
easily interfere with and eliminate
one another and can also be
interrupted by moving objects
such as forklift trucks. Cables are
also less susceptible to malicious
disturbances or hacker attacks.
As a result, there is little prospect
of wireless technology pushing
out cable-based systems in the
future - in fact they will increasingly
complement one another.
DC REPLACING AC
COEXISTENCE OF CABLE
AND WIRELESS
CONNECTORS INSTEAD
OF DIRECT WIRING
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