We have talked a lot in this space about the importance of a boundless automation vision for successfully deploying AI into the OT space. After all, AI needs loads of data, and if that data is trapped in silos, it can’t get to the data lakes, analytics applications, ERP systems, and AI tools that will create dramatic change in operational excellence across an enterprise.
However, as Claudio Fayad explored in his recent article in Control Engineering, driving that boundless automation vision of seamless data mobility from the intelligent field through to the cloud to power AI tools requires solutions to bridge both on premises and cloud technologies. Fortunately, there’s a solution for that—edge technologies. And what’s even better is the foundational elements of that solution already exist today.
“This will require edge environment solutions as a tool to drive seamless integration and data mobility, and to bridge the IT/OT and cloud/edge gaps—while simultaneously managing data, computational resources, and security as data flows across an entirely new pipeline.”
Edge as an enabler
One of the key benefits of AI technology is its flexibility and versatility. Enabling that flexibility means allowing for different ways of deploying varied technologies. Some technologies will need the compute power and scalability of the cloud to accomplish their tasks. Others, however, will need to be located closer to the real-time control functions they are supporting, both to control latency and to protect sensitive intellectual property. This is where edge technologies play a critical role. Claudio explains,
“An edge environment provides the infrastructure teams need to safely connect OT assets to the IT environment both on-premises and in the cloud. The resulting seamless data mobility forms the foundation for a secure data pipeline designed to combine real-time, historical, and unstructured data to feed AI tools wherever they are located in the enterprise.”
These edge technologies are a key source of the optimized hardware necessary to run compute-heavy workloads like AI—delivering computing power that simply is not possible on traditional control system architecture today. Edge technologies can bring significant processing power closer to the source of the action, delivering advanced technologies today and preparing a foundation for the software-defined control that will shift the way we think about process control in the years ahead.
Solutions like Emerson’s DeltaV™ Edge Environment are already shaping up to be game changers in this space. The DeltaV Edge Environment seamlessly handles large volumes of contextualized DeltaV data and makes it available to both IT and OT systems to fuel deeper operational insights. Yet, it is also more than just a transit hub for data. The DeltaV Edge environment also provides
“a data sandbox with containerized application tools to encourage varied execution and experimentation—the perfect incubator for the AI tools that will capture competitive advantage in coming years.”
AI is here—build the foundation
The chatter around AI has shifted from if to when. Make no mistake, AI technologies are coming, even in OT, and with each new iteration, the vanguard of plants experimenting with AI solutions pull ahead in competitive advantage against their competitors. It is not too early to begin thoughtfully implementing AI solutions, and the tools to do so—the edge technologies that will bridge on-premises OT systems and the cloud—are available and ready to start assisting in that journey.
