KEY INSIGHTS

Most autonomous vehicles focus on getting from point A to point B safely. In agriculture it’s more than moving from one spot to another. The tractors in the fi eld must follow a precise path and do a specifi c job. The autonomous 8R tractor is one giant robot, performing its job with accuracy and without human intervention. It’s the next revolution in agriculture.

Stephanie Neil on John Deere’s 8R autonomous tractor.

Volkswagen applications intended to test the new Nokia 5G network in its Wolfsburg, Germany, plant include wireless upload of data to manufactured vehicles and networking of robots and wireless assembly tools. All data used by the network will be processed at the edge in real-time, never leaving Volkswagen’s facility.

David Miller on Volkswagen’s use of a private Nokia 5G network.

Though federal and state regulations governing plant and equipment safety don’t yet extend to cybersecurity protocols, some U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules, specifi cally those approval processes related to when devices or sensors are changed, are just cumbersome enough to act as a deterrent to upgrading to newer, more secure technology.

Beth Stackpole on cyber defense application issues in the food and beverage industry.

If you’re looking to do read-only remote access with no potential for remote control: 1) Don’t connect directly to controllers performing operations; 2) use an encrypted VPN to connect the plant fl oor to the internet to establish a private, encrypted connection; and 3) use multifactor authentication so that, in addition to user name and password requirements, you also need the authorized person’s smartphone or other mobile device.

David Greenfi eld on securing remote SCADA access.

Carlsberg turned to Autoware, an Italian system integration and software company, to help improve their data collection processes. Autoware used PTC technology to design an IoT-based application for use by machine operators to assess production performance across di erent facilities via real-time data and alerts.