Question

Provide five examples of how the Internet of Things (IoT) will influence your career practicing mechanical engineering

o Explain (in detail and with examples) how life and society will benefit from this evolution

Answer 1

The industry is buzzing over the Internet of Things (IoT). For consumers and businesses, there’s the promise of never-before-seen smart products—ones that do your shopping, manage energy costs, and keep customers happy by initiating fixes to problems they never knew they had.

As a matter of fact, there is. It’s called an unprecedented opportunity for reinvention, encouraging engineers to branch out into areas like big data analytics and the exploration of new business models while shifting routine roles into career overdrive.

Make no bones about it--the rise of IoT is going to make an already challenging role that much more complex. Engineers will no longer be able to effectively practice their craft in a vacuum--instead of being valued by their command of basic design principles or their dexterity with 3D modeling and simulation technologies, engineers will need to be equally adept at investigating design problems in the context of a broader ecosystem of software and services.

With smart, connected products comes a mash up of mechanical, electrical, and software components—with a lot of emphasis on software—resulting in an even higher priority placed on systems engineering expertise, now and going forward. Similarly, other areas commonly outside the boundaries of traditional engineering will become fair game for the mechanical engineer’s tool box. This includes in-depth knowledge of sensors and connectivity technologies to help create the “connected” piece of an IoT-enabled product strategy in addition to having a base familiarity with data collection and data analytics tools.

If it seems like a lot to know, it is. But moving beyond one’s comfort zone usually comes with a pay off, and it’s no different in the case of IoT product design. For one thing, if the strategy and product design is orchestrated properly, an IoT-enabled product—let’s say a piece of industrial equipment or a consumer appliance—can actually be a design engineer’s best friend. These products will deliver previously hard-to-find in-field usage data—think average load capacity on a tractor, for example, or how often a refrigerator water dispenser is used—that can provide critical insights for designing the next iteration.

1) The influx of in-field usage data will also give engineers a more lasting relationship with products, which hasn’t been the case historically. Engineers typically lose any real visibility into a product once they pass the prototyping stage, which means they have little to no clue about actual performance or the variety of use cases. As a result, engineer get by on anecdotal feedback, which is swayed by personal experience and open to interpretation. But with in-field data mined for insights, engineers might be able to redesign components for optimal materials usage, reducing costs by avoiding over designing. IoT intelligence could also shed light on why a part keeps breaking down in certain use case scenarios, taking guesswork out of the equation and helping engineers innovate more compelling designs.

2) First off, findings from numerous studies are saying that innovation is now coming from electronics and software in mechatronic products. Systems that used to be completely mechanical now have controls that are largely electronic and software driven.

Second, watch out because here comes the Internet of Things. This is basically the idea that traditional mechatronic products can be connected to the Internet, offering both Internet-driven capabilities but also communicating back to the original manufacturer.

Both are compelling trends. Both have nothing directly to do with mechanical engineering. However, mechanical engineers need to take broader considerations into account while designing.

3) practically all controls will be electronics and software driven. For mechanical engineers, this touches on the need to refresh the supplier base to include those offering motors, pumps, valves and all manner of other traditional components that can be controlled by software.

4) Just like a smartphone or laptop, the control systems for these products will have the ability to upgrade themselves over an Internet connection. This includes fixing software bugs, but also includes new capabilities added over the air.

Given that scenario, mechanical engineers need to start preparing for what comes next. While software can be upgraded over the air, mechanical aspects of a system cannot. That means you may need to start including more functionality and capability, especially for long lifecycle and hard to service products, that might not be immediately leveraged. The idea is that when the software is upgraded in the future, the mechanical capabilities are there to be controlled. Plan for future requirements.

5) Innovation from software and the Internet of Things isn’t just about servicing and upgrading the product: It’s also about communicating back to the original manufacturer. Again, when looking for components, it will be important to find those that include sensors that gather information about product operations and success. This allows the product to be assessed remotely, which can be used to proactively address service issues, provide guidance on usage and design the next generation of the product.