Speech recognition capabilities, like Siri, have been popular in consumer applications for years. Beckhoff is now bringing this technology to industrial automation through the use of Amazon’s Polly for online use and Microsoft’s Cortana for offline applications. In this demo from Hannover Messe 2019, Sven Goldstein, Beckhoff’s TwinCat product manager, shows how the technology can be used to deliver basic instructions to a controller, such as to increase or decrease motor speed. It also allows for a machine to provide audio feedback to an operator. Goldstein says this capability can be helpful when workers are wearing gloves or otherwise cannot access the HMI to change operating parameters.
David Greenfield, editor in chief | Editor in Chief
David Greenfield joined Automation World in June 2011. Bringing a wealth of industry knowledge and media experience to his position, David’s contributions can be found in AW’s print and online editions and custom projects. Earlier in his career, David was Editorial Director of Design News at UBM Electronics, and prior to joining UBM, he was Editorial Director of Control Engineering at Reed Business Information, where he also worked on Manufacturing Business Technology as Publisher.
