Hossein Davari: Artificial Intelligence and Why It Matters

Acuity’s Manufacturing Specialist, Mike Schlagenhaufer, recently sat down with Hossein Davari, Data Scientist at Seismos, Inc., and former research associate at NSF Center for Intelligent Maintenance Systems (IMS) at the University of Cincinnati, to better understand artificial intelligence and its effect on manufacturing.

Who are you, and how are you connected to the industry? 

I worked with the Center for Intelligent Maintenance Systems (IMS), which is a multi-campus Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) program that has sites at the University of Cincinnati, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and University of Texas-Austin. 

IMS Center has worked with over 100 companies globally since 2001 to implement predictive maintenance solutions in their operations. IMS Center has developed a core technology called Watchdog Agent that consists of AI and machine learning algorithms for prognostics and health management (PHM) in manufacturing, transportation, and energy, among other applications. 

In simple terms, what is your definition of artificial intelligence (AI)? 

The ability of machines to imitate human intelligence: learn by example and make inference.

What are three key reasons manufacturing is moving to AI? 

AI has the potential to transform many industries, and the manufacturing industry is well-suited for such transformation. AI can transform the manufacturing industry by improving production rates, machine usage and uptime, product quality, predictive maintenance, and more. AI technologies, along with the Internet of Things (IoT), are mobilizing the fourth industrial revolution, namely Industry 4.0.   

Are you seeing any specific industries inside manufacturing adopting AI first? 

Quality control is one of the areas within manufacturing that is adopting AI and image recognition. Time-consuming tasks that require constant human attention are being replaced with AI that can evaluate the same number of products in a matter of seconds. In machine predictive maintenance, AI-based technologies are being developed to constantly monitor the performance of machines and provide actionable information or reconfigure the operations to adapt based on circumstances.

Where do you see the greatest benefits of AI in machine maintenance? 

Reducing downtime, helping manufacturers remain on schedule, and reduced cost of maintenance. Also, as product defects are mainly caused by abnormal behavior of the machine, AI can improve the consistency of the produced parts by detecting incipient faults in machines.

Be sure to check out the next blog in this series, which highlights current trends in artificial intelligence!