Siemens makes automation easy with the first generative AI-powered product for engineering in an industrial environment
At the Hannover Messe 2024, Siemens introduced its groundbreaking generative artificial intelligence (AI) product designed specifically for industrial engineering. The Siemens Industrial Copilot, a generative AI-powered assistant, is now integrated with the Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) Portal, promising to revolutionize the engineering landscape.
Transforming Engineering with AI
The Siemens Industrial Copilot aims to streamline engineering processes by enabling teams to quickly find relevant help topics and generate basic visualizations and code for programmable logic controllers (PLC). This integration is expected to significantly reduce the workload of engineering teams by automating repetitive tasks, thereby minimizing errors and enhancing productivity. The Siemens Industrial Copilot for TIA Portal Engineering will be available for download from the Siemens Xcelerator marketplace starting in summer 2024.
From Vision to Reality
The journey of the Siemens Industrial Copilot began at Hannover Messe 2023, where Siemens and Microsoft unveiled their vision for a generative AI-powered assistant. This assistant leverages Siemens’ digital business platform, Siemens Xcelerator, and the large language models from Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to enhance code creation and optimization for factory automation. The concept was further demonstrated at the Smart Production Solutions (SPS) trade show in collaboration with Schaeffler AG, showcasing a generative AI-enhanced production machine.
Empowering Industrial Customers
The Siemens Industrial Copilot is designed to benefit industrial customers of all sizes, enabling them to harness the power of industrial-grade generative AI to transform their operations. Early adopters like Grenzebach Group are already testing the Copilot to augment industrial automation engineering, aiming to reduce time, effort, and error probability. Dr. Steven Althaus, CEO of Grenzebach Group, emphasized the importance of generative AI, stating, “The Siemens Industrial Copilot will allow us to make the most of the rapidly increasing amount of data available in a factory and take human-machine collaboration to the next level.”
Innovative Features for Enhanced Engineering
The Siemens Industrial Copilot for TIA Portal Engineering boasts several innovative features, including automated code generation in structured control language (SCL). This feature allows the TIA Portal to directly accept code suggestions from the AI, eliminating the need for manual copy-pasting. Additionally, the Copilot can explain SCL code blocks, guide the creation of initial machine or plant visualizations in WinCC Unified, and enable natural language searches of Siemens manuals. Customers can also access a private instance of Azure OpenAI Service, ensuring their data is not used to retrain models.
A New Era of Automation
Rainer Brehm, CEO of Factory Automation at Siemens Digital Industries, highlighted the transformative potential of the Siemens Industrial Copilot, stating, “Siemens makes automation easy. The Siemens Industrial Copilot is bringing industrial generative AI to the shop floor and will be an indispensable part of the engineering process in the future. With the seamless connection to our TIA Portal, we’re the first to offer a generative AI product for engineering to industrial companies worldwide.”
The Siemens Industrial Copilot represents a significant leap forward in industrial automation, promising to enhance productivity, reduce development times, and improve the overall quality of engineering processes. As the industry moves towards greater automation and AI integration, Siemens is at the forefront, driving innovation and efficiency in industrial engineering.
