Auto torquing wrenches that connect to a network to know exactly how much torque to apply to a bolt or screw that can be updated on the fly to fix issues or change spec without much effort. They’re pretty common in manufacturing.
Heh… Kinda funny that by making them idiot proof, they’ve opened up vulnerability to someone who isn’t an idiot.
The factory network might have been designed under the assumption that there were no such unsafe devices around, somebody might have poked a hole on the firewall for something completelly different that exposed these tools, somebody might have taken one of these home or to a company office for some reason and brought it back infected, somebody with a notebook connected to the Internet via Mobile came to the factory, an attacker physically parked next to the factory and started hacking, the good old “drop a USB disk with a virus in the parking lot”, and so on and so on…
You’re really supposed to design networked software under the assumption that at some point it will be exposed to an unsafe network.
to be able to get information about new parts or procedures, or updated information from the device manufacturer or the manufacturers of the parts the device is designed to interact with.
None of that requires internet access though. It should all be handled through the company intranet.
I work in manufacturing and our tools are connected to the company network but blocked from the internet because some still rely on things like WindowsXP or Win7 for example.
putting together a WAN with your vendors would be a great big old thing. I suppose you could figure out some way to pull vendor patches and updated specs into your LAN via a single point of entry as well.
All it will take is one gigantic asshole to start and if the product is useful enough that’s it, people will buy it and every company under the sun will copy.
Goodbye ownership of the things you buy, it will be the videogame distribution model of “you paid for a temporary license to use the product. You did not buy anything.”
I can totally see “you’ve exceeded the license agreement for free usage, now log in to your account and pay for the premium package wrench plan for $99.99/month.” Hell printers are already disabling usage if you don’t have a credit card on file with them even though you bought the damn thing…
Thankfully hobbiest electronics and 3d printing can replicate a lot of those products without the dark patterns for those patient / saavy enough to build or sell them.
And in the case of a Wrench… You wouldn’t copy (mold /foundry) a wrench would you?
Most, if not all, aerospace tools that take a measurement requires periodic calibration and assurance that the tool is performing to spec.
There can be thousands of unique tools that must pass through its own respective calibration process and documentation. Micrometers, calipers, torque wrenches, and even scales.
Having a networked tool can save the hassle of operators mis-reading or just plain ignoring the calibration sticker. Also, knowing the “location” of the tool on an inventory sheet isn’t quite like knowing which side of a 747 for the wrench that is due for calibration.
Also this is just me hypothesizing… I presume there are a number of other benefits like automated logging of torque values for every single bolt installed with such tool. When the FAA audits for installation information regarding a single screw on a plane’s 3rd row window side infotainment system’s upper left mount… The data is easier to find.
This is all part of “industry 4.0” connected manufacturing for more efficient and lean manufacturing. Collect and process any data you could ever want to make the decisions for a manufacturer to do more with even less.
In a factory setting I can easily see this part of the quality control. Where wrench would log each tightening procedure and keep track of its own use.
I can sort of see things like washing machines, even if I would rather it not. It can tell you when it’s done, some even run a diagnostics to tell you if something is wrong.
But yeah, it’s a drill. It’s not that complicated. I don’t need it to tell me when it’s done when I need to be there to use it.
WHY IS THERE NETWORK CONNECTED WRENCHES?!
ITS A FUCKING WRENCH!
IT DOESNT NEED THE NETWORK!
WHY THE FUCK DO THEY PUT NETWORK CONNECTIVITY IN THIS SHIT THAT DOES NOT, IN ANY CONCEIVABLE FASHION, NEED IT!?!
I swear to god one of these days my head is literally going to explode in thermonuclear ball of rage over the absolute stupidity of this shit.
Auto torquing wrenches that connect to a network to know exactly how much torque to apply to a bolt or screw that can be updated on the fly to fix issues or change spec without much effort. They’re pretty common in manufacturing.
Heh… Kinda funny that by making them idiot proof, they’ve opened up vulnerability to someone who isn’t an idiot.
Damn you and your reasonable explanation!
An assembly line making variations of the same product makes sense but why would they be exposed to the internet?
My friend who works designing such tools says production stuff should never be connected to the internet for obvious reasons. Someone fucked up.
The factory network might have been designed under the assumption that there were no such unsafe devices around, somebody might have poked a hole on the firewall for something completelly different that exposed these tools, somebody might have taken one of these home or to a company office for some reason and brought it back infected, somebody with a notebook connected to the Internet via Mobile came to the factory, an attacker physically parked next to the factory and started hacking, the good old “drop a USB disk with a virus in the parking lot”, and so on and so on…
You’re really supposed to design networked software under the assumption that at some point it will be exposed to an unsafe network.
to be able to get information about new parts or procedures, or updated information from the device manufacturer or the manufacturers of the parts the device is designed to interact with.
None of that requires internet access though. It should all be handled through the company intranet.
I work in manufacturing and our tools are connected to the company network but blocked from the internet because some still rely on things like WindowsXP or Win7 for example.
putting together a WAN with your vendors would be a great big old thing. I suppose you could figure out some way to pull vendor patches and updated specs into your LAN via a single point of entry as well.
How do I train to be an IT wrench administrator?
Why would you want to? Are you some kind of masochist?
USB is a thing
"nuts loosened: 9,345
Wrench rotations: 237,902"
“ERR: #482: License only permits 237,901 rotations. Please upgrade your license or subscribe for $94/mo”
“Ran out of cyan” for mechanics
Please twist verification nut.This is no joke, 100% going to be the future.
All it will take is one gigantic asshole to start and if the product is useful enough that’s it, people will buy it and every company under the sun will copy.
Goodbye ownership of the things you buy, it will be the videogame distribution model of “you paid for a temporary license to use the product. You did not buy anything.”
I can totally see “you’ve exceeded the license agreement for free usage, now log in to your account and pay for the premium package wrench plan for $99.99/month.” Hell printers are already disabling usage if you don’t have a credit card on file with them even though you bought the damn thing…
Thankfully hobbiest electronics and 3d printing can replicate a lot of those products without the dark patterns for those patient / saavy enough to build or sell them.
And in the case of a Wrench… You wouldn’t copy (mold /foundry) a wrench would you?
So if you’re on a site with hundreds or thousands of company owned tools it would be very helpful to have them connected for things like:
There’s even network connected tyres at this point.
Corpos froth at the mouth at the thought of being able to manage service information and lifecycle control.
It makes it safer and convenient for the workers as well.
Can’t that also be resolved with an inventory system similar to what chem/medical labs use?
Most, if not all, aerospace tools that take a measurement requires periodic calibration and assurance that the tool is performing to spec.
There can be thousands of unique tools that must pass through its own respective calibration process and documentation. Micrometers, calipers, torque wrenches, and even scales.
Having a networked tool can save the hassle of operators mis-reading or just plain ignoring the calibration sticker. Also, knowing the “location” of the tool on an inventory sheet isn’t quite like knowing which side of a 747 for the wrench that is due for calibration.
Also this is just me hypothesizing… I presume there are a number of other benefits like automated logging of torque values for every single bolt installed with such tool. When the FAA audits for installation information regarding a single screw on a plane’s 3rd row window side infotainment system’s upper left mount… The data is easier to find.
This is all part of “industry 4.0” connected manufacturing for more efficient and lean manufacturing. Collect and process any data you could ever want to make the decisions for a manufacturer to do more with even less.
doing more with less is probably exactly how these door plugs didnt get tightened down to begin with.
As a Software Engineer (cloud) you had me sold at Data Lake lol.
In all seriousness, it does seem like another valid philosophy for achieving further automation of mundane tasks.
Thankfully a lot of the trade-offs from IoT right now can seemingly be mitigated by building greenfield solutions.
Hopefully the industry can see and acknowledge the demand for more local networking versus going through a cloud service.
The main reason it needs a battery is to alert if the battery is low over the Internet.
I’m honestly surprised anyone would buy it. Most tradesmen I have worked with would not be even remotely interested for a multitude of reasons.
In a factory setting I can easily see this part of the quality control. Where wrench would log each tightening procedure and keep track of its own use.
Boeing could use them on their door plug nuts.
I can sort of see things like washing machines, even if I would rather it not. It can tell you when it’s done, some even run a diagnostics to tell you if something is wrong.
But yeah, it’s a drill. It’s not that complicated. I don’t need it to tell me when it’s done when I need to be there to use it.
Why does a washing machine need enough complexity to require diagnostics?
That’s just nuts.
I use one cycle, on cold, all it’s gotta do is agitate the water.
My family had the same washing machine for 30+ years. I’m not seeing why that needs to be redesigned. Parts were still available when we replaced it.
Exactly.
Old electromechanical washers and driers were SO much better than the modern computerized shit.
More durable too.