Sensing at the Control Level: Leveraging Data for Both Safety and Analytics

In the engineering world, we rely on sensors to acquire data from real-world processes and machines. Deciding how to use that data is very important. The right decisions impact process efficiency, system reliability, and even worker safety.  

Join Control.com's David Peterson as he chats with Kate Sokolnicki of Rockwell Automation in this episode of the Moore's Lobby podcast. Sokolnicki explains the evolution of industrial sensing and the shift toward data-driven manufacturing. 

They discuss many key technological advancements, including:

-IO-Link as a standard: Simple sensors are transitioning into "smart" devices that provide dual-channel feedback—process data and health analytics—without typical price premiums.

-Commoditized vision AI: High-end vision systems are being replaced by affordable cameras capable of quality checks and AI-driven processing at the edge or in the cloud.

-Smart safety protocols: Learn how operators can now pinpoint specific faults in a daisy-chained system (e.g., identifying exactly which door is ajar), significantly reducing troubleshooting time.

Sokolnicki notes that while AI is powerful, it requires robust metadata (machine, shift, and location context) to be actionable. She highlights how condition monitoring—such as tracking "heartbeats," sensor margins, or cable tension—allows plants to move from reactive repairs to proactive maintenance.

She concludes by encouraging young engineers to prioritize back-of-the-napkin math and the common-sense test. Instead of relying solely on theoretical calculations, she advocates for interrogating results to ensure they align with physical reality.

Rockwell Automation is committed to enabling the next generation of smart manufacturing. Under their Allen-Bradley brand, Rockwell has a broad portfolio of high-performance sensors and switches. This includes proximity and photoelectric sensors, limit switches, safety switches, and RFID and operator safety devices. 

Meet Kate Sokolnicki

Kate Sokolnicki is the Global Business Director for Rockwell Automation's Sensing & Safety business unit and serves as the site lead for Rockwell's Chelmsford, MA location. She oversees product portfolio strategy and is responsible for global sales growth. 

Kate joined Rockwell in 2015 as a product specialist and was promoted to portfolio manager supporting Sensing, Safety, and Connectivity. Most recently, she was a business manager responsible for in-cabinet infrastructure products, including single-pair Ethernet/IP. 

Prior to joining Rockwell, Kate worked in the biomedical industry as an applications engineer. Kate holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and lives in Chelmsford, MA.