I think I am less concerned about the ransomware and more confused as to why there is a wrench that can connect to the internet. What use would that provide to the user that would improve it?
A few ideas off the top of my head
- asset tracking
- location awareness
- ability to send out mass specs to devices
- device assignment
- tracking working hours
I’m not saying all of these are good ideas, or that they couldn’t just have a centralized hub that just pushes and pulls this information. That said, the website for them does list that they also have a camera for scanning barcodes. I could see having barcodes linked with a certain torque spec and that requiring a network connection if the information wasn’t hard coded. website
The wrench is to tighten bolts to spec. You can program it to tighten different bolts to different tightness and that can be programmed online.
That’s the neat part, there isn’t. There is, however, significant incentive to the tool’s manufacturer. Who can, I’m sure, not only demand a subscription for continued use of the tools but also employ lucrative maintenance contracts and other sundry corporate nonsense. I can tell you from a brief stint in the industrial automation industry that the sale of the equipment is not the money maker; it’s the ongoing service contract on it.
If these are meant to be used by hand I see no reason they can’t just be configured on the tool itself and not need an internet connection. And if the point is plantwide automation, these sit directly in the bottom of the ugly trench between tasks that must be done by a human for whatever reason on one side, and just being done by a damn robot to begin with on the other.
And a further clarification: Even if there is a use case for a hand tool being networked, having it connected to the outside internet is just bonkers.
I am not a fan of making everything part of ‘the internet of things’
This feels like one of those things that’ll go exactly opposite of what I expect. Ten years from now I’m be explaining to my grandkids how much harder live was before wrenches were Internet connected.
I can’t imagine a single valid reason to have an Internet connected wrench. But life is weird, so I’m guessing I’ll keep one synced to my fax machine someday.
