Pretty much every fluid power industry meeting I’ve been to in the past decade included at least some mention that we are stirring the embers of the final hearth of knowledge, which will die with the wave of upcoming retirements from Boomers and Gen X. From the IFPS to NFPA to CFPA, round table discussions about how to replace us are always a priority discussion.
The clash between us old-school, tribal knowledge professionals practicing voodoo, and the fresh meat, who want to keep their fingernails clean so they can finger through TikTok when their Adderall wears off, is only as old as the veteran Millennials. The draw towards software, tech, and AI seems like a no-brainer when your office employs a full-time barista, and you can work from Bali if you want to avoid the inner-city grind.
Our branding problem is our own fault, of course. We’ve spent more time trying to convince the younger generation to replace us like-for-like, such as setting up kiosks at technical college job fairs instead of scouting MIT for the next William C. Moog, who could be working on superfluid helium hydraulics or some crazy technology not yet invented.
But now, I believe we are actually doing enough to glamorize the technology permeating fluid power, as evidenced by the number of autonomous hydraulic robots entering the market and by the rise of sophisticated digital hydraulics, including artificial intelligence. No longer does the upcoming generation need to listen to Old Man Jenkins’ “back in my day” stories about waiting in line two days for Zeppelin tickets, in between explanations on derivative gain when setting up a servo valve.
The kids these days prefer microlearning. They’d rather acquire knowledge “just in time,” and in small bites rather than spend months bored in class with “just in case” piles of perceived useless information. YouTube, Google, and AI give them what they need, in the amounts they need. Let’s face it, neither you nor I will ever take a night class on mixology, but we’re happy to ask ChatGPT how to make the perfect Raspberry Collins.
We may be losing the millwrights who can tell the compensator is sticking just by holding their hand on the return line, but do we really care when the 23-year-old mechatronics graduate used his tablet to diagnose the servo valve’s amplifier card failure, which only occurs when the accumulator cycles while oil temps are above 130°F?
Hydraulics, more than ever, relies on the most current technology to produce the most advanced and powerful machinery in the world. Closed-loop fly-by-wire controls used on advanced aircraft like the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 operate flight control surfaces to within ±0.1mm, which translates to around 0.02° to 0.05° angular precision, all while approaching 5,000 psi. There aren’t many tech graduates who wouldn’t love to sink their teeth into coding such an application.
Hydraulic actuators are just the “thing that does the work,” and every bit of advanced digital technology used to control an electric robot can also control a hydraulic one. The fundamentals of hydraulics and electronics are so similar that engineers from one field easily crossover to the other, as not only are the principles the same, but so too are the schematics.
So, let’s change how we approach what fluid power is and what fluid power can do by all agreeing that it’s also a tech industry. We’re way past the pigeonhole of grease monkeys and wizards, but rather, deep into the Industry 4.0 weeds where tech professionals implement the same technologies that are soaring in automation, automotive, and aerospace. But be that as it may, learn as much as you can from those Boomers and Gen X. You never know when the zombie apocalypse era hits, and you’ll be called upon for your fluid power black arts.
Filed Under: Technologies, Trending
