According to statistics from the China Instrument and Meter Industry Association, as of the end of May, China's instrumentation industry imported 1,353,025,800 US dollars in the first half of 2013, an increase of 3.68% year-on-year. During the same period, exports of 887,588,110 US dollars, an increase of 3.98%. However, simply relying on imported equipment and imported technology cannot improve the level of instrumentation in China. How to transform the imported equipment technology into its own, how to promote independent innovation in measurement science and technology to enter the world's cutting-edge level has become the focus of attention of the industry.

Measuring control technology and instrumentation "heavy"

Advanced measurement technology and precision instruments are the tools of scientific discovery and the seeds of technological innovation. Many epoch-making scientific and technological achievements and projects that won the Nobel Prize for science and technology are all produced. For example, the invention of the mass spectrometer enables us to separate the composition of matter by the difference in the mass of atoms and molecules, and the techniques such as computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allow us to detect diseases earlier; CCD) has become a key component in mobile phones and digital cameras. The inventors of these instruments and methods have also won the Nobel Prize. According to incomplete statistics, 68.4% of the physics prizes, 74.6% of the chemistry prizes, and 90% of the biomedical awards were made with various advanced instruments in more than a century.

In addition, the level of measurement control and instrumentation technology also reflects the national strength. The data released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology of the US Department of Commerce in the mid-1990s showed that the output value of instrumentation in the United States accounted for about 4% of the gross national product, but the relevant output value it pulled was as high as 66%. In 2007, the strategic report of the National Institute of Standards and Technology of the US Department of Commerce pointed out that the key to improving the quality of manufacturing and people’s lives in the 21st century is measurement technology, which is also indispensable for maintaining national competitiveness. In order to recapture the advantages of measuring and analyzing instruments, Japan’s Ministry of Education launched a cutting-edge measurement business with an investment of 10 billion yen.

In fact, modern large-scale production, such as power generation, oil refining, chemical industry, metallurgy, aircraft and automobile manufacturing, etc., have left various measuring and controlling instruments and meters that only account for about 10% of the company’s fixed assets. Huge amount of output and profit. Experts vividly compared instrumentation to the “knot” industry in the national economy.

In modern times, with the balance between economic development and the natural environment, measurement and control technologies and instrumentation are taking an increasingly important role. For example, how does industrial emissions affect climate change, the environment, and even the health of people? Dioxins have low concentrations, complex measurement methods and can only be performed offline. The development of environmental science calls for the development of new methods and instruments for the monitoring of dioxins. The mechanism of the impact of trace substances on people's health, assessment and monitoring methods are urgent scientific problems.

Measuring control technology and instrumentation "difficulty"

In March 2007, the China Association for Science and Technology published the survey results of their organizations: The main analytical instruments in China's instrumentation and instrumentation, and more than 90 analytical instruments being applied in the society. More than 20 kinds of products can be produced in China. 1/3. Among them, there are about 80 kinds of special instruments for life sciences, and only 6 kinds of special instrument products for life sciences have been commercialized in China. About 10 types are currently under research, which is far from market demand. This is a quantitative gap.

In terms of technology, the existing domestic middle- and low-end products can be replaced with imported products, and the reliability index of high-end products, that is, the average time between failures and foreign products, is about 1-2 orders of magnitude. In terms of measurement accuracy, existing domestic products and foreign products generally differ by one order of magnitude. Because China's basic technology and manufacturing process of the instrument are not adequately studied, some key technologies that affect reliability, such as precision machining technology, sealing technology, and welding technology, have not yet been well resolved, resulting in products, especially high-end products. The performance is not stable enough and reliable.

In terms of function, at present, the degree of intellectualization of foreign production is quite high. Through the digital processing of original information, the influence of external interference on information is better eliminated, and the environmental resistance and measurement authenticity of the product are improved. However, the current level of domestic product intelligence is still relatively low. In addition, the networking of products has entered a practical stage in foreign countries, and our country is basically in its infancy, thus making the product's performance and function backward.

According to experts, the update cycle of current foreign products is about 2-3 years. The reserves of new technologies can often be advanced to 10 years. However, Chinese companies often introduce new technologies to update their products. They cannot be well-digested after introduction, and there are few original results in the development of new products. Some products that adopt new principles are still in a blank state in China. Although the research institutes have made achievements in tracking new technologies, it has been difficult to integrate industrialization with enterprises, leading to a long cycle of product technology renewal.

In addition, domestic instruments lack dedicated solutions developed for use. In recent years, the development trend of measurement control and instrumentation in foreign countries is to develop software products in which instrumentation and application objects are tightly integrated, and ultimately provide users with personalized solutions. For example, for the 6×10'kW thermal power unit's unit performance calculation software, optimization software for the refining process, and graphics processing software for medical instruments, domestic companies have not yet formed an industry in this area.

At present, there is a wide gap between China's measurement technologies and precision instruments and the world's powers. This has led to a wide range of technological innovations. If the development strategy is not formulated as soon as possible and catch up, the gap will continue to widen.

Promote the "way" of measurement control technology and instrumentation

To promote China's measurement science and technology into the world's frontier, we must take into account the world's measurement technology development trends and China's phased needs. The following three objectives can be used for layout: first, original measurement technology and instruments; second, measurement technology and instruments led by the development of national target orientation or measuring instruments; and third, the core technology of precision instruments. Among these three goals, each has a priority for collaborative innovation, namely advanced measurement methods, micro-intelligent detectors, and micro-nano device fabrication technologies.

The gap between our country and the developed countries, except for the industrial scale and technology accumulation is not enough, but the original innovation method of measurement principle and instrument design is not enough. To change the status quo, you need to work hard in several directions. Such as deep-sea exploration in the energy field, rapid detection of trace chemicals in the environmental field, early warning of environmental risks on the Earth's scale, etc.; in food safety and drug residue detection of agricultural products, exploring the establishment of rapid measurements based on optical information such as the fingerprint spectra of substances. Methods for identifying material constituents, especially rapid measurement methods for trace substances; in the field of life sciences, real-time observation of live cells or protein constructs, visualization of intracellular molecular information transmission, identification of cells and proteins, development of detection devices, etc. Fluorescence observation devices, etc.; to overcome complex conditional constraints, to break through the existing measurement limits, to change the method limitations of the original model, single principle, cross-cutting and integration of different disciplines, and to carry out method innovation based on comprehensive application of mathematical methods to achieve measurement methods Original innovations, these above-mentioned achievements will have an inestimable impact on independent innovation of science and technology.

As the basic component of the sensor network, the sensor will have a very broad development prospect in the future. Currently, new sensor technologies include solid-state silicon sensor technology, fiber optic sensor technology, biochip technology, gene chip technology, image sensor technology, all-solid-state inertial sensor technology, and multi-sensor technology. In this field, emphasis is placed on the development of new principles and new effects. Sensing technology, sensor intelligence technology, sensor network technology, miniaturization and low-power technology, as well as the design, manufacture and packaging technology of sensor arrays and multi-function, multi-sensor parameter sensors. In this field, we focus on the development of new principles, new effects in sensing technology, sensor intelligence, sensor network technology, miniaturization and low-power technologies, and the design and manufacture of sensor arrays and multi-function, multi-sensing parametric sensors. Packaging technology.

In addition, the recent international development of new functional safety technology and safety instrumentation; precision machining technology and special process technology; with self-calibration, self-testing, self-diagnosis, self-adaptive and intelligent technology; between different manufacturers' control systems Joint integration technology, project management techniques such as project planning, design, organization, procurement, acceptance, and commissioning that major suppliers of automation equipment for large-scale projects should have are the direction to be tackled in the future.

Breakthrough measurement control technology and instrumentation innovation "law"

In the developed countries, high-tech industries such as measurement and instrumentation industries have formed a pattern of upstream and downstream convergence and corporate division of labor. In this field, China can also engage in some key projects with appropriate scale and high efficiency. The industry is a technology-intensive industry and the development cannot be separated from the intelligence and talent support of universities, R&D institutes. Universities, R&D institutions should be strong and united, and work in collaboration. At present, colleges and universities in our country are playing a major role in R&D. However, in colleges and universities “surname education”, staffing and fixed funding still come from educational tasks. At present, China needs to develop a number of small and medium sized fine-information companies with unique technologies and innovative capabilities. Adjusting policies and mechanisms, under the premise of teaching benefits, the results of research and development in colleges and universities and even the rapid transformation of intellectual resources into productive forces, college graduates, especially Ph.D., are required to work in small and medium-sized enterprises.

The development and upgrading of many powerful SMEs is not only an instrumentation industry, but also a path that our country’s industrialization cannot circumvent. Taking the instrumentation industry as an example, high-tech, high-value-added, and high-risk technology-based SMEs cannot rely on the method of “individual approach to farming, simplicity, and simplicity,” and they must consider appropriate supporting policies around the characteristics of high-tech products, such as attracting High-end talent entrepreneurship, perfect real venture capital awareness and channels.

The country’s support for instrumentation and measurement technology innovation should be based on ex post rewards, which makes it easier for R&D investees to turn to beneficiaries rather than taxpayer’s money to companies. In order to prevent the various R&D units from fighting each other and appearing low-level duplication and vicious competition with quick success and instant benefits, we can consider establishing national collaborative innovation centers and industrial alliances independent of universities and institutions to truly lead the industry, concentrate strength, and rationally allocate resources. Resources to solve practical problems.