Wireless Condition Monitoring Integrating Smart Computing and Optical Sensor Technologies

Abstract

Condition monitoring is increasingly benefitting from the application of emerging technologies, such as mobile computing and wireless sensors, including photonics sensors. The latter can be applicable to diverse application needs, due to their versatility, low costs, installation and operational flexibility, as well as unique safety and reliable operation characteristics in real industrial environments of excessive electromagnetic interference and noise. Coupling the monitoring flexibility offered by photonics technologies, with the data transmission flexibility of wireless networking provides opportunities to develop hybrid wireless sensor solutions, incorporating optical sensors into wireless condition monitoring architectures. This paper presents ongoing work within an integrated architecture for condition monitoring and maintenance management support, exploiting the added value of optical technology, inherently safe with respect to electromagnetic compatibility. The reported results are part of a collaborative project involving technology providers in wireless sensor networking, embedded systems and maintenance engineering, as well as research organizations active on photonics technologies and informatics for wireless and intelligence-enabled engineering asset management. The industrial test cases are from a lifts manufacturing industry, focusing on both production facilities assets, as well as on the end-product. The photonic platform of plastic optical fibers was selected due to its versatility and suitability for rapid customization and prototyping. The platform can serve diverse sensing and monitoring needs, ranging from physical parameters as strain and displacement in machinery parts, to chemical and biochemical monitoring of industrial-grade coolants' aging. Use of novel nanostructured optical materials together with laser-based micromachining techniques enabled the functional enhancement through rapid prototyping of optical fiber devices towards highly

Assessment of fiber optic sensors for aging monitoring of industrial liquid coolants

“…The materials in use strongly affect not only the quality, but also the performance of the whole production chain. The outcomes of these techniques (sensing data) can support the realization of a predictive maintenance platform 1 . This platform must have the ability to estimate the operational behavior of an industrial machine or equipment in the time domain, taking into account specific parameters such as ageing, temperature, etc, capable to affect their operation and extract a detailed and scheduled maintenance activities program.…”

Structural Health Monitoring of Solid Rocket Motors: From Destructive Testing to Perspectives of Photonic-Based Sensing

“…Finally, they can be integrated with data analytics techniques to extract valuable information from the collected data. Advanced data analysis algorithms such as machine learning can identify patterns, trends, and anomalies, enabling the prediction of SRM behavior, estimation of remaining useful life, and optimization of maintenance actions [5].…”

Characterization of Industrial Coolant Fluids and Continuous Ageing Monitoring by Wireless Node—Enabled Fiber Optic Sensors

“…Predictive maintenance [1,2] suggests a viable solution, recently emerged, which is based on the continuous monitoring and assessment of the real conditions and the extraction of results regarding the optimum time plan and actions for maintenance [2,3]. Implementation of such predictive maintenance systems requires efficient and reliable sensing devices that could be interconnected in a network of sensors collecting and handling the information and feeding this to a decision making system for appropriate maintenance actions [2].…”

“…Predictive maintenance [1,2] suggests a viable solution, recently emerged, which is based on the continuous monitoring and assessment of the real conditions and the extraction of results regarding the optimum time plan and actions for maintenance [2,3]. Implementation of such predictive maintenance systems requires efficient and reliable sensing devices that could be interconnected in a network of sensors collecting and handling the information and feeding this to a decision making system for appropriate maintenance actions [2]. Photonics technology is currently a quite favorable solution for the development of environmentally robust sensors [2] with operational safe characteristics, even in demanding explosive or flammable environments [4] and which also exhibit electromagnetic interference immunity (EMI), crucial to a number of industrial applications.…”

“…Implementation of such predictive maintenance systems requires efficient and reliable sensing devices that could be interconnected in a network of sensors collecting and handling the information and feeding this to a decision making system for appropriate maintenance actions [2]. Photonics technology is currently a quite favorable solution for the development of environmentally robust sensors [2] with operational safe characteristics, even in demanding explosive or flammable environments [4] and which also exhibit electromagnetic interference immunity (EMI), crucial to a number of industrial applications. Certain photonics technologies [5] mainly focused on large core optical fibers, have demonstrated some unique characteristics such as low cost, easy handling, compatibility with inexpensive transceivers, and also compatibility for easy and rapid customization [6,7].…”