u-sense Vibration for Motor Monitoring
Published on : Thursday 01-09-2022
Weidmüller u-sense energy drives for machine-oriented data acquisition – provide electrical and vibration data in the IIoT with u-sense – u-sense: smart sensors with precise data preparation (preprocessing).
Digitalisation makes production facilities transparent: hidden potential is just as easy to recognise as emerging malfunctions at the very earliest stage. This means that efficiency and plant availability can be increased to a level that seemed unachievable just a few years ago. With the right measures, existing plants can also be retrofitted economically, as shown by the example of electric motors. These are regularly checked and maintained to prevent unplanned plant downtimes. This is often done manually, but sometimes also by condition monitoring at control level. With u-sense, Weidmüller now offers a retrofit-capable solution that integrates motor monitoring directly into the IIoT in the shortest time possible. With its connection to the IIoT, u-sense helps to reduce downtimes and to deploy maintenance personnel in a more targeted manner than is possible with decentralised solutions or fixed maintenance intervals.
Millions of rotating devices such as motors, pumps and gears can be found in production facilities. Depending on the load, they wear out at different rates. If you want to avoid costly breakdowns, the devices need to be carefully monitored – which also costs money of course. This particularly applies to manual checks. Automated procedures such as CMS (condition monitoring) are more efficient. Various parameters such as current consumption and temperature values are continuously recorded and evaluated. Weidmüller has consistently developed this approach and with u-sense has created an industry-compatible solution to provide all electrical data in the IIoT – the Industrial Internet of Things. This can also be done easily at a later point in time. This means that even simple asynchronous motors can be integrated and analysed in an Industry 4.0 environment. u-sense provides the data required by the plant operator for predictive monitoring and optimisation through smart preprocessing. Additionally, the product considers all connection variants of electric motors. In connection with downstream analytics software, errors can be detected automatically and recommendations for action can be given. Information can also be derived on how the plant can be optimised, in order to extend its service life for example. The acquired data is transferred to the cloud or to a local server; the user then has a quick overview in dashboards. In this way, the service life of motors and thus the availability of the plant can be increased, and the costs for maintenance and repairs can be reduced.
With u-sense, Weidmüller offers the right solution to enable users to communicate continuously from the sensor to the cloud: the universal current sensor u-sense energy drives and the vibration sensor u-sense vibration. Both devices contain high-quality sensors and are suitable for machine-oriented mounting due to their robust housings and industry-standard connection and communication technology.
u-sense energy drives for machine-oriented data acquisition
u-sense energy drives records all the relevant electrical states of an electric motor and makes them available in an IIoT network. Standard industrial sensors are used to measure the current and voltage characteristics with an accuracy of 3% at a sampling rate of 1 kHz. Additional sensors can be integrated via digital and analogue inputs if required. A control module processes the recorded states and digitises them so that both directly measured and calculated electrical quantities are digitised. This means that besides measured values for voltage and currents of all phases, active and reactive power, switching cycles and operating hours, for example, are also available both locally and worldwide.
The communication of data via Modbus RTU (Remote Terminal Unit) protocol and RS485 bus line according to IEC 61158 enables stable and safe transmission even over long distances. The open protocol structure allows easy integration into existing networks. Thanks to the IP65 housing and the PUSH IN connection system for quick installation, the device can very easily be installed close to the motor. This only requires a short downtime. A separate power supply ensures constant availability and enables data to be recorded without delay.
u-sense vibration, the vibration specialist
Vibrations reveal a lot about the condition of a drive: whether it is running smoothly or whether there are apparent signs of wear. Weidmüller's u-sense vibration smart sensor can detect vibrations long before the component fails. The sensor is designed for mounting on rotating parts, which explains why it does not have any wiring. Transmission is via Bluetooth Low Energy 5.0 and power is provided by a replaceable AA battery. As communication is event-oriented and therefore energy-saving, service lives of up to two years are possible. The measurement range covers 2g-16g at a sampling rate of 1 kHz. The IP66/IP67 protected housing offers a wide range of mounting options and, as it is easy to install, it can be integrated into existing plants without long downtimes. No special tools are required for this. It can be mounted on cooling fins or directly on a rotating component. The sensor is designed for use under difficult conditions: the ambient temperature may be between -20°C and +85°C. Certificates such as FCC, cULusx, ATEX and IECEX (Zone 2) extend the range of applications further.
Summary
The way to the Industrial IoT does not have to be complicated. No matter whether access to valuable motor data or a cloud connection is required, Weidmüller´s u-sense offers components and services allowing easy access to the Industrial IoT.
With the comprehensive and future-oriented IoT-capable portfolio, the way to Industrial IoT is successful – “from data to value”. Whether for greenfield or brownfield applications, Weidmüller offers solutions for data acquisition, data preprocessing, data communication and data analysis.
One thing is clear: the Industrial IoT is not an end in itself. The added value is exploited in the specific application: whether this is increasing the plant efficiency or deploying service technicians more efficiently thanks to remote maintenance. And last but not least, Weidmüller gives its customers the opportunity to develop new business models through the use of artificial intelligence without having to be a data scientist – and designs the Industrial IoT together with and for the user: easily and efficiently.
