July 26, 2023 Suppressing Information Overload

How condition based monitoring can improve system health and overhead while making engineers’ lives easier.

With the development of new monitoring technologies and systems, engineers have access to increasing amounts of data and system information. However, we have now reached a point where engineers are overloaded with information, harming productivity. Here Robert Badcock, CEO at signal conditioning and wireless telemetry specialist Mantracourt, explains how condition based monitoring (CBM) technology can detect machine and system abnormalities without overloading your bus with unnecessary data.

Data is crucial for many businesses with regards to maintenance and operations, however there is such thing as too much data. When an asset requires a high cycle rate, it leads to an increase in measurements and data, which needs to be managed and analysed. If an asset is in a normal state, then this data is not useful and can lead to an overload of unnecessary information, slowing productivity and increasing costs.

CBM technology is an alternative to traditional monitoring technology. It can be used to monitor factors like vibration, temperature, pressure and voltage in various industries, including construction, agriculture and automotive. While most people may use it for predictive maintenance, it can also be used for many applications requiring sensors.

Using CBM to determine asset health

In the 1500s Dutch philosopher Desiderius Erasmus said that prevention is better than cure, a principle regarded highly by modern healthcare systems across the UK . This principle also applies to our machines and operational systems. While machine failure is always a cause of concern for engineers, it can be avoided by understanding conditions. CBM minimises risks using early fault detection and can warn us when problems arise through factors like vibrations and sound.

Sensors used for CBM can be installed onto assets and perform ongoing analysis, reducing the need for manual tests and inspections. Real-time data is gathered through sensors and, when it exceeds specific thresholds or show indicators of failure or decreasing performance, monitoring devices will send out alerts.

The user can use any data that the sensors collect to diagnose what caused the asset to fail or deteriorate. The data can be used as evidence for the maintenance team to confidently make a decision on how to treat the change in asset behaviour.

As a result, CBM allows maintenance to be completed on an as-needed basis rather than on predefined scheduled intervals, ensuring optimal uptime on an asset.

Using CBM for sensor data collection

Regardless of whether your monitoring system is wired or wireless, there will always be a constraining factor impacting what you want to collect. You may have to integrate with an existing system or there could be a limitation on the number of devices allowed or the number of samples you are taking. This, and the fact that you may not want or need most of the collected data, can harm your ability to harvest the necessary data and increase your overhead.

Wired products, like a CAN bus system, are limited by the amount of traffic that can go up and down the bus. That limit defines both the number of sensors available and the speed the data travels at. When you have a CBM system, you can have many more sensors because they will only report or put overhead on the bus when it’s the data that you require.

By lowering the overhead costs with CBM, monitoring is much more accessible for smaller businesses and the applications become broader. While the idea of data collection is not new, it can now be introduced to businesses that cannot justify a $50,000+ traditional monitoring system. With CBM, users could see a ten-fold saving.

Using CBM for your business

With its remote monitoring technology, Mantracourt offers free development and installation toolkits that can support multiple products while ensuring the menu structure and the information that you need is bespoke to the product.

For example, if you had a CAN system, you can use the DSC toolkit to read the CAN messages back to you. You can also configurate the parameters you need to define and then it enables you to read back off the list that is expected, all in one place. Other products would require you to use a different set of tools for these tasks, however having a unified toolkit makes it much simpler for the user.

Likewise, with the PSD toolkit, customers have the ability to determine what menus are available for the end user, improving control and ease of use. OEMs don’t want hundreds of irrelevant functions at their customers disposal as they can be overwhelming. Having the option to customise from a variety of menus simplifies decision making for the OEMs customer.

In a time of information overload, it’s necessary to find ways of making data monitoring and analysis easier for engineers. CBM ensures your sensors are running as intended while saving money on overhead, making it a great alternative for smaller businesses requiring remote monitoring technology.

To find out more about how you can take advantage of condition-based monitoring technology to manage overall system performance, call 01395 234 000 or visit the Mantracourt website today. 

For further information contact: Emma Mullen, marketing executive, Mantracourt Electronics Ltd, The Drive, Farringdon, Exeter, Devon, EX5 2JB, Uniter Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0) 1395 234 000
www: https://www.mantracourt.com/ 
e-mail: Emma@mantracourt.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mantracourt?lang=en 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mantracourt-electronics-ltd/
Press enquiries: Patrick Ball or Philip Taylor – Stone Junction Ltd, Suites 1&2 The Malthouse, Water Street, Stafford, Staffordshire, ST16 2AG
Telephone: +44 (0) 1785 225416
e-mail: patrick@stonejunction.co.uk or chloe@stonejunction.co.uk
www: www.stonejunction.co.uk 
Blog: www.stone-junction.blogspot.com
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stone-junction-ltd

About Mantracourt: Mantracourt is a world leading supplier of signal conditioning products designed for industrial measurement systems. With decades of expertise, Mantracourt has an extensive product line of ready-to-go solutions and offers a complete design and manufacturing service for OEMs. Mantracourt’s team of in-house hardware and software engineers provide expertise in 2.4 GHz wireless protocols, Bluetooth LE telemetry, low noise analogue and digital design. Software design capabilities include toolkits, drivers (DLL’s) web-based delivery IoT, Lab View and embedding software. Fieldbus protocols include Modbus, ASCII and CAN. Mantracourt operates in construction, civil engineering, process engineering, silo and weighing, lifting and handling, automotive, test and measurement waste management and alternative energy. All its products are designed and manufactured at its factory based in the South West of England.

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