PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE
temperature can indicate a bearing failure
or a motor failure. The sensor edge device
collects the data from the monitoring
sensors and transmits it to an IT or cloudbased
application for display and analysis.
Cloud-based predictive maintenance
solutions can operate in isolation from
a machine’s existing control system and
therefore have no impact on existing
automation. Their primary goal
is to collect and aggregate
data from equipment-based
sensors that are installed
anywhere in the world. This
data can be used to identify
upcoming problems.”
With appropriate
POWER OVER ETHERNET FLOWMETERS
ABB has incorporated Power over
Ethernet connectivity on board the
latest edition of its electromagnetic
owmeter ProcessMaster (pictured)
and mass owmeter CoriolisMaster.
It says that the technology
brings new agility, as owmeters
can be installed wherever needed.
Furthermore, owmeters with
ethernet connectivity increase
simplicity, exibility and
reliability to operations
in process automation,
while enhancing real-time
visibility of data, according
to ABB. Previously hidden
data in eld devices, such
as measurement values on
density, conductivity
applications, the direct
maintenance bene ts can
improve machine uptime, thus
improving production yields.
Cloud-based systems make it easy for
such a vendor to monitor their machines
located anywhere without leaving their
o ces. “24/7 monitoring makes it very
easy to learn operating pro les. At the top
end, high value IIoT/Industry 4.0
solutions are clearly going to be
needed. These visions will be
easier to implement on new
machines than in the past.
New machines, particularly
in green eld applications, will
most likely have IIoT predictive
maintenance support designed in.”
At the lower end, however, a vast
untapped market exists, he points out.
“Retro tting machines in the eld with
sensors and a sensor ‘edge device’ is
key to building a low-cost predictive
maintenance system that is both secure
and simple. The sensor edge device
aggregates data from a wide choice of
sensors, handles local communication
processing and provides an Internet uplink
to the cloud. Once in the cloud, data can
be fetched by a customer application for
additional analysis and processing.
“Ideally, the sensor edge device
would leverage a standard sensor
or concentration of the medium,
can be unlocked. This in turn will
help customers identify redundant
measurement points in their plants.
An integrated secure web server
based on the ABB Ability Cyber
Security framework supports
instrumentation engineers during
commissioning and troubleshooting. It
also provides access to con guration,
diagnostics and measurement
data through a built-in QR
code.
The owmeters use
various ethernet-based
communication protocols,
such as simple Modbus
TCP or high performance
ethernet/IP.
communications
technology, such as
IO-Link (IEC 61131-9),
to maximise the choice and variety
of sensors that can be supported. There
are thousands of IO-Link sensors in the
market today, covering measurement
variables that include temperature,
vibration, humidity, position, corrosion,
pressure, level, ow and many others.”
AUTOMATED PARAMETER SETTINGS
An added bene t of IO-Link is that
it provides automated parameter
settings. Once an IO-Link sensor is
plugged into the sensor edge device, it
is automatically uploaded to the cloud.
Data is immediately available for browser
display using dashboards. This simple
plug-and-play connection gets data into
the cloud where it can be accessed by the
user’s choice of analysis and processing
software.
Hilscher has recently developed its
own device, ‘sensorEDGE’ (pictured at
left), which, says Lentzkow, provides the
sensor-to-cloud connections needed for
retro t applications. “Each sensorEDGE
aggregates data from up to eight IO-Link
sensors.” Machine manufacturers could
develop their own retro t kits that include
the sensorEDGE and appropriate sensors
for a speci c application.
Hilscher sensorEDGE
54 www.operationsengineer.org.uk Winter 2021
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