Condition monitoring, a relatively new way of monitoring industrial devices, machines, and systems to detect abnormal operation and prevent damage, strives to eliminate fixed time interval service. With condition monitoring, operational status and other important parameters are continuously supervised to determine if everything is working properly or if a problem is developing. Preventive maintenance can then be scheduled at a convenient time with an accurate diagnosis of the issue that needs to be resolved.

FAG Industrial Services (F'IS), Germany, offers an online condition monitoring system called ProCheck (Figure 1) based on F'IS Software Administrator 4 and CompactRIO hardware from National Instruments. ProCheck is a new type of online system developed specifically for condition monitoring to avoid unplanned production stops and reduce system operation costs. The system is ATmospheres EXplosibles (ATEX) certified. European Directive 94/9/EC (ATEX 94) applies to equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive environments.

Figure 1 (click image to zoom)

The F'IS Administrator software used in ProCheck includes a configuration manager, remote server, data link, and e-mail link. In this system, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis extracts frequency patterns from incoming signals. Frequency domain results are then allocated to particular components such as bearing rings or gear teeth or to phenomena such as misalignment or imbalance. Two presentation methods allow transparent visualization of time-based spectra: a waterfall diagram, which presents individual FFTs behind each other spatially in a 3D image, and a sonogram, which displays the spectrum's development over time in different colors.

ProCheck is used in steel, aluminum, and cement production plants; oil and gas processing; papermaking equipment; and many other applications to continuously record process parameters for automatic analysis. The online monitoring system detects potential defects and their causes so that companies can take the necessary steps to prevent damage, expensive repair, and production standstill. The world's largest aluminum rolling mill located in Germany uses ProCheck to monitor its cutting-edge tools.

Based on Reconfigurable I/O (RIO) technology, the CompactRIO embedded platform used in this system is designed for industrial control and data acquisition applications that require high availability. User-defined hardware is configured in LabVIEW by programming FPGA chips. CompactRIO provides a large selection of analog and digital I/O as well as processing for FFT and control algorithms.

F'IS is part of the Schaeffler Group, the second largest producer of ball and roller bearings in the world. Led by owners Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler and her son, Georg F.W. Schaeffler, this family-run corporation recorded sales of 8.9 billion (U.S. $12.8 billion) in 2007. The company employs more than 63,000 people and is currently acquiring up to 49 percent of Continental, one of the world's largest makers of car tires and other mechanical, electrical, and electronic automotive products.

Small computer innovation recognized

The Initiative Mittelstand (Initiative for Medium-Sized Businesses) selected LiPPERT Embedded Computers' CoreExpress-ECO small form factor board from among 600 contestants as the winner of the Industrial Award for Innovative Medium-Sized Businesses 2008 in the micro technology category. This small (58 mm x 65 mm) full-featured PC shown in Figure 2 uses an Intel Atom processor and a LiPPERT Enhanced Management Technology microcontroller for onboard condition monitoring.

Figure 2 (click image to zoom by 2.5x)

For more information, contact Hermann at hstrass@opensystems-publishing.com.