CONDITION BASED MONITORING SYSTEM BASED ON RADAR SENSOR

• US 20110288796A1
• Filed: 04/28/2011
• Published: 11/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Peczalski, Andy, Mylaraswamy, Dinkar
• Granted Patent: US 9,482,573 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/56
• CPC Class Codes: G01H 9/00 Measuring mechanical vibrations or ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves by using radiation-sensitive means, e.g. optical means

Abstract

A sensing system comprising a radar-based vibration sensor and processing unit used to collect and process vibration information from a machine of interest. The radar-based vibration sensor obtains vibration data from mechanical operation of a component or series of components in the machine, and may be steered toward specific regions of interest of the machine. The processing unit analyzes the data, and may fuse data from a plurality of vibration sensors, such as radar-based vibration sensors and multiple machine-mounted sensors such as accelerometers. From this analysis, indications related to a status of the mechanical operation of the components in the machine of interest may be provided to relevant users.

Claims

1. A sensing system comprising:

a radar-based vibration sensor, the radar-based vibration sensor configured to obtain vibration data from mechanical operation of a component in a machine of interest; and

a processing unit configured to analyze the vibration data obtained by the radar-based vibration sensor, and provide indications related to a status of the mechanical operation of the component in the machine of interest.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the radar-based vibration sensor is a displacement sensor transmitting radar signals using Doppler radar techniques, and wherein the vibration data includes temporal and spectral data related to the mechanical operation of the component.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the radar-based vibration sensor is configured to detect vibrations from a plurality of different locations of the mechanical operation for the machine of interest.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the radar-based vibration sensor provides a tunable field of view used to focus on a specific area of the mechanical operation for the machine of interest.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is operably coupled to a decision support module configured to calculate at least one of machine health indicators and potential maintenance actions in connection with the indications related to the status of the mechanical operation of the component.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of vibration sensors mounted to the machine of interest, the machine mounted vibration sensors configured to obtain vibration data from mechanical operation of components proximate to locations of mounting; and

wherein the processing unit is further configured to analyze the data provided by the machine mounted vibration sensors, and fuse the data provided by the machine mounted vibration sensors with the information from the radar-based vibration sensor.

7. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

one or more additional radar-based vibration sensors configured to obtain vibration data from mechanical operation of additional components in the machine of interest;

wherein the processing unit is further configured to analyze the data provided by the one or more additional radar-based vibration sensors, and fuse the data provided by the one or more additional radar-based vibration sensors with the information from the machine mounted vibration sensors and the radar-based vibration sensor; and

wherein at least one of the machine mounted vibration sensors is an accelerometer.

8. A sensing system comprising:

a radar-based displacement sensor configured to collect vibration data, the vibration data including temporal and spectral data;

a steering system configured to direct the radar-based displacement sensor to collect the vibration data from different locations of mechanical operation for a machine of interest; and

a processing system configured to analyze the data collected by the radar-based vibration sensor, and provide user indications related to status of the mechanical operation for the machine of interest.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the steering system directs the radar-based displacement sensor to focus radar energy at predetermined locations of the machine of interest, causing monitoring of specific components of the machine of interest.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the steering system directs the radar-based displacement sensor to focus radar energy at additional locations of mechanical operation periodically.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the steering system directs the radar-based displacement sensor to focus radar energy at additional locations of mechanical operation based on sensed vibrations determined within the processing system.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the processing unit is operably coupled to a decision support module configured to calculate at least one of machine health indicators and potential maintenance actions.

13. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

multiple machine mounted vibration sensors configured to provide vibration information from selected regions where such sensors are mounted;

wherein the processing unit is further configured to analyze the data provided by the multiple machine mounted vibration sensors, and fuse the data provided by the multiple machine mounted vibration sensors with the vibration data collected from the radar-based displacement sensor.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

one or more additional radar-based displacement sensors configured to collect vibration data;

wherein the processing unit is further configured to analyze the data provided by the one or more additional radar-based displacement sensors, and fuse the data provided by the one or more additional radar-based displacement sensors with the information from the machine mounted vibration sensors and the radar-based displacement sensor; and

wherein at least one machine mounted sensor is an accelerometer.

15. A method performed by a sensing system, comprising:

collecting vibration data from a radar-based displacement sensor, the radar-based displacement sensor being directed to measure vibrations from a region of interest on an operating machine, and the vibration data including one or both of temporal and spectral data;

processing the vibration data to analyze vibration measurements from the radar-based displacement sensor and derive a status of mechanical operation for the operating machine; and

providing user indications related to the status of the mechanical operation for the operating machine.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

transmitting motion instructions to a steering mechanism for the radar-based displacement sensor to steer the radar-based displacement sensor and focus radar energy at a different region of interest, thereby collecting vibration information from the different region of interest on the operating machine.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the motion instructions provided to steer the radar-based displacement sensor to focus radar energy at a different region of interest are determined based on a predetermined schedule or the status of the mechanical operation for the operating machine.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

evaluating the status of the mechanical operation for the operating machine to produce one or both of suggested maintenance actions and machine health indicators; and

providing the one or both of suggested maintenance actions and machine health indicators in connection with the user indications.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

collecting vibration data from mounted vibration sensors configured to measure vibrations from a region of interest proximate to the mounted vibration sensors on the operating machine; and

processing the vibration data collected from the mounted vibration sensors and combining the vibration data collected from the mounted vibration sensors with the vibration data collected from the radar-based displacement sensor.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

collecting vibration data from one or more additional radar-based displacement sensors;

processing the vibration data collected from the one or more additional radar-based displacement sensors, including combining the vibration data collected from the one or more additional radar-based displacement sensors with the vibration data collected from the mounted vibration sensors and the radar-based displacement sensor; and

wherein the mounted vibration sensors comprise a plurality of accelerometers.