FLAT-HIERARCHY SYSTEM FOR CONDITION-BASED MONITORING OF DISTRIBUTED EQUIPMENT
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- at a processing device located at a node device, the node device being attached to a dynamic piece of equipment in a facility,receiving at least one signal from at least one sensor configured to sense at least one condition of the dynamic piece of equipment;
generating a warning signal if the received signal indicates an error condition exists; and
retrieving information associated with the dynamic piece of equipment from a memory device located at the node device;
from a transmitter located at the node device,wirelessly transmitting the warning signal and the retrieved dynamic piece of equipment information; and
at a peripheral computer-based device,receiving the wirelessly transmitting warning signal and the dynamic piece of equipment information; and
presenting warning and dynamic piece of equipment information based on the received warning signal and the dynamic piece of equipment information.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for monitoring the condition of equipment in a manufacturing plant or other facility. A computing node is attached to each piece of equipment under consideration. Each node gathers relevant information from the machine using sensors and is capable of determining the condition of the machine from a preexisting set of possible conditions, using only the information obtained from the sensors. Each node is thus entirely self-sufficient, in that it requires no interaction with a global controller or with other nodes in order to make a decision about the condition of the equipment, and does not necessarily require any information about the past history of the equipment. The nodes are capable of communicating the condition of their corresponding equipment to key maintenance or other personnel, potentially via a wireless network to a convenient wireless-capable device such as a cellular phone or laptop.
22 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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at a processing device located at a node device, the node device being attached to a dynamic piece of equipment in a facility, receiving at least one signal from at least one sensor configured to sense at least one condition of the dynamic piece of equipment; generating a warning signal if the received signal indicates an error condition exists; and retrieving information associated with the dynamic piece of equipment from a memory device located at the node device; from a transmitter located at the node device, wirelessly transmitting the warning signal and the retrieved dynamic piece of equipment information; and at a peripheral computer-based device, receiving the wirelessly transmitting warning signal and the dynamic piece of equipment information; and presenting warning and dynamic piece of equipment information based on the received warning signal and the dynamic piece of equipment information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A monitoring system comprising:
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a plurality of node devices, each of the plurality of node devices being associated with a dynamic piece of equipment of a plurality of pieces of equipment at a facility, each of the plurality of node devices comprising; at least one sensor; a memory device; a wireless communication component; and a processing device in signal communication with the at least one sensor, the memory device, and the wireless communication component, the processing device configured to; receive at least one signal from at least one sensor configured to sense at least one condition of the dynamic piece of equipment; generate a warning signal if the received signal indicates an error condition exists; and retrieve information associated with the dynamic piece of equipment from a memory device located at the node device, wherein the wirelessly communication component is configured to transmit the warning signal and the retrieved dynamic piece of equipment information; and a peripheral computer-based device configured to receive the wirelessly transmitting warning signal and the dynamic piece of equipment information and present warning and dynamic piece of equipment information based on the received warning signal and the dynamic piece of equipment information. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification