Remote monitoring apparatus

• US 9,092,026 B2
• Filed: 11/12/2010
• Issued: 07/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tmeic Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Matsuda, Shigehiko, Maehata, Noriyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan, Hai
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bousono, Orlando
• Application Number:
  US12/944,954
• Publication Number:
  US 20110057812A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,719 Days
• Field of Search: 340500-69312, 34087001-87044, 701/1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/406 characterised by monitoring or safety G05B19/19 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/33284 Remote diagnostic
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/40 using a wireless architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/50 using a mobile data collecting device, e.g. walk by or drive by
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom

Abstract

Various sensors are provided inside control equipment, and it is determined whether environment inside the control equipment is abnormal or not, based on data obtained from the sensors.

Claims

1. A remote monitoring apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of environment sensors which measure placement environment of devices provided inside control equipment as an object to be monitored, a plurality of physical sensors which measure physical quantities including voltages of the devices provided inside the control equipment as the object to be monitored, and a wireless communication system which is capable of transmitting data measured by the environment sensors and the physical sensors to outside of the control equipment; and

a monitoring device comprising another wireless communication system which is provided in a position remote from the control equipment, and is capable of taking in the data measured by the sensors and obtained through the wireless communication system, wherein the monitoring device monitors normality of environment of the control equipment based on;

a correlation between changes in the measured data for the placement environment and the measured data for the physical quantities including the voltages of the devices provided inside the control equipment; and

a pre-stored knowledge base concerning environment standard;

wherein the knowledge base is obtained by determining a degree of influence on the object to be monitored in the placement environment based on a value which agrees with both a result of an experiment performed in advance by providing environment noise to typical control equipment, the result of the experiment being expressed numerically, and a result of a simulation of propagation of the environmental noise.

2. A remote monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the environment sensors are a plurality of electromagnetic wave sensors provided in different positions inside the control equipment, the physical sensors are a plurality of voltage sensors which measure a voltage of a main power supply existing inside the control equipment, and

the monitoring device determines abnormality in the control equipment, when at least one of the following conditions is met;

all data items measured by the electromagnetic wave sensors and all data items measured by the voltage sensors are abnormal,

a time of abnormality of the electromagnetic sensors is close to a time of abnormality of the voltage sensors,

current waveforms of the electromagnetic wave sensors are similar to one another,

frequency components of the electromagnetic wave sensors are similar to one another, or

abnormality of the voltage sensors of the control power supply is closely correlated with abnormality of the other voltage sensors.

3. A remote monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the remote monitoring apparatus has a function of displaying environment information obtained by the monitoring device and time-series data of a process in a mixed state, and checking whether change obtained by the environment information or change obtained from information of the monitoring device including internal information affects on abnormality, when abnormality of process control or malfunction occurs.