Power-efficient data-load-efficient method of wirelessly monitoring rotating machines

• US 9,913,006 B1
• Filed: 11/28/2016
• Issued: 03/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Acoem France
• Original Assignee: 01db-Metravib SAS
• Inventors: Wascat, Bertrand, Mazoyer, Thierry, Labeyrie, Patrick, Lavaure, Guillaume, Poizat, Philippe
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan, Hai
• Assistant Examiner(s): Balseca, Franklin
• Application Number:
  US15/361,883
• Time in Patent Office: 463 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01H 1/003 of rotating machines G01H1/10 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 99/005 Testing of complete machines, e.g. washing-machines or mobile phones testing of machine parts G01M13/00; testing of electric apparatus or components G01R31/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/10 using a centralized architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/40 using a wireless architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/84 Measuring functions
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Data acquisition and automatic diagnosis is performed at test points by respective wireless monitoring units (WMU). Each WMU tests a first indicator periodically at a first rate to determine whether to test a full set of indicators. Evolution of the first indicator determines the pass/fail result of a reduced assessment of the corresponding test point. The pass/fail result is automatically sent off-site to a central database. When a fail occurs, a full assessment is performed, which includes monitoring the full set of indicators. Automatic diagnosis is performed based on the full set of indicators. The reduced assessment does not include automatic diagnosis of a test point, but is used to decide whether to perform the full assessment and automatic diagnosis. Results of the automatic diagnosis are sent to the central database. Raw data is not sent automatically.

Claims

1. A method for remotely monitoring a plurality of machines located at a common site, each one machine of the plurality of machines having at least one wireless monitoring unit capable of wirelessly linking with a gateway located at the common site, said one wireless monitoring unit comprising a processor, storage, a vibration sensor, and a wireless radio frequency communication module, the method comprising:

periodically performing a preliminary assessment of a first indicator set of diagnostic health of said one machine with said one wireless monitoring unit, said preliminary assessment comprising acquiring first vibration data with said vibration sensor, deriving by said processor said first set of indicators from the acquired first vibration data;

storing said derived first indicator set in said storage, and analyzing said derived first indicator set for a threshold change relative to a derived first indicator set from a previous performing of said preliminary assessment to derive one of either a pass result or a fail result;

when a current performing of said preliminary assessment has the pass result, automatically sending a first communication off-site through the gateway indicative of the pass result;

wherein all automatic communication off-site responsive to said deriving a pass result excludes said derived first indicator set and the acquired first vibration data;

when the current performing of said preliminary assessment has the fail result, performing a primary assessment of a second set of indicators of diagnostic health of said one machine with said one wireless monitoring unit, said primary assessment comprising acquiring second vibration data with said vibration sensor;

deriving by said processor said second set of indicators from the acquired second vibration data;

storing said acquired second vibration data and said derived second set of indicators in said storage, and analyzing said derived second set of indicators to perform automatic diagnosis corresponding to a location of said one wireless monitoring unit;

for each performing of said primary assessment responsive to said current performing of said preliminary assessment having said fail result, automatically transmitting with the wireless radio frequency communication module a second communication comprising results of said automatic diagnosis and a diagnosis of the derived first indicator set that led to the fail result of the corresponding preliminary assessment; and

wherein all automatic communication through the wireless radio frequency communication module responsive to said deriving the fail result excludes said acquired first vibration data, said acquired second vibration data, said derived first indicator set, and said derived second set of indicators.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said first indicator set consists of overall velocity.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said second set of indicators comprises at least four indicators from the group of indicators consisting of:

overall acceleration;

overall velocity;

a value of a high frequency acceleration energy band;

a value of a low frequency acceleration energy band;

a value of a medium frequency acceleration energy band;

an indicator of bearing health grade;

a binary indicator of shock presence;

an amplitude of a first harmonic of predefined or obtained rotation speed extracted on a velocity spectrum;

an amplitude of a second harmonic of the rotation speed extracted on the velocity spectrum;

an amplitude of a third harmonic of the rotation speed extracted on the velocity spectrum;

an amplitude of a first harmonic of the rotation speed extracted on an acceleration spectrum;

an amplitude of a second harmonic of the rotation speed extracted on an acceleration spectrum;

an amplitude of a third harmonic of the rotation speed extracted on an acceleration spectrum; and

kurtosis.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein for each performing of said primary assessment the corresponding acquired second vibration data, the derived second set of indicators, and the automatic diagnosis together are a corresponding data set;

and further comprising;

maintaining said derived second set of indicators in storage for each of ‘

n’

most recently performed primary assessments as a rolling window of second sets;

erasing an oldest second set from storage to advance the rolling window when the rolling window is full and a new corresponding second set is obtained for the current performing of said primary assessment; and

deleting the second vibration data and the corresponding automatic diagnosis from a prior primary assessment.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said one wireless monitoring unit further comprises a near field communication interface, and further comprising:

linking with a near field communication enabled device in proximity to said one wireless monitoring unit; and

sending content of said rolling window from said storage to the near field communication enabled device through said near field communication interface.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

periodically performing said primary assessment of said second set of indicators with said one wireless monitoring unit less often than said periodically performing of said preliminary assessment; and

for each one primary assessment of said periodically performing of said primary assessment, automatically sending from the wireless radio frequency communication module a third communication comprising results of said automatic diagnosis corresponding to said one primary assessment; and

wherein all automatic communication sent from the wireless radio frequency communication module responsive to performing said one primary assessment excludes said acquired second vibration data, and said derived second set of indicators.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said second communication is sent off-site through the gateway, and further comprising:

receiving at an off-site processing system results of said automatic diagnosis for said each one wireless monitoring unit of said one machine, wherein said results of said automatic diagnosis for said each one wireless monitoring unit is a test point automatic diagnosis that corresponds to said location on said one machine at which said one wireless monitoring unit is installed; and

consolidating said results of each one of said test point automatic diagnosis to derive a machine-level automatic diagnosis.

8. The method of claim 1,

wherein at least one machine among said plurality of machines has a plurality of wireless monitoring units;

wherein a first wireless monitoring unit among the plurality of wireless monitoring units is a primary wireless monitoring unit;

wherein all other wireless monitoring units among the plurality of wireless monitoring units are respective secondary wireless monitoring units;

wherein for each one of said respective secondary wireless monitoring units, said second communication is sent over a wireless radio frequency network to said primary wireless monitoring unit; and

further comprising;

receiving at said primary wireless monitoring unit results of said automatic diagnosis for said each one secondary wireless monitoring unit of said one machine, wherein said results of said automatic diagnosis for said each one secondary wireless monitoring unit is a test point automatic diagnosis that corresponds to the location on said one machine at which said one secondary wireless monitoring unit is installed;

consolidating by said primary wireless monitoring unit said results of each one of said test point automatic diagnosis to derive a machine level automatic diagnosis; and

automatically sending a fourth communication comprising said machine level automatic diagnosis off-site through said gateway.

9. The method of claim 6,

wherein at least one machine among said plurality of machines has a plurality of wireless monitoring units;

wherein a first wireless monitoring unit among the plurality of wireless monitoring units is a primary wireless monitoring unit;

wherein all other wireless monitoring units among the plurality of wireless monitoring units are respective secondary wireless monitoring units;

wherein for each one of said respective secondary wireless monitoring units, said second communication is sent over a wireless radio frequency network to said primary wireless monitoring unit; and

further comprising;

receiving at said primary wireless monitoring unit results of said automatic diagnosis for said each one secondary wireless monitoring unit of said one machine, wherein said results of said automatic diagnosis for said each one secondary wireless monitoring unit is a test point automatic diagnosis that corresponds to the location on said one machine at which said one secondary wireless monitoring unit is installed;

consolidating by said primary wireless monitoring unit said results of each one of said test point automatic diagnosis to derive a machine level automatic diagnosis; and

automatically sending a fourth communication comprising said machine level automatic diagnosis off-site through said gateway.

10. A system for remotely monitoring a plurality of machines to provide automatic diagnoses to an off-site processing center, comprising:

a plurality of wireless monitoring units mounted among the plurality of machines, so that each one machine among the plurality of machines has one or more of said plurality of wireless monitoring units mounted thereon; and

a communication gateway, which together with the plurality of wireless monitoring units forms a wireless radio frequency network; and

wherein each one wireless monitoring unit of the plurality of wireless monitoring units comprises a processor, storage, a vibration sensor, and a wireless radio frequency communication module;

wherein the processor is configured to periodically perform a preliminary assessment of a first indicator set of diagnostic health of said one machine, said preliminary assessment comprising controlling said vibration sensor to acquire first vibration data, deriving said first set of indicators from the acquired first vibration data;

storing said derived first indicator set in said storage, and analyzing said derived first indicator set for a threshold change relative to a derived first indicator set from a previous performing of said preliminary assessment to derive one of either a pass result or a fail result;

wherein the processor is configured, when a current performing of said preliminary assessment has the pass result, in response automatically to control the wireless radio frequency communication module to send a first communication off-site through the gateway indicative of the pass result;

wherein all automatic communication off-site responsive to said deriving a pass result excludes said derived first indicator set and the acquired first vibration data;

wherein the processor is configured, when the current performing of said preliminary assessment has the fail result, in response automatically to control performing a primary assessment of a second set of indicators of diagnostic health of said one machine with said one wireless monitoring unit, said primary assessment comprising controlling said vibration sensor to acquire second vibration data;

deriving said second set of indicators from the acquired second vibration data;

storing said acquired second vibration data and said derived second set of indicators in said storage, and analyzing said derived second set of indicators to perform automatic diagnosis corresponding to a location of said one wireless monitoring unit;

wherein the processor is configured, for each performing of said primary assessment responsive to said current performing of said preliminary assessment having said fail result, to command automatically the wireless radio frequency communication module to send a second communication comprising results of said automatic diagnosis and a diagnosis of the derived first indicator set that led to the fail result of the corresponding preliminary assessment; and

wherein all automatic communication through the wireless radio frequency communication module responsive to said deriving the fail result excludes said acquired first vibration data, said acquired second vibration data, said derived first indicator set, and said derived second set of indicators.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein said first indicator set consists of overall velocity.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein said second set of indicators comprises at least four indicators from the group of indicators consisting of:

overall acceleration;

overall velocity;

a value of a high frequency acceleration energy band;

a value of a low frequency acceleration energy band;

a value of a medium frequency acceleration energy band;

an indicator of bearing health grade;

a binary indicator of shock presence;

an amplitude of a first harmonic of rotation speed extracted on a velocity spectrum;

an amplitude of a second harmonic of the rotation speed extracted on the velocity spectrum;

an amplitude of a third harmonic of the rotation speed extracted on the velocity spectrum;

an amplitude of a first harmonic of the rotation speed extracted on an acceleration spectrum;

an amplitude of a second harmonic of the rotation speed extracted on an acceleration spectrum;

an amplitude of a third harmonic of the rotation speed extracted on an acceleration spectrum; and

kurtosis.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured for:

periodically performing said primary assessment of said second set of indicators with said one wireless monitoring unit less often than said periodically performing of said preliminary assessment; and

for each one primary assessment of said periodically performing of said primary assessment, automatically sending from the wireless radio frequency communication module a third communication comprising results of said automatic diagnosis corresponding to said one primary assessment; and

wherein all automatic communication sent from the wireless radio frequency communication module responsive to performing said one primary assessment excludes said acquired second vibration data, and said derived second set of indicators.

14. The system of claim 13,

wherein a first machine among said plurality of machines has a plurality of wireless monitoring units;

wherein a first wireless monitoring unit among the plurality of wireless monitoring units of the first machine is a primary wireless monitoring unit;

wherein all other wireless monitoring units among the plurality of wireless monitoring units of the first machine are respective secondary wireless monitoring units;

wherein for each one of said respective secondary wireless monitoring units, said second communication is sent over a wireless radio frequency network to said primary wireless monitoring unit; and

wherein the processor of said primary wireless monitoring unit is further configured

to consolidate results of said automatic diagnosis derived by said each one secondary wireless monitoring unit of said one machine, which results are received at said primary wireless monitoring unit, to derive a machine level automatic diagnosis; and

to automatically command the wireless radio frequency communication module to send a fourth communication comprising said machine level automatic diagnosis off-site through said gateway.

15. The system of claim 10,

wherein a first machine among said plurality of machines has a plurality of wireless monitoring units;

wherein a first wireless monitoring unit among the plurality of wireless monitoring units of the first machine is a primary wireless monitoring unit;

wherein all other wireless monitoring units among the plurality of wireless monitoring units of the first machine are respective secondary wireless monitoring units;

wherein for each one of said respective secondary wireless monitoring units, said second communication is sent over a wireless radio frequency network to said primary wireless monitoring unit; and

wherein the processor of said primary wireless monitoring unit is further configured

to consolidate results of said automatic diagnosis derived by said each one secondary wireless monitoring unit of said one machine, which results are received at said primary wireless monitoring unit, to derive a machine level automatic diagnosis; and

to automatically command the wireless radio frequency communication module to send a fourth communication comprising said machine level automatic diagnosis off-site through said gateway.

16. A wireless monitoring unit for monitoring diagnostic performance of a host machine on which the wireless monitoring unit is mounted to derive and send an automatic diagnosis over a wireless radio frequency network, the wireless monitoring unit comprising:

a vibration sensor that senses vibration of the host machine;

a processor configured to analyze indicators of diagnostic health of the host machine based on vibration data acquired by the vibration sensor and to derive said automatic diagnosis;

storage means for storing said vibration data, said indicators, and said automatic diagnosis; and

a wireless radio frequency communication module adapted to wirelessly communicate over said wireless radio frequency network; and

wherein the processor is configured to periodically perform a preliminary assessment of a first indicator set of diagnostic health of said host machine, said preliminary assessment comprising controlling the vibration sensor to acquire first vibration data with said vibration sensor, deriving said first set of indicators from the acquired first vibration data;

storing said derived first indicator set in said storage, and analyzing said derived first indicator set for a threshold change relative to a derived first indicator set from a previous performing of said preliminary assessment to derive one of either a pass result or a fail result;

wherein the processor is configured, in response to a current performing of said preliminary assessment having the pass result, to control the wireless radio frequency communication module to send a first communication over the wireless radio frequency network indicative of the pass result;

wherein the processor is configured so that all communication responsive to said deriving a pass result excludes said derived first indicator set and the acquired first vibration data;

wherein the processor is configured, in response the current performing of said preliminary assessment having the fail result, to control performing a primary assessment of a second set of indicators of diagnostic health of said one machine, said primary assessment comprising controlling the vibration sensor to acquire second vibration data with said vibration sensor;

deriving said second set of indicators from the acquired second vibration data;

storing said acquired second vibration data and said derived second set of indicators in said storage, and analyzing said derived second set of indicators to perform automatic diagnosis corresponding to a location at which said one wireless monitoring unit is mounted;

wherein for each performing of said primary assessment responsive to said current performing of said preliminary assessment having said fail result, the processor is configured to automatically command the wireless radio frequency communication module to send a second communication comprising results of said automatic diagnosis and a diagnosis of the derived first indicator set that led to the fail result of the corresponding preliminary assessment; and

wherein the processor is configured so that all automatic communication through the wireless radio frequency communication module responsive to said deriving the fail result excludes said acquired first vibration data, said acquired second vibration data, said derived first indicator set, and said derived second set of indicators.

17. The wireless monitoring unit of claim 16, wherein said first indicator set consists of overall velocity.

18. The wireless monitoring unit of claim 16, wherein said second set of indicators comprises at least four indicators from the group of indicators consisting of:

overall acceleration;

overall velocity;

a value of a high frequency acceleration energy band;

a value of a low frequency acceleration energy band;

a value of a medium frequency acceleration energy band;

an indicator of bearing health grade;

a binary indicator of shock presence;

an amplitude of a first harmonic of rotation speed extracted on a velocity spectrum;

an amplitude of a second harmonic of the rotation speed extracted on the velocity spectrum;

an amplitude of a third harmonic of the rotation speed extracted on the velocity spectrum;

an amplitude of a first harmonic of the rotation speed extracted on an acceleration spectrum;

an amplitude of a second harmonic of the rotation speed extracted on an acceleration spectrum;

an amplitude of a third harmonic of the rotation speed extracted on an acceleration spectrum; and

kurtosis.

19. The wireless monitoring unit of claim 16, wherein for each performing of said primary assessment the corresponding acquired second vibration data, the derived second set of indicators, and the automatic diagnosis together are a corresponding data set;

and

wherein the processor is further configured to maintain said corresponding data set in storage for each of ‘

n’

most recently performed primary assessments as a rolling window of data sets; and

erase an oldest data set from storage to advance the rolling window when the rolling window is full and a new corresponding data set is obtained for the current performing of said primary assessment.

20. The wireless monitoring unit of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured for:

periodically performing said primary assessment of said second set of indicators with said one wireless monitoring unit less often than said periodically performing of said preliminary assessment; and

for each one primary assessment of said periodically performing of said primary assessment, automatically sending from the wireless radio frequency communication module a third communication comprising results of said automatic diagnosis corresponding to said one primary assessment; and

wherein all automatic communication sent from the wireless radio frequency communication module responsive to performing said one primary assessment excludes said acquired second vibration data, and said derived second set of indicators.