DYNAMIC TRANSDUCER WITH DIGITAL OUTPUT AND METHOD FOR USE

• US 20140324389A1
• Filed: 04/24/2014
• Published: 10/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Computational Systems Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: Emerson Electric (US) Holding Corporation (Chile) Limitada (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Baldwin, Joseph C., Garvey, Raymond E. III, Turner, John S., Nower, Daniel L., Mackley, Drew L.
• Granted Patent: US 10,502,594 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/187
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 11/30 Supports specially adapted for an instrument; Supports specially adapted for a set of instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 18/00 Testing or calibrating apparatus or arrangements provided for in groups G01D1/00 - G01D15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 21/00 Measuring or testing not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 9/005 Solid-state data loggers

Abstract

A digital transducer provides a digital output indicative of dynamic characteristics of machines and processes. The transducer sensors may be single-axis or multiple-axis accelerometers and other measurement sensors. The transducer may be hands-free and wireless in machinery monitoring applications. An integral magnetic mount assists with hands-free data collection. Digital data accumulated in transducer memory may be selectively decimated before or after transfer from the transducer to a remote analyzer. Wireless communications are used to upload measurement setups to the transducer and download data from the transducer to a handheld analyzer or remote computer. Analysis and interpretation of dynamic digital data streams are performed after data is downloaded.

Claims

1. A portable digital transducer for collecting dynamic measurement data associated with one or more machines or processes, the portable digital transducer comprising:

a dynamic analog sensor for generating an analog sensor signal based on measurements of dynamic characteristics of the one or more machines or processes;

an analog signal processing circuit for preprocessing the analog sensor signal before conversion into a digital signal;

an analog-to-digital conversion circuit for oversampling the analog sensor signal at a sampling rate to generate oversampled dynamic digital measurement data;

a decimation processor programmed to derive at least two synchronized datasets from the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data, the at least two synchronized datasets comprising a first dataset resulting from filtering and nonselective decimation of the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data, and a second dataset resulting from filtering and selective decimation of the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data;

a memory device for storing the at least two synchronized datasets until the at least two synchronized datasets are transferred to an external device;

a digital signal processing circuit controlling the portable digital transducer in collecting the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data and storing the at least two synchronized datasets in the memory device in multiple data groups with information associating each data group;

a communications interface for transferring configuration settings from an external device to the memory device and for transferring the at least two synchronized datasets from the memory device to an external device;

a power source for powering the portable digital transducer to collect and store the dynamic digital measurement data, and maintain the at least two synchronized datasets in the memory device until the at least two synchronized datasets are transferred to the external device; and

a portable housing in which the dynamic analog sensor, analog signal processing circuit, analog-to-digital conversion circuit, decimation processor, digital signal processing circuit, memory device, communications interface, and power source are disposed, the portable housing configured for hands-free and cable-free data collection.

2. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 wherein the housing further comprises a quick-disconnect mounting means comprising an attachment and alignment mounting device selected from the group consisting of a planar attachment device and a conical attachment device.

3. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 wherein the housing includes a loop for receiving a cord, latch, or hook connected to an elongate rod for use in placing the portable digital transducer in a hard-to-reach measurement location.

4. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 wherein the conical attachment device comprises a tapered cone surface with an alignment feature.

5. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 wherein the planar attachment device comprises:

a first substantially planar outer surface for making intimate contact with a first substantially planar contact surface of a mounting pad attached to the surface of the machine or to the surface associated with the process; and

a second outer surface extending at a first angle from the first substantially planar outer surface of the housing for making intimate contact with a second contact surface of the mounting pad, wherein the second contact surface extends at the first angle from the first substantially planar contact surface of the mounting pad.

6. The portable digital transducer of claim 5 wherein the first angle is a right angle.

7. The portable digital transducer of claim 5 wherein the first and second outer surfaces of the mounting means comprise a magnetic material, and the first and second contact surfaces of the mounting pad comprise a magnetically attractable material.

8. The portable digital transducer of claim 5 wherein the first and second outer surfaces of the mounting means comprise a magnetically attractable material, and the first and second contact surfaces of the mounting pad comprise a magnetic material.

9. The portable digital transducer of claim 5 wherein the quick-disconnect mounting means of the housing comprises a third outer surface extending at a second angle from the first substantially planar outer surface of the housing for making intimate contact with a third contact surface of the mounting pad, wherein the third contact surface extends at the second angle from the first substantially planar contact surface of the mounting pad.

10. The portable digital transducer of claim 9 wherein

the second outer surface of the housing intersects the first substantially planar outer surface of the housing along a first substantially straight line, and

the third outer surface of the housing intersects the first substantially planar outer surface of the housing along a second substantially straight line.

11. The portable digital transducer of claim 10 wherein the first substantially straight line is parallel to the second substantially straight line.

12. The portable digital transducer of claim 10 wherein the first substantially straight line is not parallel to the second substantially straight line, the first substantially planar outer surface of the housing is trapezoidal, and the first substantially planar contact surface of the mounting pad is trapezoidal.

13. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 wherein the memory device stores:

route information indicating a route of multiple measurement locations at which the portable digital transducer is to collect the dynamic digital measurement data;

configuration settings associated with each of the measurement locations; and

the synchronized datasets derived from the dynamic digital measurement data collected from each of the measurement locations, and

the communication interface comprises a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface that is accessible through the housing, the USB interface for transferring the synchronized datasets associated with the multiple measurement locations to an external device.

14. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 wherein

the communication interface comprises a wireless radio-frequency interface for generating wireless signals containing at least a portion of the configuration settings and at least a portion of the synchronized datasets, and

at least a portion of the housing comprises a material through which the wireless signals can pass,

whereby the portable digital transducer may receive at least a portion of the configuration settings from a wireless digital data collector and transmit at least a portion of the synchronized datasets to the wireless digital data collector.

15. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 further comprising:

the digital signal processing circuit for generating instruction signals and status indicator signals; and

a display device in electrical communication with the digital processing circuit, the display device for displaying visual instructions and status indicators to an operator of the portable digital transducer based on the instruction signals and status indicator signals,

where the visual instructions prompt the operator to do one or more of;

attach the portable digital transducer to a particular one of multiple measurement locations;

activate the portable digital transducer to begin collecting oversampled dynamic measurement data at a particular one of the measurement locations after the portable digital transducer has been attached;

proceed with the portable digital transducer to a next one of the measurement locations;

acknowledge a location awareness or location identification; and

where the visual status indicators indicate to the operator one or more of;

the portable digital transducer is ready for data collection at a particular one of the measurement locations;

data collection is ongoing at a particular one of the measurement locations;

data collection is complete at a particular one of the measurement locations;

the memory device is full or is almost full;

data collection is complete for all of the measurement locations;

the portable digital transducer is not firmly attached to the surface on the machine or a surface associated with the process; and

measurements indicate the machine or process being monitored is not operating, is not operating normally, or is not operating within an expected range.

16. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 wherein:

the communications interface receives route information from an external device, the route information indicating a route of measurement locations at which the portable digital transducer is to collect the dynamic digital measurement data;

the memory device stores the route information; and

the digital signal processing circuit accesses the route information from the memory device for controlling the digital transducer in collecting the dynamic digital measurement data at the multiple measurement locations.

17. The portable digital transducer of claim 16 wherein the route information associates each of the measurement locations with a corresponding one of the data groups within the dynamic digital measurement data based on a sequential order in which the data groups were collected pursuant to route information.

18. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 further comprising a user input device operable by an operator to generate an input signal to cause the portable digital transducer to begin collecting the dynamic digital measurement data.

19. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 wherein

the memory device stores skip-processing configuration settings indicating a first set of time durations during which dynamic digital measurement data is to be collected during an extended period of time, and a second set of time durations during which no data is to be collected during the extended period of time;

and

the digital signal processing circuit loading from the memory device the skip-processing configuration settings and controlling the portable digital transducer to collect the dynamic measurement data during the first set of time durations and not collect dynamic measurement data during the second set of time durations.

20. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 wherein:

the dynamic analog sensor comprises a multi-axis sensor for simultaneously generating multiple analog sensor signals based on measurements of dynamic characteristics of the one or more machines or processes in multiple axes;

the digital signal processing circuit controls the digital transducer in collecting the dynamic measurement data associated with the multiple axes and storing the synchronized datasets in the memory device in multiple data groups with timing information indicating that the multiple data groups were collected simultaneously.

21. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 further comprising:

an attachment detection sensor for generating an attachment signal indicating that the housing has been attached to a surface on the machine or a surface associated with the process, the attachment detection sensor selected from the group consisting of a capacitive sensor, an inductive sensor, a conductive sensor, a Hall effect sensor, a vibration sensor, a magnetic sensor, a temperature sensor, and an optical sensor; and

the digital signal processing circuit controlling the digital transducer to begin a data collection process or generate a prompt for an operator only after the attachment signal has been generated.

22. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 wherein the analog-to-digital conversion circuit oversamples the dynamic analog sensor signal at a fixed-frequency sampling rate over a predetermined fixed sampling duration that is sufficient to generate dynamic digital measurement data indicative of multiple characteristics of the machine or process, thereby eliminating multiple setup steps associated with measuring multiple characteristics separately.

23. The portable digital transducer of claim 22 wherein the predetermined fixed sampling duration is three seconds.

24. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 further comprising:

a location determination circuit for reading identification information from an identifier device disposed at a measurement location, the identification information uniquely identifying the measurement location at which the identifier device is disposed; and

the digital signal processing circuit using the identification information to load from the memory device configuration settings uniquely associated with the measurement location identified by the identification information.

25. The portable digital transducer of claim 24 wherein the identifier device comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag or a bar code, and the location determination circuit comprises an RFID tag reader or a bar code reader.

26. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 wherein:

the memory device stores leave-in-place configuration settings associated with at least one leave-in-place measurement location, the leave-in-place configuration settings indicating data collection time durations at which dynamic measurement data is to be collected while the portable digital transducer is left in place at the at least one leave-in-place measurement location for an extended period of time; and

the digital signal processing circuit loading from the memory device the leave-in-place configuration settings and controlling the portable digital transducer to collect the dynamic measurement data at the data collection time durations and not collect dynamic measurement data during periods of time between the data collection time durations.

27. The portable digital transducer of claim 26 wherein the memory device stores the leave-in-place configuration settings indicating a certain number of times that the portable digital transducer is to collect the dynamic measurement data during the extended period of time.

28. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 wherein the digital signal processing circuit comprises multiple parallel field programmable gate array (FPGA) channels operable to provide one or more of the following functions:

adaptive changing of data analysis techniques;

complete reconfiguration of the portable digital transducer in the field;

switching between high pass and low pass digital filters; and

complying with multi-channel comparisons.

29. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 wherein the communications interface is operable to communicate with a control system using a control system communications protocol, and wherein electrical power is transferred from the control system to the portable digital transducer via the communications interface.

30. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 wherein the housing has a polygon cross-section.

31. The portable digital transducer of claim 30 wherein the housing has a cross-section selected from the group consisting of rectangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, and octagonal.

32. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 wherein the communications interface transfers the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data from the memory device to an external device prior to any processing or decimation of the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data.

33. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 wherein

the digital signal processing circuit arranges the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data into multiple sequential sampling interval datasets and selectively decimates the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data within each sampling interval dataset to produce scalar values corresponding to the sampling interval datasets, and

the communications interface transfers the scalar values from the memory device to an external device after selective decimation of the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data.

34. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 wherein

the communication interface comprises a wireless radio-frequency interface for generating wireless signals containing the synchronized datasets separated into data packets that are transmitted from the communication interface during periods of time during which no dynamic digital measurement data is being collected,

wherein the data packets may be reassembled to form the synchronized datasets in an external device, thereby achieving a lossless data transfer.

35. The portable digital transducer of claim 1 for functioning as a tachometer or inclinometer or encoder, wherein

the portable housing is configured to be securely attached to a rotating component of a machine or process,

the dynamic analog sensor comprises a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) sensor for generating the analog sensor signal to be indicative of an angular orientation of the rotating component to which the portable housing is attached, and

the power source comprises an energy harvester circuit that generates electrical power based on rotation of the portable digital transducer when attached to the rotating component.

36. A portable digital transducer for collecting dynamic measurement data associated with one or more machines or processes, the portable digital transducer comprising:

a dynamic analog sensor for generating an analog sensor signal based on measurements of dynamic characteristics of the one or more machines or processes;

an analog signal processing circuit for preprocessing the analog sensor signal before conversion into a digital signal;

an analog-to-digital conversion circuit for oversampling the analog sensor signal at a sampling rate to generate oversampled dynamic digital measurement data;

a decimation processor that is selectively programmable to derive one or more of first, second and third synchronized datasets from the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data, wherein

the first synchronized dataset results from filtering and nonselective decimation of the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data,

the second synchronized dataset results from filtering and selective decimation of the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data, and

the third synchronized dataset results from filtering and no decimation of the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data;

a memory device for storing one or more of the first, second, and third synchronized datasets until one or more of the first, second, and third synchronized datasets are transferred to an external device;

a digital signal processing circuit controlling the portable digital transducer in collecting the oversampled dynamic digital measurement data and storing one or more of the first, second, and third synchronized datasets in the memory device;

a communications interface for transferring configuration settings from an external device to the memory device and for transferring one or more of the first, second, and third synchronized datasets from the memory device to an external device;

a power source for powering the portable digital transducer to collect and store the dynamic digital measurement data, and maintain one or more of the first, second, and third synchronized datasets in the memory device until the synchronized datasets are transferred to the external device; and

a portable housing in which the dynamic analog sensor, analog signal processing circuit, analog-to-digital conversion circuit, decimation processor, digital signal processing circuit, memory device, communications interface, and power source are disposed, the portable housing configured for hands-free and cable-free data collection.

37. A method for collecting dynamic digital measurement data using a single portable digital transducer at multiple measurement locations associated with one or more machines or processes along a measurement route, and analyzing the dynamic measurement data at a location that is remote from the multiple measurement locations, the method comprising:

(a) executing a database setup wizard application to store setup information regarding each of the multiple measurement locations in a measurement database;

(b) attaching a mounting pad at each of the multiple measurement locations;

(c) displaying route instructions on a mobile display device carried by measurement personnel, the route instructions for directing the measurement personnel to the multiple measurement locations according to a measurement sequence;

(d) attaching the portable digital transducer to the mounting pad at one of the multiple measurement locations;

(e) activating the portable digital transducer to collect dynamic digital measurement data and store the dynamic digital measurement data in memory within the portable digital transducer;

(f) the portable digital transducer generating an indication signal for indicating to the measurement personnel that data collection is complete at the measurement location;

(g) removing the portable digital transducer from the mounting pad;

(h) attaching the portable digital transducer to the mounting pad at a next measurement location of the multiple measurement locations according to the measurement sequence;

(i) repeating steps (e) through (h) until dynamic digital measurement data has been collected and stored for each of the multiple measurement locations of the measurement route;

(j) uploading the dynamic digital measurement data from the portable digital transducer to a data analysis computer; and

(k) analyzing the dynamic digital measurement data using software on the data analysis computer.

38. A method for collecting dynamic digital measurement data using multiple portable digital transducers at multiple measurement locations associated with one or more machines or processes, each of the multiple portable digital transducers having a communication interface, the method comprising:

(a) docking each of the multiple portable digital transducers to a docking station having one or more interface ports for connecting to the communication interfaces of the multiple portable digital transducers;

(b) transferring a timing synchronization signal from the docking station to each of the multiple portable digital transducers via the one or more interface ports;

(c) based on the timing synchronization signal, synchronizing an internal clock of each portable digital transducer with internal clocks of other of the multiple portable digital transducers;

(d) removing the multiple portable digital transducers from the docking station;

(e) attaching the multiple portable digital transducers at the multiple measurement locations to surfaces associated with the one or more machines or processes;

(f) initiating collection of the dynamic digital measurement data by each of the multiple portable digital transducers over a measurement period, and storing the dynamic digital measurement data within memory of each portable digital transducer in association with a timestamp;

(g) removing the multiple portable digital transducers from the multiple measurement locations;

(h) docking each of the multiple portable digital transducers to the docking station;

(i) downloading the dynamic digital measurement data via the one or more interface ports from each portable digital transducer to an external data analysis device; and

(j) time synchronizing the dynamic digital measurement data collected by the multiple portable digital transducers based on the timestamps.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein

step (a) comprises docking the multiple portable digital transducers to multiple interface ports on the docking station;

and

step (b) comprises simultaneously transferring the timing synchronization signal from the docking station to all of the multiple portable digital transducers via the multiple interface ports.

40. The method of claim 38 further comprising providing power via the one or more interface ports to charge batteries of the multiple portable digital transducers while the multiple portable digital transducers are docked to the docking station.

41. A docking station for portable digital transducers and tachometers, the docking station comprising:

a plurality of interface ports for receiving and making electrical connection with communication interfaces in the portable digital transducers and tachometers;

a synchronization clock for generating a timing synchronization signal to be transferred to the portable digital transducers and tachometers via the interface ports;

a power supply for providing power to the portable digital transducers and tachometers via the interface ports to charge batteries in the portable digital transducers and tachometers; and

a processor for controlling the downloading of measurement data from memory devices in the portable digital transducers and tachometers and for controlling the uploading of measurement setup parameters to the portable digital transducers and tachometers.

42. A measurement setup system for generating measurement instructions to be used in a data collection process, the measurement setup system comprising:

a measurement database for storing measurement setup information for measurement locations associated with one or more machines or processes and for storing dynamic measurement data collected by at least one portable digital transducer at the measurement locations;

a database setup wizard processor in communication with the measurement database, the database setup wizard processor for generating;

configuration settings to be uploaded to the at least one portable digital transducer; and

route instructions for guiding an operator in placing the at least one portable digital transducer at the measurement locations according to a desired sequence, and for using the at least one portable digital transducer to collect dynamic digital measurement data at each measurement location.

43. The measurement setup system of claim 42 further comprising:

a docking station for receiving the at least one portable digital transducer, the docking station in communication with the database setup wizard processor via a communication network;

the database setup wizard processor for transferring the configuration settings via the communication network to the docking station to be uploaded to the at least one portable digital transducer.

44. The measurement setup system of claim 42 wherein the database setup wizard processor generates the route instructions as one or more of:

a route file to be uploaded to a portable computing device having a display, wherein the route instructions are displayed to an operator on the display of the portable computing device to be used while collecting the dynamic measurement data at each measurement location; and

a printout of the route instructions for the operator to use while collecting the dynamic measurement data at each measurement location.

45. A method for collecting dynamic digital measurement data using a single portable digital transducer configured to be securely attached to a mobile machine or mobile component of a machine or process, the method comprising:

(a) securely attaching the portable digital transducer to the mobile machine or mobile component;

(b) while the mobile machine or mobile component is disposed at a first location, activating the portable digital transducer to collect dynamic digital measurement data and store the dynamic digital measurement data in memory within the portable digital transducer;

(c) the mobile machine or mobile component moving away from the first location during operation of the mobile machine or mobile component;

(d) periodically collecting and storing the dynamic digital measurement data in the memory within the portable digital transducer during operation of the mobile machine or mobile component;

(e) the mobile machine or mobile component moving back to the first location during operation of the mobile machine or mobile component;

(f) uploading the dynamic digital measurement data from the memory of the portable digital transducer to a data analysis computer; and

(g) analyzing the dynamic digital measurement data using software on the data analysis computer.