The PAMIS Project
Production
technology for application – specific micro sensors and their
Integration in electronic components.'
Status:
Completion by July 2004
Overview
The
PAMIS project aims to develop remote vibration
and temperature sensors with integrated signal processing technology
capable of transmitting large amounts of data via radio modules
to an operator’s PC within a 1-kilometre range.
Maintenance
costs UK industry between six and eight per cent of annual sales
turnover - some £2 BILLION - with indirect benefits (increases
in productivity, quality, availability and efficiency) equating
to a further £2 BILLION.
The
PAMIS project addresses the growing need for
industry to improve the effectiveness of industrial plant maintenance
to increase productivity and business profitability. The associated
high cost and technology limitations have slowed the uptake
of advanced maintenance practices in the SME sector. By providing
a low cost, technologically advanced solution, a powerful and
viable condition-monitoring package will be brought into reach
for a great majority of SME businesses.
The
project is set to conclude in 2004 with sensors and technology expected
to reach the marketplace before 2005.
Key Objectives
- The
development of a low-cost, battery-powered, solid-state accelerometer
with embedded signal processing technology to massively reduce
the amount of raw data required to be transmitted.
- The
development of a remote, on-line machine monitoring system which
does NOT require hard wiring, but can use radio communication
technology over distances up to 1km.
- The
development of signal processing and communications techniques
for handling high volumes of data in a single transmission burst.
- The
development of a fully flexible “plug and play”
approach to configuration of the remote monitoring system, to
allow installations in the widest possible range of applications.
- The
development of sensors and transmitters with a battery life
in excess of one year
Background
A
key feature in improving maintenance of machinery is to be able
to measure its vibration using specialist sensors (accelerometers),
which are expensive. Collecting vibration readings from machines
normally involves a trained operator using a form of data collector
with a connected accelerometer, and systematically moving around
the machine. The work is time consuming and exposes the operator
to heat, noise, dirt and the ever-present risk from moving machinery.
A
smarter solution involves installing permanent accelerometers wired
back to a junction box away from harm. This allows the operator
to collect several simultaneous readings from a common point, whilst
reducing his Time Exposed to Danger (T.E.D.) Expanding this methodology
further, if the readings could be passed to a central point with
an intelligent processing module, then machine health information
could be continuously monitored and analysed with minimum human
intervention.
The
draw back to these scenarios is the heavy investment in equipment
and cabling which may be several kilometres. Hardwiring may not
always be feasible on sites spanning a geographic feature such as
a river.
This
PAMIS project addresses these issues by developing:-
- a
low cost battery accelerometer with onboard signal processing
technology, allowing it’s widespread cost effective use
in the SME sector
- a
battery powered radio module and protocols to transmit large amounts
of rapidly changing data at high speeds, at distances of up to
100 metres, which is then passed to a booster transmitter, having
a capability of 1km range.
These
two developments will allow the installation of fixed accelerometers,
and provide the mechanism for passing the data to a central point,
with minimum human intervention at a cost that is acceptable for
small to medium sized businesses.
|
|
 |
