Automated machine monitoring enhanced

By collaborating with wireless specialist Lumen Radio, SKF has developed a new wireless sensor as part of a condition-monitoring system for improving the data gathered relating to rotating-equipment performance ‘on a scale that was previously considered uneconomic’.

Lumen Radio, which began in areas such as professional lighting (with its products being used to remotely monitor and control light shows), has since expanded into IoT (Internet of Things) applications in heating, ventilation and air conditioning — and ‘heavy industrial applications’.

In conjunction with Lumen Radio, SKF has created a new wireless monitoring system for measuring vibration and temperature. The Enlight Collect IMx-1 System combines SKF’s knowledge of machine health monitoring with Lumen Radio’s patented network technology; when fitted to rotating equipment, it can economically automate the collection of vibration data.

This capability means that predictive maintenance programmes can be expanded, with data captured more often, which increases defect detection rates and reduces costly unplanned machine shutdowns.