IoT-based Condition Monitoring

- Overview

IoT-based condition monitoring uses sensors and a connected system to continuously track equipment health, analyze the data for insights, and enable predictive maintenance. 

By measuring parameters like temperature, vibration, and pressure in real-time, these systems can detect issues early, automate maintenance, and prevent failures, leading to reduced downtime and costs. 

1. How it works:

• Sensors: IoT sensors (e.g., temperature, vibration, pressure, humidity) are attached to equipment to collect data on its operating condition. 
• Data Transmission: This raw data is transmitted wirelessly to a central platform, often via the cloud. 
• Analysis: Specialized software aggregates and analyzes the data to identify trends, detect deviations from normal operating conditions, and generate insights into the equipment's health. 
• Action: The system can automatically trigger maintenance based on pre-set thresholds or send alerts for manual intervention, allowing for proactive fixes before a failure occurs. 

2. Key benefits:

• Predictive Maintenance: Enables maintenance to be scheduled only when needed, based on the actual condition of the equipment, rather than on a fixed schedule. 
• Reduced Downtime: Helps prevent unexpected equipment failures, which minimizes costly and disruptive downtime. 
• Improved Efficiency: Optimizes performance by ensuring equipment is operating within its optimal parameters and helps manage maintenance schedules more efficiently. 
• Lower Costs: Reduces maintenance and repair costs by preventing major failures and increasing the lifespan of equipment. 
• Remote Monitoring: Allows for the monitoring of equipment from remote locations, which is particularly useful for geographically dispersed assets. 

- Machine Health Management and Monitoring Systems

IoT-based condition monitoring is a machine health management and monitoring system that provides insights into a machine's condition. It's part of an industrial maintenance strategy and a determining component of predictive maintenance. 

IoT-connected condition monitoring services can:

• Identify performance and detect problems at an early stage
• Automate maintenance based on threshold values
• Capture data from IoT devices and sensors through special software
• Identify device problems
• Improve performance
• Evaluate security
• Deliver alerts on the state of the IoT infrastructure and individual device resources in real-time

IoT devices, especially sensors, are positioned on machinery to continuously collect vital data. This data includes metrics such as: Temperature readings, Vibration levels, Pressure measurements.

An effective IoT monitoring tool can:

• Enable teams to proactively manage IoT devices
• Resolve any issues before they impact customers

Some types of condition monitoring include: Oil analysis, Vibration analysis, Thermography, Ultrasonic monitoring, Radiography, Laser interferometry, Electrical monitoring.

- IoT-based Health Monitoring Systems

IoT can be used in health monitoring systems in several ways, including:

• Remote patient monitoring: IoT devices can collect vital signs like heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature from patients who are not present in a healthcare facility. Patients can access this data in real time through mobile apps.
• Tracking medication adherence: IoT devices can monitor patients' vital signs and track medication adherence.
• Providing real-time alerts: IoT devices can provide real-time alerts to caregivers if a patient's condition changes.
• Inferring mood and mental health: IoT devices can monitor heart rate, blood pressure, and other biometric data to infer information about a patient's current mood and mental health.
• Tracking medical equipment: IoT devices tagged with sensors can be used to track the real-time location of medical equipment like wheelchairs, defibrillators, nebulizers, and oxygen pumps.

Other benefits of IoT in healthcare include:

• Helping hospitals manage their assets more effectively
• Enabling healthcare providers to make well-versed decisions and provide on-time treatment
• Improving complete patient care delivery results

This system uses sensors to measure the patient's physiological parameters, including HR, BT, BP, and SpO2. The patient's data are collected via Wi-Fi from a remote location and stored in a cloud server, and the health parameters are continuously monitored.