Case Story: Engineering Start-Up Increases Product Safety with IoT Prototype Monitoring

IoT solutions are not just for large manufacturers or machine owners with comprehensive condition monitoring strategies for multiple factories. Smaller businesses can also benefit from remote access to data, as evidenced by this case story of a Danish engineering start-up.

Permanently mounted sensors
Continuous monitoring in real time
Data visualisations and trending
Remote access to vibration data
Alarm and shut-down functionalities
Data stored in the PCH Cloud

A Danish startup was testing their machine, which feeds metal bars to industrial CNC lathe machines at very high rotational speeds.

During the prototype testing, the startup noted that the feeder vibrated violently if a bent metal bar was fed to the machine. They realised that it was necessary to monitor the highly automated bar feeder during testing as well as operation.

The startup contacted PCH Engineering about a vibration monitoring solution that would alert operators to the situation before it turned dangerous and enable the startup to monitor the prototype remotely.

Monitoring for troubleshooting

First, we rigged up a prototype with test equipment connected to our online PCH Cloud database to determine the root cause of the problem.

By collecting and analysing the data remotely, we found that the slightest bend to the metal bar would cause dangerous vibrations in the bar feeder which could cause machine breakdowns and be a safety hazard to on-site personnel.

The solution: Remote IoT monitoring and shut-down functionality

We proposed a simple, cost-effective vibration monitoring solution with a shut-down trigger and IoT functionality for remote data analysis.

The solution consisted of:

1 vibration sensor with a relay that shuts down the machine in the event of excessive vibration
1 IoT EtherBridge module connected to the vibration sensor through RS485
An online cloud setup, PCH Cloud, allowing the startup to monitor and analyse the vibration data of their prototypes and first products remotely.

With the vibration monitoring solution from PCH Engineering, the startup was able to provide greater local machine safety to their clients, as the monitoring equipment from PCH Engineering is SIL 2 rated.

The monitor’s local alarms and shut-down relay protects the machine and the personnel on site from breakdowns when the machine is in operation.

The remote access to data in the PCH Cloud database helped the startup understand how their machine is being used by their clients and to adjust the vibration alarm levels accordingly.