NI Enhances Equipment Monitoring Tools

National Instruments (NI) has enhanced its NI InsightCM Enterprise software, a tool that monitors the health of capital equipment for machine maintenance and operations. NI developed the new version in order to go deeper into the view of the equipment.

“The first release of NI InsightCM Enterprise monitored vibration and temp, which reveals the physical health of the equipment,” Brett Burger, manager for smart grid applications at NI told Design News. “Now it measures voltage, current, and power, which better covers the health of the machine. The big thing is broken rotor bars. They can’t be seen without looking at the voltage signature.”

The exploding variety and number of sensors, the speed of measurements now required to accurately monitor equipment, and the expanding number of assets have produced a considerable Big Data challenge for plants. The new features of NI InsightCM were created to help solve this problem. For one, additional data is filtered into a single view of the data. “The platform comes with different modules, but the data comes into the same viewer,” said Burger. “A lot of companies would use their vendors for these measurements, which would mean two different tools. Now it’s all one.”

In keeping with the technology trend of customization, the monitoring tool can be configured to provide only the data needed for the specific measurements a user needs. “One big point is the software development kit. It’s more open,” said Burger. “If there is a particular type of analysis you need, you can add that specific analysis to our tools. If you want to see all of the raw data, you have full access to it.” Burger also noted that disparate data can be funneled into a shared HMI. “If you have third-party hardware, or if you have existing equipment in the field, you can bring it into the same view.”

As well as choosing the type of data to observe and bringing it into a coordinated view, the system can also capture and deliver data from a variety of sources. “The benefit for end users is that our tool can be adapted to the way they like to do business. If they’re using a particular meter or another tool, they can use their existing hardware,” said Burger. “They can write an adapter or hire an outside adapter. They can automate the process by using the development kit.”

READ RELATED ARTICLES:

The advances to the tool take into account changes in the makeup of the plant’s staff. Baby Boomers are retiring and taking their knowledge with them. Data and the presentation of that data are filling the experience gap. “A huge chunk of the industry has been happy with their measurements, but things are changing. The brain drain of motor health experts has changed the way companies are running their maintenance programs,” said Burger. “With the flexible options, users can adapt to what they want to do rather than them working around the tool.”

NI designed the online monitoring solution for a variety of industries, including oil and gas, power generation, mining, rail, and industrial manufacturing. The target was organizations that need to reduce maintenance costs, improve machine performance, and maximize uptime.

Learn more at Atlantic Design & Manufacturing June 14-16, in New York.

[image via National Instruments]

Rob Spiegel has covered automation and control for 15 years, 12 of them for Design News. Other topics he has covered include supply chain technology, alternative energy, and cyber security. For 10 years he was owner and publisher of the food magazine Chile Pepper.