Wireless sensor network for detecting equipment failure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017254051-A1
Application number	US-201715447606-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 2, 2017
Priority date	Mar 3, 2016
Publication date	Sep 7, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A monitoring system, hardware, and methods are provided for monitoring and detecting loosening and/or detaching of a component of a machine. The systems and methods employ a wireless sensor network platform including sensor nodes and sink nodes operating at an radio frequency (RF) that is about one order of magnitude lower than a standard WSN RF of 2.4 GHz. At least one sensor node comprising at least one sensor element is deployed in or on the component of the machine, or deployed in or on the machine at a point where the component is attached. The sensor node sends a signal to the sink node upon sensing loosening and/or detaching of the component, and the sink node generates an alarm. Embodiments provide real-time detection and localization of a detached machine component to facilitate fast retrieval of the component. Therefore, damage caused by the detached component reaching critical downstream components can be avoided.

First claim

1 . A monitoring system for detecting loosening and/or detaching of a component of a machine; comprising:
a wireless sensor network (WSN) platform that operates at a radio frequency (RF) that is about one order of magnitude lower than a standard WSN RF of 2.4 GHz; wherein the WSN comprises: at least one sensor node comprising at least one sensor element, the sensor node being deployed in or on the component of the machine, or deployed in or on the machine at a point where the component is attached; and at least one sink node deployed on the machine; wherein the sensor node sends a signal to the sink node upon sensing loosening and/or detaching of the component, and the sink node generates an alarm.

2 . The monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the WSN operates at a RF of about 433 MHz.

3 . The monitoring system of claim 1 , comprising at least three sink nodes;
wherein the monitoring system detects location of the detached component of the machine using multilateration.

4 . The monitoring system of claim 3 , wherein the at least three sink nodes comprise one or more mobile sink node deployed on one or more mobile machine, and one or more fixed sink node deployed on one or more fixed structure.

5 . The monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor node includes at least one sensor element selected from a capacitive proximity sensor, an inductive proximity sensor, and a mechanical contact sensor.

6 . The monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor node is deployed in a shovel tooth of an excavating shovel or in a shovel tooth adapter of an excavating shovel.

7 . The monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein a sensor node is deployed in a shovel tooth of an excavating shovel, wherein the sensor node includes a capacitive proximity sensor element.

8 . The monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein a sensor node is deployed in a shovel tooth adapter of an excavating shovel, wherein the sensor node includes an inductive proximity sensor element and a mechanical contact sensor element.

9 . The monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the machine is a shovel in an oil-sands operation, wherein the component of the machine is a shovel tooth.

10 . A method of monitoring and/or detecting loosening and/or detachment of a component of a machine; comprising:
operating a WSN platform at a RF that is about one order of magnitude lower than a standard WSN RF of 2.4 GHz; deploying a sensor node in or on the component of the machine, or deploying the sensor node in or on the machine at a point where the component is attached, the at least one sensor node comprising at least one sensor element; deploying at least one sink node on the machine; configuring the sensor node to send a signal to the sink node upon sensing loosening and/or detaching of the component, such that the sink node generates an alarm.

11 . The method of claim 10 , including operating the WSN at a RF of about 433 MHz.

12 . The method of claim 10 , comprising using at least three sink nodes;
wherein the monitoring and/or detecting includes detecting location of the detached component of the machine using multilateration.

13 . The method of claim 12 , comprising deploying one or more mobile sink node on one or more mobile machine, and deploying one or more fixed sink node on one or more fixed structure.

14 . The method of claim 10 , comprising at least one sensor node including at least one sensor element selected from a capacitive proximity sensor, an inductive proximity sensor, and a mechanical contact sensor.

15 . The method of claim 10 , comprising deploying the at least one sensor node in a shovel tooth of an excavating shovel or in a shovel tooth adapter of an excavating shovel.

16 . The method of claim 10 , comprising deploying a sensor node in a shovel tooth of an excavating shovel, wherein the sensor node includes a capacitive proximity sensor element.

17 . The method of claim 10 , comprising deploying a sensor node in a shovel tooth adapter of an excavating shovel, wherein the sensor node includes an inductive proximity sensor element and a mechanical contact sensor element.

18 . The method of claim 10 , comprising monitoring and/or detecting loosening and/or detachment of a component of a machine in an oil-sands operation, wherein the component of the machine is a shovel tooth.

Assignees

• Hassanein Hossam S
• Alma'Aitah Abdallah Y
• Syncrude Canada Ltd

Inventors

• Hassanein Hossam S
• Alma'Aitah Abdallah Y
• Obaia Khaled

Classifications

• H04W4/70

  Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] · CPC title

• E02F9/267 Primary

  Diagnosing or detecting failure of vehicles · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title

• H04L41/069

  using logs of notifications; Post-processing of notifications · CPC title

• G07C5/0816

  Indicating performance data, e.g. occurrence of a malfunction · CPC title