ROLE OF SENSOR IN INDUSTRY 4.

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Smart manufacturing. Factory automation. Industry 4.0. No matter what you call it, the
‘fourth industrial revolution’ is here. Powered by the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT),
connected devices and smart equipment are streamlining manufacturing and supply chain
processes large and small, on a global scale. Smart sensors are integral to this sea change,
extending the legacy sensor’s inherent abilities―to collect, store and monitor data―to new
levels that capitalize on data in context to optimize processes.

This optimization of processes is not without its challenges though. Manufacturing and
assembly machinery can be dirty and may need to run in fluctuating and extreme temperature
conditions. Ambient lighting can vary widely with dark and bright periods, including full
daylight. Packaging, printing, and labelling equipment require robust presence detection from
various media with low-contrast reflectivity. Logistics require reliable presence detection for
accurate routing. And engineers need smaller and simpler circuit designs with flexibility.
Sensors and connectivity are key elements to meeting these challenges, enabling efficient
manufacturing via the IIoT. The key here is to employ ‘smart’ optical sensors that consider the
bigger picture.
For example, manufacturing equipment maintenance generally has been performed on a
somewhat arbitrary or ‘recommended’ schedule rather than ‘when needed.’ Worse, repairs
are usually made when a part stops functioning properly or breaks altogether, likely disrupting
production schedules. With smart sensors, these issues are completely avoidable via
contextual data that identifies situations to be averted.
In these circumstances, the optical sensor is ideal. It is extremely versatile in its ability to look
at objects (such as products on a manufacturing line), through media (such as liquids flowing
through tubes), or at reflections off things (such as surfaces that have been processed in some
way). However, acquiring the kind of accurate, repeatable measurements that make analysis
meaningful can be difficult.
 MACHINE MAINTENANCE IN INDUSTRIES
Manufacturers have been practicing a time-based approach to the equipment maintenance.
They used to take the age of machinery as the factor for planning the maintenance routine.
The older the equipment the more frequent maintenance procedures need to be carried out.
The ARC group study states, however, that worldwide, only 18% of equipment has failed due
to its age, while 82% of failures occur randomly. It proves that a time-based approach is not
cost-effective – a piece of equipment gets maintained irrespective of the actual need.
On the manufacturing floor, connected devices are essentially creating networks of highly
instrumented devices, the impact of which remains to be seen. We do know, however, that
much of their utility relies on implementing one or more sensors to recognise changes in
diverse, real world environments and turn them into electrical signals that are measurable
and actionable. Industrial settings require accurate readings – facilitated by sensors that are
highly integrated, small, robust, stable over the long term, and draw little power. This unique
combination of features and performance is critical in keeping industry running smoothly and
safely with minimal downtime for maximum factory productivity.
To avoid ineffective maintenance routine and costs that accompany it, manufacturers can
leverage Industrial IoT and data science.

WHY IOT?
Predictive maintenance requires the ability to process large amounts of data and run
sophisticated algorithms, which cannot be achieved with local implementation within SCADA.
An IoT-based solution, on the other hand, allows storing terabytes of data and running
machine learning algorithms on several computers in parallel to forecast potential hazards
and pinpoint when industrial equipment is likely to fail.
For a robust IoT-based predictive maintenance solution, a thought-through architecture is a
must.
Which components make predictive maintenance work and how they cooperate with one
another is illustrated by the example of an IIoT solution that predicts the end of life of
industrial batteries.

An IoT-based predictive maintenance architecture:

Before going into technical details, it is important to identify key variables which determine
the health of a battery. They are temperature, voltage and discharge. Once the variables are
identified, batteries get equipped with sensors to gather the data about these parameters
and relay it to the cloud for processing.
Sensor data cannot pass directly to the cloud – it goes through gateways. Field gateways are
physical devices that filter and preprocess the data. A cloud gateway ensures safe data
transmission and provides connectivity via various protocols, which allows connecting various
field gateways.
Once sensor data enters the cloud part it “lands” on a streaming data processor. Its purpose
is to allow continuous flow of data and quickly and efficiently transmit data streams to a data
storage – a data lake.
A data lake stores the data gathered by sensors. It is still raw, so it may be inaccurate,
erroneous or contain irrelevant items. It is presented as a number of sets of sensor readings
measured at the corresponding time. When the data is needed for insights about battery’s
health, it is loaded to a big data warehouse.
The big data warehouse stores cleansed structured data. It contains temperature, voltage
and discharge parameters measured at a particular time and contextual information about
batteries’ types, locations, recharge dates, etc.
Once the data is prepared, it is analyzed with machine learning (ML) algorithms. ML
algorithms are applied to reveal hidden correlations in data sets and detect abnormal data
patterns. The recognized data patterns are reflected in predictive models.
Predictive models are built, trained and then used to identify whether self-discharge occurs
in a battery, pinpoint the batteries with capacity lower than normal or estimate batteries’
remaining useful life. The predictive models used for predictively maintaining industrial
batteries are built based on two approaches:
Classification approach - models built according to this approach identify whether a battery
is likely to self-discharge and show if the capacity of a battery is lower than normal or not.
Regression approach - models provide the information on how many days/cycles are left until
a battery’s useful life ends.
Predictive models are regularly updated, say, once a month, and tested for accuracy. If the
output differs from the expected one, they are revised, retrained and tested again, until they
function as intended.
Before getting down to machine learning, a good amount of exploratory analytics should be
carried out. Data analysis is carried out to find dependencies and discover patterns and
insights in the machine learning data sets. Moreover, during the exploratory analytics stage,
various technical assumptions are assessed to help select the best-fit machine learning
algorithm.
User applications allow an IoT-based predictive maintenance solution to alert users of a
potential battery failure.
Although not relevant for the battery case, a predictive maintenance architecture can include
additional components, such as actuators and control applications. Based on the results of
the prediction, control applications may be set to send commands to the equipment’s
actuators. For instance, if an engine’s temperature is rising to a critical point, control
applications may send a command to set a machine in a cool-down mode. Additionally,
control applications can be integrated with maintenance systems.

PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE BY INDUSTRIES

These universal architecture components are used to “build” predictive maintenance
solutions for various industries. Below, we list possible predictive maintenance applications
and provide examples of manufacturers who have already implemented IoT-based predictive
maintenance solutions.
DISCRETE MANUFACTURING
Major discrete manufacturers are using predictive maintenance based on IoT to monitor, for
example, the health of spindles in milling machines. They are prone to breaking, while their
repair is expensive. An IoT-based predictive maintenance solution can help to predict
potential damage by collecting data from ultrasonic and vibration sensors attached to the
spindle. Analyzing the collected data helps to identify fragile spindles before they break.
For example, the Volvo group has deployed an IoT-based predictive maintenance solution
that predicts spindle damages as well as identifies cracking and spalling of rotating
equipment, gearing and motor defects. As a result, they improved OEE by reducing diagnostic
times by up to 70 percent and repair times - by more than 20 percent.
According to the McKinsey report, IoT-based predictive maintenance extends equipment’s
life, helps to eliminate as much as 30 percent of the time-based maintenance routine, and
reduces equipment downtime by 50 percent. For a mature and reliable predictive
maintenance solution, however, a thought-out architecture with the focus on machine
learning is crucial.

FMEA method for Preventive Quality assurance

Due to the increasing number of the qualified workers in the industries in the last ten years,
must be assured the strengthening of the thinking procedure as well, in order to overtake the
advantage in know-how which has been realized in the world. Such a - useful and simple -
procedure is FMEA. This method gives the possibility to analyse products and manufacturing
processes in the early stages of designing, in order to eliminate the possible faults and defects
which may occur during the exploitation. This is very important mostly when we are thinking
about the costs of parts produced, for example in automobile industry.
What is Machinery Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (MFMEA)
Machinery FMEA is a methodical approach used for identifying risks associated with
machinery and equipment failure. The purpose of the MFMEA is to increase reliability of the
machinery, reduce time to repair and add prevention techniques, such as diagnostics. MFMEA
is an integral part of Total Predictive Maintenance (TPM).
The Machinery FMEA initially identifies the machine functions, speed of operation and
expected productivity or throughput. Reliability performance may also be stated for the
Equipment or Tooling. Failure Modes and their effects are listed. If there are design inputs or
special characteristics, the effect on end users is also included. A Severity ranking is the
determined for each effect. Next, detailed causes and their mechanisms, including physics of
failure, are identified. A high probability, due to past failure or lack of evidence, will drive an
action to prevent or reduce the cause’s impact on the failure mode. The detection ranking
determines the effectiveness of the machinery and diagnostics controls. A poor detection
ranking will drive an action to improve the ability to detect a cause of failure and warn of
impending failure. The MFMEA will also track improvements through reductions in Risk
Priority Number (RPN). By comparing the before and after RPN, a history of risk mitigation is
kept for future review.

Why Perform Machinery Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (MFMEA)

Risk is the substitute for failure on new processes. It is desirable to identify risks for each
machine or tool as early as possible. The main goal is to identify potential risk prior to
machinery, equipment or tooling design. Mitigation of the identified risk is reviewed during
design reviews of the equipment, at stages of the build and at initial trail runs at the
manufacturing facility. This review occurs prior to shipping equipment to the user facilities.
Final approval of the machinery, equipment and tooling often occurs at the first production
trial runs at the customer’s production facility.
Risks are identified on new technology and processes, which left unattended, could result in
failure. The Machinery FMEA is applied when:

 A customer requests evidence to support reliability targets for the machine

 A new technology or process is introduced
 A current process with modifications made to tooling / equipment due to Kaizen, Lean
or Cost of Quality projects
 A current machine is placed in a new environment or different location
As a result of one study which was effectuated between different industrial sewing machine
users, as critical points from point of view of failure frequency was found the rack pinion from
the thread guiding mechanism, cam control subassembly, automatic pulp meter subassembly
and the cutting-smoothing subassembly. The defects associated with the above mentioned
sub-assemblies were analysed by FMEA . In conformity with the risk priority numbers (RPN)
depending on the severity, occurrence and detection, the six most grave failures, in
descendent order were:
1. Wear and fracture of the bevel gear drive tooth (378)
2. Fracture or wear of the thread guiding mechanism (150)
3. Wear of the trapezoidal vee belts in the motor-main ax drive (189)
4. Clearance in the rack pinion transmission (148)
5. Clearance in the cam control subassembly (144)
6. Wear of the opening from the cutting-smoothing subassembly (144)

Optical Sensors Power the Factory Floor

Industrial sewing provides an excellent example of sensors in action, powering systems that
are far more sophisticated than the pedal-controlled, mechanical versions familiar to us as
consumers. Electrical rather than mechanical, advanced sewing systems may operate non-
stop on the factory floor – handling different stitches on a variety of fabrics with diverse
textures and general characteristics. As with any type of electrical system, safety must be
engineered into the product. In this scenario, sensors are tasked with detecting the presence
of fabric and activating the machine only when fabric is centred over the throat plate of the
device. This action not only permits the needle to pierce the fabric at the appropriate speed
and depth, but also reduces thread waste by powering on only when the fabric is correctly
positioned.
Adaptable sensors are programmed to recognise different types of fabric, for example
adjusting the machine’s speed and intensity to accommodate lightweight or more
transparent fabrics. Factory floors can also experience temperature extremes, with big sways
between heat and cold; adaptable sensors are responsive, automatically re-calibrating and
adjusting their output based on the status of their environment. This also applies to ambient
or shifting light conditions common in industrial settings. An optimised adaptable sensor can
screen and filter out the ambient light from its environment and continue to perform
flawlessly by detecting the light coming only from its own LED.
An example of such a device is the TT Electronics Photologic V OPB9000 reflective optical
sensor, expressly designed for industrial applications. This optical sensor comprises a fully
integrated analog front end, on chip processing and digital interface in a surface mount
package measuring 4.0mm by 2.2mm by 1.Integration solves many factory challenges,
transforming a standalone sensor into a low-power sensing module that contains all its
supporting circuitry and has programmable sensitivity and thresholds.

Industry 4.0 Thrives on Flexible Technology

Smart factories require smart technology. In our industrial sewing example, sensors manage
factors that keep machines running safely and at optimal performance. Thread tension,
needle force, even measurements such as thread usage are all features that can be managed
with smart, integrated sensors.
These tiny devices fuel the connected factory floor, allowing manufacturers to tap into real-
time performance data that allows continuous improvement in a highly competitive
manufacturing landscape. And because industrial settings are so diverse – performance
critical and potentially dangerous to human workers – smart sensors also deliver value while
reducing risk.
Optical devices are ideal in these settings, measuring and sensing a range of conditions, and
consuming minimal power. These highly integrated devices are small, and able to withstand
a tough environment – all key characteristics that improve equipment portability or, in the
case of manufacturing applications, a greater ability to be used in more challenging factory
environments.
 SENSOR MODEL
MACHINE MAINTENANCE: USE OF TEMPERATURE SENSOR IN INDUSTRIAL SEWING
MACHINES

COMPONENTS USED:

 Arduino Uno with USB cable: 1

 LM35 Temperature Sensor: 1
 Jumper wires
 Breadboard: 1
 100 Ohm Resistor: 2
 LED : Green & Red
 BUZZER: 1
CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

DESCRIPTION:
A motor running hot is a serious problem that can eventually lead to a catastrophic failure for
the motor or even other parts of the machine. Overheating can be caused by an overcurrent
condition on the machine. Mechanical binding, brake issues or overload issues should be
explored first.
The surface temperature of a continuously (and correctly) operating general purpose
industrial electric motor will easily be 80 C (176 F) and perhaps as high as 100 C (212 F). This
sensor model has been created to prevent overheating of industrial sewing machines which
results in severe damage to the machine and often machine breakdown. As the temperature
rises to a certain critical point the machine will send an alarm through buzzer or red light and
alert the user about the situation and can also be integrated with other components to shut
down the machine to avoid any unwanted hazardous situation. This data can further be used
to analyse the machine status and working condition and processed for machine
maintenance.