Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE OF INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part of US Patent
Application No.
17/223,525 filed on April 6, 2021, entitled "Predictive Maintenance using
Vibration Analysis of
Vane Pumps," which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Additionally, the present
application claims priority of US Provisional Patent Application No.
63/322,055 filed on March
21, 2022, entitled "End-to-End Wireless Sensor-Hub System," which is herein
incorporated by
reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present techniques relate to predictive maintenance of
industrial equipment.
BACKGROUND
[0003]
Machinery refers to a driven mechanical structure that applies forces and
controls
movement to execute one or more actions. Generally, a machine converts power
input to the
machine into a specific application of output forces and movement. Machine
elements include,
for example, structural components, movement control components, and general
control
components. Structural components include frame members, bearings, axles,
splines, vanes,
shafts, fasteners, seals, and lubricants. Movement control components include
gear trains, belt or
chain drives, linkages, and cam and follower mechanisms. General control
components include
buttons, switches, indicators, logic, sensors, actuators and computer
controllers.
[0004] Sensors can be used to capture data associated with industrial
equipment. Industrial
equipment includes machines used in manufacturing and fabrication. For
example, industrial
equipment includes but is not limited to pumps, heavy duty industrial tools,
compressors,
automated assembly equipment, and the like. Industrial equipment also includes
machine parts
and hardware, such as springs, nuts and bolts, screws, valves, pneumatic
hoses, and the like.
SUMMARY
[0005] In general, one or more aspects of the subject matter described in
this specification
can be embodied in one or more methods or systems. A method includes obtaining
sensor data,
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wherein sensor hubs are configured to capture sensor data associated with one
or more operating
conditions of the industrial equipment. The method includes inputting sensor
data to a trained
machine learning model, wherein the trained machine learning model comprises a
physics based
feature extraction model and a deep learning based automatic feature
extraction model.
Additionally, the method includes predicting operating conditions associated
with operation of
the industrial equipment.
[0006] A system includes one or more sensor-hubs physically coupled with
industrial
equipment, the industrial equipment being at an operational site. Each of the
one or more sensor-
hubs includes a controller and one or more sensors. At least one sensor hub is
located adjacent to
a component of the industrial equipment that is a source of sensor data, and
is configured to
capture the sensor data associated with the industrial equipment. The system
includes at least one
processor at the operational site, the at least one processor being
communicatively coupled with
the sensor hubs via a network that provides integrated support for secure,
wireless transmission
of the sensor data at the operational site. The one or more sensor hubs are
sequenced to transmit
data across the network according to a current group number.
[0007] A method includes configuring sensor hubs in an order using a
sequence established
by a time of addition to a network. The method includes configuring the sensor
hubs into one or
more groups, wherein a number of sensor hubs in a respective group is
calculated according to a
maximum bandwidth consumed by a group of sensor hubs, wherein the maximum
bandwidth
does not exceed a data bandwidth of the network. Additionally, the method
includes obtaining
sensor data captured by the one or more groups according to a current group
number, wherein
the sensor data is obtained from each group of the one or more groups
according to a
predetermined schedule.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] Figure 1A is an illustration of a system configured to convert
mechanical energy into
fluid flow energy.
[0009] Figure 1B is an illustration of a vane pump with a rotor in a first
position.
[0010] Figure 1C is an illustration of a vane pump with a rotor in a second
position.
[0011] Figure 1D is an illustration of a vane pump with a rotor in a third
position.
[0012] Figure 2 is a graph that illustrates flow rate as a function of
differential pressure.
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[0013] Figure 3 is a block diagram of a physics-based model for predictive
maintenance
using vibration analysis of vane pumps.
[0014] Figure 4 is a block diagram of a wavelet transforms in conjunction
with a
convolutional neural network for predictive maintenance using vibration
analysis of vane pumps.
[0015] Figure 5 is a block diagram of an LSTM-based model for predictive
maintenance
using vibration analysis of vane pumps.
[0016] Figure 6 is a process flow diagram of a process that generates
isolated pump vibration
data.
[0017] Figure 7 is a process flow diagram of a process that enables
predictive maintenance
using vibration analysis of vane pumps.
[0018] Figure 8 is a block diagram of an example computer system.
[0019] Figure 9A shows an example of a sensor hub.
[0020] Figure 9B is a drawing of a sensor hub.
[0021] Figure 10 is a block diagram of a sensor hub implementation.
[0022] Figure 11A is a block diagram of an edge architecture that includes
one or more
sensor hubs.
[0023] Figure 11B is drawing of a computer numerically controlled machine.
[0024] Figure 11C is a drawing of an industrial machine.
[0025] Figure 12 shows a process that enables an end-to-end wireless sensor-
hub system.
[0026] Figure 13 is a block diagram of a system that enables an end-to-end
wireless sensor
hub system.
[0027] Figure 14 shows an end-to-end model training pipeline
[0028] Figure 15 is a block diagram of a physics-based model for proactive
prediction of
operating conditions in industrial equipment.
[0029] Figure 16 is a block diagram of a model for proactive prediction of
operating
conditions in industrial equipment.
[0030] Figure 17 is a block diagram of a physics-based model for proactive
prediction of
operating conditions in industrial equipment.
[0031] Figure 18 is a block diagram of a long short-term memory (LSTM)
based model for
proactive prediction of operating conditions in industrial equipment.
[0032] Figure 19 shows a density plot.
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[0033] Figure 20 is a block diagram of an LSTM-auto encoder-based model for
proactive
prediction of operating conditions in industrial equipment.
[0034] Figure 21 is a process flow diagram of a process that enables
proactive prediction of
anomalous conditions in industrial equipment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0035] In the following description, for the purposes of explanation,
numerous specific
details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the
present invention. It will
be apparent, however, that the present invention can be practiced without
these specific details.
In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block
diagram form in order
to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention.
[0036] In the drawings, specific arrangements or orderings of schematic
elements, such as
those representing devices, modules, instruction blocks and data elements, are
shown for ease of
description. However, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that
the specific
ordering or arrangement of the schematic elements in the drawings is not meant
to imply that a
particular order or sequence of processing, or separation of processes, is
required. Further, the
inclusion of a schematic element in a drawing is not meant to imply that such
element is required
in all embodiments or that the features represented by such element may not be
included in or
combined with other elements in some embodiments.
[0037] Further, in the drawings, where connecting elements, such as solid
or dashed lines or
arrows, are used to illustrate a connection, relationship, or association
between or among two or
more other schematic elements, the absence of any such connecting elements is
not meant to
imply that no connection, relationship, or association can exist. In other
words, some
connections, relationships, or associations between elements are not shown in
the drawings so as
not to obscure the disclosure. In addition, for ease of illustration, a single
connecting element is
used to represent multiple connections, relationships or associations between
elements. For
example, where a connecting element represents a communication of signals,
data, or
instructions, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that such
element represents one
or multiple signal paths (e.g., a bus), as may be needed, to affect the
communication.
[0038] Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of
which are
illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detailed
description, numerous
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specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of
the various
described embodiments. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill
in the art that the
various described embodiments may be practiced without these specific details.
In other
instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks
have not been
described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the
embodiments.
[0039] Several features are described hereafter that can each be used
independently of one
another or with any combination of other features. However, any individual
feature may not
address any of the problems discussed above or might only address one of the
problems
discussed above. Some of the problems discussed above might not be fully
addressed by any of
the features described herein. Although headings are provided, information
related to a particular
heading, but not found in the section having that heading, may also be found
elsewhere in this
description. Embodiments are described herein according to the following
outline:
1. General Overview
2. Vibration Data Generation
3. Physics-based Top Feature in Conjunction with Machine-Learning Based
Classifier
4. Wavelet-transforms in conjunction with Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)
5. LT SM-Deep-Learning Architecture (Auto-Feature Extraction-
Classification)
6. Predictive Maintenance Using Vibration Analysis of Vane Pumps
7. End-to-End Wireless Sensor-Hub System
8. Proactive Prediction of Operating Conditions in Industrial Equipment
General Overview
[0040] Rotating machines (e.g., vane pumps, motors, fans, compressors,
turbines) operate, in
large part, due to the rotation of machine components. For example, vane pumps
generally
employ a number of vanes that travel along sliding and an out of a rotating
rotor and making
contact with the pump cavity. Vibrations produced by the rotating machinery
are indicative of
various operating conditions. These vibrations are measured using one or more
sensors. The
sensor data is pre-processed according to feature extraction system applied to
the sensor data.
The extracted features are classified to obtain a prediction of an operating
condition of a rotating
machine. In some cases, predictions from a plurality of feature extraction
systems are determined
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and a final prediction is generated by combining the predictions from each
individual feature
extraction system.
[0041] To train the models employed by one or more feature extraction
systems, the present
techniques enable capture of isolated pump vibration data. In particular, the
rotating machine is
isolated, and components that are sources of vibration are eliminated.
Vibration data associated
with at least one predetermined operating condition of the rotating machine is
generated, and the
generated vibration data is a clean representation of rotating machine
vibration under the
operating condition, free from noise or vibrations that originate from sources
other than the
rotating machine.
[0042] Some of the advantages of these techniques include automated
identification of
operating conditions associated with rotating machinery. The present
techniques eliminate
reliance on a manual operator that could overlook or be unaware of dangerous
operating
conditions. Additionally, the present techniques enable efficient detection of
poor operating
conditions. Poor operating conditions can be damaging to industrial machinery.
Further, broken
down, out of operation machinery can cause significant delays further down in
the production
line, and could potentially be unsafe for operators. The present techniques
reduce delays by
preventing breakdowns associated with poor operating conditions. Moreover, the
present
techniques are able to recognize the fault modes in the received sensor data,
even with the high-
dimensional characteristics of the derived features.
System Overview
[0043] As used herein, "sensor(s)" includes one or more hardware components
that detect
information about the environment surrounding the sensor. Some of the hardware
components
can include sensing components (e.g., vibration sensors, accelerometers),
transmitting and/or
receiving components (e.g., laser or radio frequency wave transmitters and
receivers,
transceivers, and the like), electronic components such as analog-to-digital
converters, a data
storage device (such as a RAM and/or a nonvolatile storage), software or
firmware components
and data processing components such as an ASIC (application-specific
integrated circuit), a
microprocessor and/or a microcontroller.
[0044] "One or more" includes a function being performed by one element, a
function being
performed by more than one element, e.g., in a distributed fashion, several
functions being
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performed by one element, several functions being performed by several
elements, or any
combination of the above.
[0045] It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second,
etc. are, in some
instances, used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not
be limited by these
terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For
example, a first
contact could be termed a second contact, and, similarly, a second contact
could be termed a first
contact, without departing from the scope of the various described
embodiments. The first
contact and the second contact are both contacts, but they are not the same
contact.
[0046] The terminology used in the description of the various described
embodiments herein
is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not
intended to be limiting.
As used in the description of the various described embodiments and the
appended claims, the
singular forms "a," "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as
well, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term
"and/or" as used
herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or
more of the
associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms
"includes," "including,"
"comprises," and/or "comprising," when used in this description, specify the
presence of stated
features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not
preclude the
presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,
operations, elements,
components, and/or groups thereof
[0047] As used herein, the term "if' is, optionally, construed to mean
"when" or "upon" or
"in response to determining" or "in response to detecting," depending on the
context. Similarly,
the phrase "if it is determined" or "if [a stated condition or event] is
detected" is, optionally,
construed to mean "upon determining" or "in response to determining" or "upon
detecting [the
stated condition or event]" or "in response to detecting [the stated condition
or event],"
depending on the context.
[0048] The present techniques include various artificial intelligence (Al)
models that are
trained using data generated while one or more predetermined operating
conditions exist. A
number of constraints are applied to a setup of the rotating machine and other
equipment used
during to generate data. The trained models can subsequently be executed on
data captured
during real-time operation of a rotating machine. In some embodiments, the
trained models
output a prediction of one or more operating conditions currently affecting
the rotating machine
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during operation of the rotating machine. In this manner, the present
techniques identify
operating conditions of the rotating machine without downtime.
[0049] Figure 1A is an illustration of a system 100A configured to convert
mechanical
energy into fluid flow energy. The system 100A includes a rotating machine
102. In the example
of Figure 1A, rotating machine 102 is a vane pump. For ease of description,
the present
techniques are described using a vane pump. However, the present techniques
can be applied to
any machinery that produces vibrations indicative of an operating condition.
[0050] Vane pumps are ubiquitous in industrial applications where fluid
needs to be moved
quickly from one place to another (e.g., loading and unloading transports,
fueling equipment,
chemical processing, refrigeration, liquid terminals, etc.). Vane pumps are
continuously in
operation in these industries under various conditions (e.g., chemical
process, energy, transport
military and marine, general industrial, oil and gas, etc.). Certain working
conditions can be
damaging to the pump. Additionally, a broken down, out of operation pump can
cause significant
delays further down in the production line, and could potentially be unsafe
for operators.
[0051] The system 100A is a positive fluid displacement system. As
illustrated, the rotating
machine 102 is coupled with a motor 104. During operation, the motor 104
converts electrical
energy to mechanical energy. The mechanical energy output by the motor 104 is
used to drive
rotations of a rotor within the rotating machine 102. In some embodiments, the
motor is coupled
with a rotor of the rotating machine 102 via a drive shaft (not illustrated).
[0052] Fluid enters the rotating machine 102 at the inlet 106, and fluid
exits the rotating
machine 102 at the outlet 108. Generally, internal components of the rotating
machine 102 create
a void at the inlet 106 draw fluid into the rotating machine 102. Fluid is
transferred from the inlet
106 to discharge through the outlet 108 using the internal components. In some
embodiments,
the internal components of the rotating machine 102 force fluid out of the
rotating machine. The
rotating machine 102 includes a relief valve (RV) 109. In some embodiments,
the RV 109
prevents the rotating machine 102 from creating a dangerous high-pressure
situation.
[0053] In some embodiments, the present techniques include the training and
execution of an
Al model to identify operating conditions in real time for an operating
rotating machine. For this
purpose, the model analyzes vibrations of the rotating machine 102 as captured
by a sensor 120.
In some embodiments, the sensor is an accelerometer. Generally, an
accelerometer converts
mechanical forces that occur during a change in motion to an electrical
current. In an example,
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the sensor 120 is a three-axis accelerometer. A three-axis accelerometer
converts mechanical
forces that occur during a change in motion along thee axes to an electrical
current. In some
embodiments, a plurality of sensors are mounted in multiple locations on the
rotating machine
102 to measure and record vibration data in real time. In some embodiments,
the accelerometer
is mounted atop of a relief valve.
[0054] In some embodiments, the rotating machine 102 and motor 104 are
attached to a
foundation 110. In some embodiments, the foundation 110 is an isolation block
for employed
during data generation. The isolation block isolates the rotating machine 102
and motor 104 from
other components that can introduce vibrations during data generation. For
ease of illustration,
the foundation 110 is illustrated as being of a particular size relative to
the rotating machine 102.
However, the foundation 110 can be of any size. As used herein, isolation
includes fixing the
component to an independent foundation as compared to the foundation of the
surrounding
environment. For example, within a structure such as a building, factory, or
test site, a portion of
the foundation and flooring of the structure is removed and a separate
foundation is built to form
an isolation block. Accordingly, an isolation block is a separate structure
erected directly on the
earth. In addition to an isolation block, other vibration attenuation
techniques or components
may be used to isolate the rotating machine. For example, pipe supports,
bearing supports, and
other impact absorption features can be implemented.
[0055] The block diagram of Figure 1A is not intended to indicate that the
system 100A is to
include all of the components shown in Figure 1A. Rather, the system 100A can
include fewer or
additional components not illustrated in Figure 1A (e.g., additional pumps,
drive system
components, tanks, piping, valves, heat exchangers, fluids, vanes, rotors,
housings, inlets,
cavities, outlets, isolation blocks, laser alignment equipment, vibration
analyzers, data
acquisition (DAQ) systems and the like. The system 100A may include any number
of additional
components not shown, depending on the details of the specific implementation.
Furthermore,
any of the models, sensors, vibration analyzers, and other described
functionalities may be
partially, or entirely, implemented in hardware and/or in a processor. For
example, the
functionality may be implemented with an application specific integrated
circuit, in logic
implemented in a processor, in logic implemented in a specialized graphics
processing unit, or in
any other device.
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[0056] Figures 1B, 1C, and 1D are an illustration of vane pumps 100B, 100C,
and 100D,
respectively. In some embodiments, the vane pumps 100B, 100C, and 100D are
rotating
machines (e.g., rotating machine 102 of Figure 1). In the example of Figure
1B, a pump inlet
106B and pump outlet 108B are illustrated. The pump 100B includes a rotor 112B
and vanes
114B driven by a shaft 116B within a pump cylinder 118B. Similarly, in the
example of Figure
1C, a pump inlet 106C and pump outlet 108C are illustrated. The pump 100C
includes a rotor
112C and vanes 114C driven by a shaft 116C within a pump cylinder 118C. In the
example of
Figure 1D, a pump inlet 106D and pump outlet 108D are illustrated. The pump
100D includes a
rotor 112D and vanes 114D driven by a shaft 116D within a pump cylinder 118D.
Accordingly,
in the example of Figures 1B, 1C, and 1D, the interior of the vane pump is
illustrated. Although
not illustrated, during operation the vane pump is driven by a drive system
including a motor
(e.g., motor 104 of Figure 1). Generally, the rotors 112B, 112C, and 112D are
illustrated as
circular with any number of slots. The rotor 112B, 112C, or 112D rotates
within the pump
cylinder 118B, 118C, 118D, driven by a motor coupled to a shaft 116B, 116C,
116D. As the
rotor turns, vanes 114B, 114C, 114D (illustrated as solid black bars) move in
and out of rotor
slots.
[0057] Figure 1B illustrates a rotor 112B as fluid enters the pump cylinder
118B, in a first
position. Figure 1C illustrates the rotor 112C as fluid fills the pump
cylinder 118C, in a second
position. Figure 1D illustrates the rotor 112D in a third position as fluid
fills the pump cylinder
118D and exits though the outlet 108D. In some embodiments, the centers of the
pump
cylinder118 and the rotor 112 are offset, causing eccentricity. During
operation, vanes slide into
and out of the rotor slots and seal on all edges, creating chambers within the
vane pump that fill
with fluid pulled in by a vacuum at the respective inlet. In particular, when
the pump shaft turns
the rotor in the pump housing, centrifugal force, push rods, and pressurized
fluid cause the vanes
to move outward in their slots, and bear against the inner bore of the pump
cylinder to form
pumping chambers. The fluid is transferred within the pump housing to the
outlet. At the outlet,
the vane chambers decrease in volume, expelling fluid out of the pump. In some
embodiments,
each revolution displaces a constant volume of fluid. In some embodiments, a
single pump is
used to transfer fluid in an industrial application. In another embodiment, a
plurality of pumps
are used to coordinate the transfer of fluid. The present techniques apply to
singular pumps as
well as pumps operating in coordination.
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[0058] The block diagrams of Figures 1B, 1C, and 1D are not intended to
indicate that the
vane pumps 100B, 100C, and 100D, respectively, are to include all of the
components shown in
Figures 1B, 1C, and 1D. Rather, the vane pumps 100B, 100C, and 100D can
include fewer or
additional components not illustrated in Figures 1B, 1C, and 1D (e.g.,
additional pumps, drive
system components, tanks, piping, valves, heat exchangers, fluids, vanes,
rotors, housings, inlets,
cavities, outlets, isolation blocks, laser alignment equipment, vibration
analyzers, DAQ systems
and the like). The vane pumps 100B, 100C, and 100D may include any number of
additional
components not shown, depending on the details of the specific implementation.
Vibration Data Generation
[0059] During operation, various operating conditions can be detrimental to
a rotating
machine (e.g., rotating machine 102 of Figure 1A, vane pump 100B of Figure 1B,
vane pump
100C of Figure 1C, vane pump 100D of Figure 1D). As used herein, an operating
condition is a
phenomenon that is observed during some form of work or production (e.g.,
operation) by the
rotating machine. An operating condition can include one or more levels or
stages that indicate
an increasing severity of the operating condition. In some embodiments, the
operating condition
is associated with circumstances that occur during operation of the rotating
machine, such as a
vane pump. The operating condition can result in mechanical damages to the
vane pump or the
mechanical assembly. Damages include mechanical seal failure, bushing failure,
pitting, broken
vanes, etc. Common operating conditions of vane pumps include normal, dry run,
cavitation,
misalignment, flow rate, proper engagement of the relief valve, aeration,
fluid crystallization,
vane wear, galled rotor, seizure damage, erosion, push rod wear or damage,
unusual cylinder or
liner wear, damage by large particles, bearing wear or damage, rotational
bending fatigue,
torsional fatigue, and the like. Although particular operating conditions are
described herein, the
present techniques are not limited to the presently described operating
conditions. Rather, the
operating conditions that are detected according to the present techniques
include any conditions
observable while the pump is operable (e.g., being driven or supplied power).
[0060] In an example, a normal operating condition represents a regular,
natural, or desired
standard of operation. During a normal operating condition, the pump provides
fluid transfer
functionality as expected according to the inputs to the pump. By contrast,
during a dry run
operating condition, the pump is operating (e.g., the rotor is being driven by
a motor) without
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fluids. Operating a vane pump without fluids can damage the pump. During
misalignment, the
motor or gearbox shaft is not in alignment with the pump input shaft.
[0061] During cavitation, for example, fluid boils within the pump during
operation. The
boiling fluid is typically due to the presence of an inlet vacuum great enough
that causes pressure
to drop so that fluid boils at a temperature lower than expected at
atmospheric pressure. For
example, a strainer upstream of the pump can be clogged or otherwise blocked,
thus choking the
inlet flow and causing a vacuum at the inlet. The vacuum causes small gas
bubbles to form
within the fluid and these bubbles will soon after collapse/implode inside the
pump causing
damage. Evidence of cavitation includes, but is not limited to, excessive
noise and vibration.
[0062] Some operating conditions are determined based upon, at least in
part, combinations
of other operating conditions. For example, flow rate is an operating
condition that is dependent
on other operating conditions, such as speed (e.g., rotations per minute (RPM)
of the motor) and
differential pressure at the pump. In some embodiments, higher speeds relate
directly to higher
flow rates. To set a predetermined flow rate for data generation, the
operating conditions on
which flow rate depends are plotted and trend lines used to determine the
dependent operating
condition.
[0063] Figure 2 is a graph 200 that illustrates flow rate as a function of
differential pressure
at a specific pump speed (RPM). In the graph 200, the flow rate 204
corresponds to the y-axis
and differential pressure 202 corresponds to the x-axis. As illustrated on the
graph 200, normal
operating conditions, cavitation, dry run, relief valve cracking, and relief
valve full open
operating conditions are plotted. In some embodiments, relief valve cracking
refers to the initial
opening of the relief valve, and relief value full open refers to when the
valve is fully open. The
relief valve is active after a relief valve cracking event occurs. Initially,
when the relief valve
"cracks" open, there is generally a smaller area available for relief (e.g.,
fluid transfer) when
compared to the fully open relief valve. Generally, when the relief valve is
active, some fluid
exits the pump via the relief valve. While particular operating conditions are
plotted on the graph
200, any operating conditions may be used.
[0064] A trend line 206 is overlaid on the graph 200 generally connecting
the data points that
represent normal operating conditions. The trend line 206 corresponds to a
particular RPM. In an
example, if the rotations per minute (RPM) and differential pressure are
known, the flow rate can
be determined by locating known values on the graph 200. In some embodiments,
graph
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generation includes overlaying trend lines that connect normal operating
conditions of the pump.
For ease of illustration, a single RPM trend line is illustrated. However,
multiple trend lines may
be represented on the graph 200. In some embodiments, the graph 200 is created
using vibration
data generated under one or more predetermined operating conditions as
described below. In real
world vane pump operation, flow rates can be determined by locating the flow
rate on the
generated graph 200 using RPM (which is typically known or set) and
differential pressure
(which can be observed using a pressure meter). Thus, the present techniques
enable a
determination of flow rate without a flowmeter or other flow measurements.
[0065] Vibration data is generated while one or more operating conditions
are applied to the
operation of the pump. In some embodiments, a controller or processor is used
to adjust control
values, speed/RPM, or other variables to simulate one or more operating
conditions.
Predetermined operating conditions can be simulated by adjusting one or more
components of a
system under test, such as the motor, control valves, or pressures. Vibrations
are measured or
captured during data generation. In some embodiments, a vibration analyzer is
used to process
data captured by the sensor. For example, the vibration analyzer executes a
time series analysis
on the captured vibration data. Additionally, a data acquisition system (DAQ)
is implemented to
record system parameters such as speed, pressure, temperature, etc. In some
embodiments,
speed, power, and torque are measured via data acquisition device in the shaft
system of the vane
pump. In some embodiments, differential pressure is monitored and adjusted
using control
valves.
[0066] In some embodiments, one or more three axis accelerometers (e.g.,
sensor 120 of
Figure 1A) are coupled with the vane pump. In some embodiments, the
accelerometer captures
data associated with vibrations caused by the pump. The vibration data
captured is isolated pump
vibration data associated with the one or more predetermined operating
conditions. As used
herein, isolated pump vibration data is raw accelerometer data representative
of vibrations
generated by a vane pump, without noise or vibrations from other sources.
Isolated pump
vibration data is generated under one or more constraints. The constraints
include, for example,
such as an isolation block, a laser aligned setup, and a variable frequency
driven (VFD) motor.
As a result, isolated pump vibration data is a clean representation of
rotating machine vibration
under the operating condition, free from noise or vibrations that originate
from sources other
than the rotating machine (e.g., gearbox).
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[0067] For example, equipment used to develop the isolated vane pump
vibration data
includes an isolation block (e.g., foundation 110 of Figure 1) to prevent
exterior vibrations from
interfering with testing. In an example, the isolation block is a large
foundation that is
independent of the building foundation. This foundation has a large mass of
its own and is not
directly connected to the foundation of the building. Accordingly, the
foundation can dampen
any vibration that might originate from the factory floor, highway, across the
street, and the like.
In an example, the motor and the pump are directly coupled with the isolation
block. In some
embodiments, a gearbox is not present in the system used for data generation.
By eliminating
gearboxes, the chance of generating any tooth-mesh or bearing frequencies from
the gearbox
when generating isolated pump vibration data is eliminated. Other equipment
associated with
operating the vane pump, such as a drive shaft system, tanks, piping, valves,
heat exchangers,
and test fluid are used to complete the system for testing. The other
equipment may be coupled
with the vane pump and motor using flexible piping and couplings to reduce any
vibrations from
the other equipment. In some embodiments, the vane pump is mounted on an
independent base
bolted to isolation block.
[0068] Laser alignment equipment is used to verify, measure, and define one
or more levels
of misalignment. In some embodiments, multiple levels of misalignment
determined. The levels
of alignment can include, for example, near-perfection (e.g., aligned), within
approved limits
(e.g., slightly aligned, slightly misaligned, within a predetermined range or
threshold), and not
aligned (e.g., misaligned, heavily misaligned). In some embodiments, one or
more levels of
alignment are tested with the presence of any combination of other operating
conditions, such as
normal, dry run, cavitation, flow rate, proper engagement of the relief valve,
aeration, fluid
crystallization, vane wear, galled rotor, seizure damage, erosion, push rod
wear or damage,
unusual cylinder or liner wear, damage by large particles, bearing wear or
damage, rotational
bending fatigue, torsional fatigue, and the like. Isolated pump vibration data
is generated with a
large number of test runs with various permutations of the operating
conditions.
[0069] The motor provides further constraints when generating isolated pump
vibration data.
In some embodiments, the motor (e.g., motor 104 of Figure 1) used to drive the
vane pump is a
direct drive high power electric motor with variable frequency drive (VFD)
control. For the
purposes of data generation, a greatly overpowered (for a standard
application) motor is used and
then driven at lower power frequencies to achieve a range of speeds. The motor
is run at lower
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speeds during data generation, enabling electrical reduction (VFD) of RPMs
instead of a
mechanical reduction (gearbox). In this manner, any vibrations due to
mechanical reductions in
speed are eliminated. Thus, testing can be performed at multiple speeds, and
the use of a gearbox
is eliminated, as a gearbox can introduce additional vibrations that can add
noise to or otherwise
corrupt the isolated pump vibration data. Traditional vibration based fault
diagnostic methods are
limited to a constant speed and load.
[0070] To accurately characterize the vibrations generated under one or
more
predetermined operating conditions, a high number of tests are executed on a
vane pump with
constraints as described above. During each test, one or more predetermined
operating conditions
are replicated and isolated pump vibration data is generated as the vane pump
operates. One or
more accelerometers coupled with the vane pump captures the isolated pump
vibration data. In
an example, 1,269 runs of a test pump are executed to isolate the effects of
predetermined
operating conditions. Accordingly, the present techniques generate isolated
pump vibration data
by executing a large number of runs on a constrained vane pump. During
isolated pump vibration
data generation, the vibration data is logged at a high rate for a set period
of time to enable a
significant data population size. In some embodiments, the isolated pump
vibration data along
with the one or more predetermined operating conditions are used to train one
or more models
that enable predictive maintenance using vibration analysis of vane pumps.
Additionally, in some
embodiments real-world vibration data associated with the predetermined
operating conditions is
obtained and used to refine the isolated pump vibration data captured under
the constraints using
real-world vibration data. For example, real world data is obtained though
beta testing.
Physics-based Top Feature in Conjunction with Machine-Learning Based
Classifier
[0071] Figure 3 is a block diagram of a physics-based model 300 for
predictive maintenance
using vibration analysis of vane pumps. Figure 3 includes vibration data 302.
In an example,
vibration data 302 is captured during operation of a rotating machine (e.g.,
rotating machine 102
of Figure 1, vane pump 100B of Figure 1C, vane pump 100C of Figure 1C). The
rotating
machine may be, for example, a vane pump. The vibration data 302 may be
captured by one or
more sensors (e.g., sensor 120 of Figure 1). At block 304, subsample windows
are created from
the captured vibration data 302. In some embodiments, subsample windows
include
measurements captured at regular time intervals. In some embodiments,
subsample windows
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include measurements captured at irregular time intervals. Additionally, at
block 304 the data
may be further preprocessed according to the particular feature extraction
system. Generally, the
preprocessing as described herein modifies the vibration data so that it can
be processed by the
corresponding feature extraction system. For example, pre-processing converts
the sensor data
from a raw format to an other format. In some embodiments, the preprocessing
can vary
according to the particulars of the feature extraction system used.
[0072] At reference number 306, a plurality of feature extraction systems
is illustrated. As
used herein, a feature extraction system is one or more processes, techniques,
or components
used to characterize data input to the feature extraction system. In the
example of Figure 3,
feature extraction systems include wavelet transforms, statistical feature
extraction (e.g.,
quartiles, mean, kurtosis, standard deviation, etc.), and time series feature
extraction (e.g., fast
Fourier transform (FFT), power spectral density (PSD), auto-correlation,
etc.). In some
embodiments, the feature extraction system outputs a feature vector. In some
embodiments, a
dimensionality of the output of feature extraction system at reference number
306 is reduced
using principal component analysis (PCA). For example, PCA reduces the
dimensionality of the
output by projecting each data point onto a first few principal components to
obtain lower
dimensional data while preserving as much of the data's variation as possible.
Additionally, in
some embodiments, t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE),
Principal Component
Analysis and Linear Discriminant Analysis are introduced to reduce the
dimensionality of the
feature vectors.
[0073] At block 308, the output of the one or more feature extraction
systems is obtained by
a machine learning (ML) model. The machine learning model predicts one or more
operating
conditions by classifying the data output by the feature extraction system
into the one or more
operating conditions. In an example, the machine learning model is a decision-
tree-based
ensemble machine learning algorithm that uses a gradient boosting framework
(e.g., XGBoost).
In an example, the machine learning model is a supervised learning algorithm
consisting of a
number of decision trees that are averaged (e.g., Random Forest).
Additionally, in an example,
the machine learning model as described herein is linear algorithm based on a
cost function
defined as a sigmoid function (e.g., logistic regression).
[0074] Accordingly, the at least one operating condition is identified by a
likelihood
operating condition exists based on the sensor data. In an example, the
machine learning based
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classifier uses training data (e.g., isolated pump vibration data) to
determine how the extracted
features relate to one or more operating conditions. In the example of Figure
3, the one or more
operating conditions are cavitation, dry run, and misalignment. However, a
machine learning
model according to the present techniques can classify data output by a
feature extraction system
into any operating condition where the machine learning model was trained
using isolated pump
vibration data associated with the operating condition. At block 310, the
performance of the
machine learning model in predicting the one or more operating conditions is
evaluated in a
confusion matrix format. In some embodiments, evaluation of the classification
in a confusion
matrix format enables visualization of the performance of the classifier.
[0075] Accordingly, Figure 3 classifies real time data output by a rotating
machine into one
or more operating conditions using models trained with isolated pump vibration
data. In some
embodiments, vibration data from a vane pump operating at a client site, under
real world
operating conditions is captured. For example, real world vibration data is
from vane pumps that
are continuously in operation in a variety of industries, such as chemical
process, energy,
transport, military and marine, general industrial, oil and gas, etc. The
vibration data captured
during real world operation (e.g., vibration data 302) of a vane pump is
sampled. In particular,
the real world vibration data is divided into subsample windows.
[0076] Generally, the feature extraction system decomposes the vibration
data into a feature
space. A feature is information regarding properties of the vibration data.
For example, a feature
is a particular characteristic in the data that is extracted using time domain
techniques, frequency
domain techniques, or any combination thereof In an example, a feature
extraction system
applied to the vibration data is a wavelet transform. A wavelet transform is a
mathematical
function used to divide a given function or continuous time signal into
different scale
components. The wavelet transform provides frequency information with the
corresponding
temporal data. In some embodiments, a wavelet transform decomposes the input
into wavelets of
various scales in the time domain. Pre-processing data when the feature
extraction system is a
wavelet transform includes applying a low pass filter to raw accelerometer
data to denoise the
raw data. The wavelet transform is applied to the filtered data, and the
resulting wavelets have
variable window sizes and provide a local structure of the data in a time ¨
frequency domain. In
an example, raw accelerometer data is captured and pre-processed to raw
filtered data that is
reshaped into small packets of 100 subsamples, 60% training, 20% validation,
and 20% test. The
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accelerometer data is transformed into wavelets. The wavelets may be a 128 x
128 resolution on
scale. Wavelet transforms can be used effectively for transient feature
extraction and extract
signal features over the entire spectrum without a dominant frequency band. In
some
embodiments, the dimensionality of features extracted using wavelet transform
based feature
extraction is reduced via principal component analysis to transform the
original extracted
features into a new set of uncorrelated features. For normal, dry run, and
cavitation, the wavelet
patterns produced by the wavelet transforms are visually different. These
distinct patterns are
learned by the model during training. In some embodiments, the results
according to the present
techniques may be output via a confusion matrix.
[0077] In an example, a feature extraction system applied to the vibration
data is a frequency
domain analysis. Generally, the frequency domain analysis includes a fast
Fourier transform
(FFT), power spectral density (PSD), auto-correlation, and the like. The FFT
translates the
vibration data from the time domain into the frequency domain and features are
extracted. The
power spectral density of the vibration data can also be computed, and
features extracted from
the power spectral density. Generally, autocorrelation is the correlation of a
signal with the
delayed copy of itself Features are extracted from the correlation are input
to a machine learning
based classifier. Pre-processing data when the feature extraction system is a
frequency domain
analysis includes applying a low pass filter to raw accelerometer data to
denoise the raw data.
[0078] In this example, features are extracted as peak amplitudes on a
chart charting against
time lag in seconds. In some embodiments, for a subsample window of vibration
data, the FFT,
power spectral density, and autocorrelation are plotted. The peaks of each
algorithm (FFT, power
spectral density, and autocorrelation) are distinct and different for each of
the conditions. In
some embodiments, the machine learning algorithm distinguishes between
conditions based on
the peak of the respective frequency domain analysis plots. In another
example, a feature
extraction system applied to the vibration data is a statistical time domain
feature extraction
system. In this example, statistical time domain features include quartiles,
mean, kurtosis,
standard deviation, and the like.
[0079] In some embodiments, local characteristic decomposition (LCD) is
used to transform
the raw signals into a number of intrinsic scaled components (ISC). In the
subsequent steps, any
feature extraction system is applied to the ISC (e.g., FFT, wavelet
transformations, kurtosis,
mean, median etc.). For each feature extracted using post LCD-ISC (e.g., high
dimensional
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features), dimensional reduction techniques like t-distributed stochastic
neighbor embedding (t-
SNE) or principal component analysis (PCA) are implemented. These reduced
dimensional
features can then be input into a machine learning based classifier for
classifying into different
pump conditions.
[0080] The block diagram of Figure 3 is not intended to indicate that the
model 300 is to
include all of the components shown in Figure 3. Rather, the model 300 can
include fewer or
additional components not illustrated in Figure 3 (e.g., additional pre-
processing, frequency
domain analysis, time series feature extraction, statistical based feature
extraction, machine
learning models, confusion matrices, etc.) The model 300 may include any
number of additional
components not shown, depending on the details of the specific implementation.
Furthermore,
any of the described functionalities may be partially, or entirely,
implemented in hardware and/or
in a processor. For example, the functionality may be implemented with an
application specific
integrated circuit, in logic implemented in a processor, in logic implemented
in a specialized
graphics processing unit, or in any other device.
Wavelet-transforms in conjunction with Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)
[0081] Figure 4 is a block diagram of a wavelet transforms in conjunction
with a
convolutional neural network. Similar to Figure 3, Figure 4 includes vibration
data 402. The
vibration data 402 may be captured by one or more sensors (e.g., sensor 120 of
Figure 1). At
block 404, subsample windows are created from the captured vibration data 402.
In some
embodiments, subsample windows include measurements captured at regular time
intervals. In
some embodiments, subsample windows include measurements captured at irregular
time
intervals. Additionally, at block 404 the data may be further preprocessed
according to the
particular feature extraction system. Generally, the preprocessing as
described herein modifies
the vibration data so that it can be processed by the corresponding feature
extraction system. In
some embodiments, the preprocessing can vary according to the particulars of
the feature
extraction system used.
[0082] At reference number 406, wavelet transforms are illustrated. In the
example of Figure
4, the wavelet transforms are determined using a feature importance technique.
In particular, a
threshold is applied to the wavelet transform to determine the most important
features. As used
herein, the most important features are those features that are above a
predetermined threshold.
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In an example, raw accelerometer data is captured and pre-processed to raw
filtered data that is
reshaped into small packets of 100 subsamples, including training, validation,
and testing
packets. The wavelet transforms are ranked and input to a fully connected a
convolutional neural
network (CNN) 408. In some embodiments, the wavelet transforms are processed
by the fully
connected convolutional neural network as images. Accordingly, the CNN 408 may
be a
wavelet-based CNN. In some embodiments, the CNN includes several layers,
including
convolutional layers, subsampling layers, and fully connected layers. In the
example of Figure 4,
wavelets were used as they have very distinct patterns and can be treated as
images. The CNN
408 classifies the data output by the feature extraction system into one or
more operating
conditions. In the example of Figure 4, the one or more operating conditions
are cavitation, dry
run, and misalignment. However, a machine learning model according to the
present techniques
can classify data output by a feature extraction system into any operating
condition where the
machine learning model was trained using isolated pump vibration data
associated with the
operating condition.
[0083] At block 412, the performance of the machine learning model in
predicting the one or
more operating conditions is evaluated in a confusion matrix format. In some
embodiments,
evaluation of the classification in a confusion matrix format enables
visualization of the
performance of the classifier.
[0084] The block diagram of Figure 4 is not intended to indicate that the
model 400 is to
include all of the components shown in Figure 4. Rather, the model 400 can
include fewer or
additional components not illustrated in Figure 4 (e.g., additional pre-
processing, wavelet
transforms, CNNs, machine learning models, confusion matrices, etc.) The model
400 may
include any number of additional components not shown, depending on the
details of the specific
implementation. Furthermore, any of the described functionalities may be
partially, or entirely,
implemented in hardware and/or in a processor. For example, the functionality
may be
implemented with an application specific integrated circuit, in logic
implemented in a processor,
in logic implemented in a specialized graphics processing unit, or in any
other device.
LT SM-Deep-Learning Architecture (Auto-Feature Extraction-Classification)
[0085] Figure 5 is a block diagram of an LSTM-based model. Similar to
Figure 3, Figure 5
includes vibration data 502. The vibration data 502 may be captured by one or
more sensors
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(e.g., sensor 120 of Figure 1). At block 504, subsample windows are created
from the captured
vibration data 502. In some embodiments, subsample windows include
measurements captured
at regular time intervals. In some embodiments, subsample windows include
measurements
captured at irregular time intervals. Additionally, at block 504 the data may
be further
preprocessed according to the particular feature extraction system. Generally,
the preprocessing
as described herein modifies the vibration data so that it can be processed by
the corresponding
feature extraction system. In some embodiments, the preprocessing can vary
according to the
particulars of the feature extraction system used.
[0086] At reference number 506, a long short-term memory (LSTM) based
architecture is
illustrated. The LSTM processes a plurality of parallel sequences of vibration
data. For example,
a three axis accelerometer captures data that is associated with vibrations
along the x, y, and z
axes. Using an LSTM based architecture, the raw vibration data is filtered to
remove noise. The
LSTM then extracts features from the filtered signals and classifies the
features into one or more
operating conditions. In some embodiments, creating subsample windows of the
raw vibration
data for input into an LSTM based architecture includes partitioning the data
into multiple
overlapping windows. In some embodiments, the input data is classified into
one or more
operating conditions by using the prediction from the last time step as the
classification head of
the neural network. The LSTM based architecture as described herein implements
a gate-based
network (e.g., LTSM, Recurrent Neural Network, Gated Recurrent Units, etc.) to
classify the
vibration data into an operating condition without separate feature extraction
for classification.
[0087] At block 508, the performance of the machine learning model in
predicting the one or
more operating conditions is evaluated in a confusion matrix format. In some
embodiments,
evaluation of the classification in a confusion matrix format enables
visualization of the
performance of the classifier.
[0088] The block diagram of Figure 5 is not intended to indicate that the
model 500 is to
include all of the components shown in Figure 5. Rather, the model 500 can
include fewer or
additional components not illustrated in Figure 5 (e.g., additional pre-
processing, LTSM
architectures, machine learning models, confusion matrices, etc.) The model
500 may include
any number of additional components not shown, depending on the details of the
specific
implementation. Furthermore, any of the described functionalities may be
partially, or entirely,
implemented in hardware and/or in a processor. For example, the functionality
may be
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implemented with an application specific integrated circuit, in logic
implemented in a processor,
in logic implemented in a specialized graphics processing unit, or in any
other device.
Predictive Maintenance Using Vibration Analysis of Vane Pumps
[0089] Figure 6 is a process flow diagram of a process 600 that generates
isolated pump
vibration data. The example process 600 can be implemented by the system 100A
of Figure 1A
and used to generate the isolated pump vibration data that is used to train
the model 300 of
Figure 3, the model 400 of Figure 4, or the model 500 of Figure 5. In various
examples, the
process 600 may be implemented using the processor of the computer system 800.
[0090] At block 602 a rotating machine (e.g., rotating machine 102 of
Figure 1), motor (e.g.,
motor 104 of Figure 1), and drive system are isolated. In some embodiments,
the rotating
machine, motor, and drive system are isolated by coupling the rotating
machine, motor, and drive
system to an isolation block (e.g., isolation block 110 of Figure 1).
Isolating the rotating
machine, motor, and drive system includes separating the rotating machine,
motor and drive
system such that vibrations external to the rotating machine, motor, and drive
system are
eliminated. For example, the rotating machine, motor, and drive system are
physically isolated
from other equipment associated with operating the rotating machine, such as
tanks, piping,
valves, heat exchangers, and test fluid.
[0091] At block 604, other sources of vibration are eliminated. For
example, the other
equipment associated with operating the rotating machine (and necessary to
generate one or
more predetermined operating conditions) are coupled with the rotating
machine, motor, and
drive system to generate vibration data. In some embodiments, the other
equipment is mounted
to other isolation blocks. In some embodiments, the other equipment is
connected to the rotating
machine, motor, and drive system using flexible piping to reduce any
vibrations from the other
equipment. At block 606, vibration data associated with one or more
predetermined operating
conditions of the pump is measured. In some embodiments, the measured
vibration data is
isolated pump vibration data from the rotating machine. The isolated pump
vibration data does
not include noise from other sources of vibration, as the other sources of
vibration are eliminated
through strategic equipment placement, usage of isolation blocks, usage of
flexible or vibration
absorbing piping, and other vibration attenuation techniques.
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[0092] The process flow diagram of Figure 6 is not intended to indicate
that the blocks of
the example process 600 are to be executed in any order, or that all of the
blocks are to be
included in every case. Further, any number of additional blocks not shown may
be included
within the example process 600, depending on the details of the specific
implementation.
[0093] Figure 7 is a process flow diagram of a process 700 that enables
predictive
maintenance using vibration analysis of vane pumps. The example process 700
can be
implemented by trained models, such as the model 300 of Figure 3, the model
400 of Figure 4, or
the model 500 of Figure 5. In various examples, the process 700 may be
implemented using
trained models executing on the processor of the computer system 800.
[0094] At block 702, sensor data (e.g., vibration data 302 of Figure 3,
vibration data 402 of
Figure 4, vibration data 502 of Figure 5) is obtained from at least one sensor
(e.g., sensor 120).
In some embodiments, the sensor is an accelerometer. At block 704, the sensor
data is
preprocessed according to a feature extraction system (e.g., reference number
306 of Figure 3,
reference number 406 of Figure 4, reference number 506 of Figure 5). For
example, the sensor
data may be used to create subsample windows (e.g., block 304 of Figure 3,
block 404 of Figure
4, and block 504 of Figure 5). In some embodiments, the subsample windows
include
measurements captured at regular time intervals. In some embodiments,
subsample windows
include measurements captured at irregular time intervals.
[0095] At block 706, features are extracted from the sensor data according
to the feature
extraction system. For example, wavelet transform features are extracted from
wavelet
transforms. FFT features are extracted from and FFT transform. In some
embodiments, the
dimensionality of the extracted features is reduced. At block 708, the
features are classified into
at least one operating condition. For example, operating conditions include
normal, dry run,
cavitation, misalignment, flow rate, proper engagement of the relief valve,
aeration, fluid
crystallization, vane wear, galled rotor, seizure damage, erosion, push rod
wear or damage,
unusual cylinder or liner wear, damage by large particles, bearing wear or
damage, rotational
bending fatigue, torsional fatigue, and the like. In some embodiments, the
models are stress
tested by running multiple error conditions at once such as dry run and
misalignment.
Additionally, in some embodiments, a plurality of feature extraction systems
are used to extract a
respective plurality of feature sets. One or more classifiers are used to
classify the feature sets
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into respective operating condition classifications. The respective operating
condition
classifications are combined into a final prediction.
[0096] At block 710, the at least one operating condition is output. In
some embodiments, a
representation of the at least one operating condition is rendered at a
device. The representation
informs a user of a status of the vane pump. In an example, the user is a
technician monitoring
the operation of the vane pump. Analyzing accelerometer data to determine
operating conditions
of a vane pump cannot be directly executed by humans. Accordingly, the
operating condition is
output in a human observable form. As used herein, a human observable form may
refer to a
form that is understood by humans. For example, audio may be output that
indicates an operating
condition. The output may be an electronic assistant announcing the operating
condition. The
output may be a series of chirps, alerts, or other auditory warnings that a
dangerous operating
condition is occurring. A human observable form may also be visual. For
example, text may be
rendered or displayed that indicates an operating condition. The visual output
may also be
changes in lighting, blinking, or other alerts regarding one or more operating
conditions.
[0097] The process flow diagram of Figure 7 is not intended to indicate
that the blocks of the
example process 700 are to be executed in any order, or that all of the blocks
are to be included
in every case. Further, any number of additional blocks not shown may be
included within the
example process 700, depending on the details of the specific implementation.
[0098] Figure 8 is a block diagram of an example computer system 800. For
example, system
100A of Figure 1, the model 300 of Figure 3, model 400 of Figure 4, or the
model 500 of Figure
could be a part of an example of the system 800 described here. The system 800
includes a
processor 804, a memory 806, a storage device 810, and one or more
input/output device
interfaces 812. Each of the components 804, 806, 810, and 812 can be
interconnected, for
example, using a system bus 808.
[0099] The processor 804 is capable of processing instructions for
execution within the
system 800. The term "execution" as used here refers to a technique in which
program code
causes a processor to carry out one or more processor instructions. The
processor 804 is capable
of processing instructions stored in the memory 806 or on the storage device
810. The processor
804 may execute operations such as isolated pump vibration data generation and
predictive
maintenance using vibration analysis of vane pumps. The memory 806 stores
information within
the system 800. In some implementations, the memory 806 is a computer-readable
medium. In
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some implementations, the memory 806 is a volatile memory unit. In some
implementations, the
memory 806 is a non-volatile memory unit.
[0100] The storage device 810 is capable of providing mass storage for the
system 800. In
some implementations, the storage device 810 is a non-transitory computer-
readable medium. In
various different implementations, the storage device 810 can include, for
example, a hard disk
device, an optical disk device, a solid-state drive, a flash drive, magnetic
tape, or some other
large capacity storage device. In some implementations, the storage device 810
may be a cloud
storage device, e.g., a logical storage device including one or more physical
storage devices
distributed on a network and accessed using a network. In some examples, the
storage device
may store long-term data, such as isolated pump vibration data. Preset
settings corresponding to
the material placed within the containment center may also be stored. The
input/output interface
devices 814 provide input/output operations for the system 800. In some
implementations, the
input/output interface devices 814 can include one or more of a network
interface devices, e.g.,
an Ethernet interface, a serial communication device, e.g., an RS-232
interface, and/or a wireless
interface device, e.g., an 802.11 interface, a 3G wireless modem, an 8G
wireless modem, etc. A
network interface device allows the system 800 to communicate, for example,
transmit and
receive such data. In some implementations, the input/output device can
include driver devices
configured to receive input data and send output data to other input/output
devices, e.g.,
keyboard, printer and display devices 860. In some implementations, mobile
computing devices,
mobile communication devices, and other devices can be used.
[0101] A server or database system 802 can be distributively implemented
over a network,
such as a server farm, or a set of widely distributed servers or can be
implemented in a single
virtual device that includes multiple distributed devices that operate in
coordination with one
another. For example, one of the devices can control the other devices, or the
devices may
operate under a set of coordinated rules or protocols, or the devices may be
coordinated in
another fashion. The coordinated operation of the multiple distributed devices
presents the
appearance of operating as a single device.
[0102] In some examples, the system 800 is contained within a single
integrated circuit
package. A system 800 of this kind, in which both a processor 804 and one or
more other
components are contained within a single integrated circuit package and/or
fabricated as a single
integrated circuit, is sometimes called a microcontroller. In some
implementations, the integrated
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circuit package includes pins that correspond to input/output ports, e.g.,
that can be used to
communicate signals to and from one or more of the input/output interface
devices 812.
End-to-End Wireless Sensor-Hub System
[0103] Industrial equipment includes any number of components to achieve a
predetermined
objective, such as the manufacture or fabrication of goods. A sensor, such as
the sensor 120 of
Figure 1A, can be one or more sensors as described below. For example, a
sensor 120 can be
included in a sensor hub. A sensor hub according to the present systems and
techniques captures
data associated with industrial equipment and transmits the data as needed. In
some
embodiments, the sensor data is used to train one or more machine learning
models. In some
embodiments, the sensor data is input to a trained machine learning model to
characterize the
operation of the industrial equipment.
[0104] The present systems and techniques include an end-to-end wireless
sensor hub
system. One or more sensor-hubs ingest raw sensor data captured by multiple
sensors. In some
embodiments, sensor data includes multiple rotating component speeds, system
current
consumed by operating parts, machine vibration and orientation, operating
temperature, and any
other suitable characteristics that the industrial equipment can exhibit. In
examples, the multiple
sensors include sensors that capture current, power, and ambient conditions.
The multiple
sensors can also include temperature sensors, inertial measurement units
(IMUs) and the like.
The one or more sensor hubs are physically coupled with industrial equipment,
including but not
limited to pumps, heavy duty industrial tools, compressors, automated assembly
equipment, and
the like. The industrial equipment can further include machines such as
turning machines (e.g.,
lathes and boring mills), shapers and planers, drilling machines, milling
machines, grinding
machines, power saws, cutting machines, stamping machines, and presses.
[0105] In some embodiments, the sensor data is captured by one or more
sensors of a sensor
hub and sensor data is transmitted to condition monitoring applications for
predictive
maintenance of the industrial equipment, e.g., predictive maintenance of
actuators used in the
transportation sector, such as for fleet management for fuel tank systems,
motion platforms,
automation systems used in garbage trucks, etc. In some embodiments, a
respective mounting
position of each sensor-hub on the industrial equipment is determined by a
series of trials that
characterize various 'anomalous conditions' that occur throughout the lifetime
of use of the
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equipment. The sensor data collected during these trials can be used to train
machine learning
models. Some mounting positions capture sensor data that do not accurately
characterize
operation of the industrial equipment. In particular, some mounting positions
fail to capture data
that enables a machine learning model to characterize the operation of the
industrial equipment
due to being remote from the source of sensor data. The mounting positions
that fail to capture
sensor data that characterizes operation of the industrial equipment are not
used.
[0106] Once suitably positioned, the sensor-hubs can transfer captured raw
sensor data using
a low-power wireless personal area network with secure mesh based
communication technology.
The network can include one or more router nodes, terminating at an internet
of things (IoT)
edge device. In some embodiments, the network enables communications according
to an
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) communications protocol. In particular, the
communications
protocol used enables wireless connectivity at lower data rates. In some
embodiments, the
communications protocol used across the network is an IPv6 over Low-Power
Wireless Personal
Area Networks (6LoWPAN). The sensor data is ingested into a workflow and one
or more
trained machine learning models learn from the sensor data for continuous
improvement. In
some embodiments, the trained machine learning model(s) are deployed onto edge
or cloud
devices. In some embodiments, the edge devices are deployed at an operational
site. The sensor
hubs enable low power data collection and transmission, thereby conserving
power consumption.
The mesh network used for data transfer is resilient to failures and handles
outages of member
nodes.
[0107] Figure 9A shows an example of a sensor hub 900. The sensor hub 900
captures sensor
data that is input to the data flow architecture 1000 of Figure 10. A sensor
hub 900 corresponds
to each of the nodes 900A, 900B, and 900C of the network 1100A of Figure 11A,
and a sensor
hub 900 can be placed at various positions as shown in the example of the
computer numerically
controlled (CNC) machine 1100B of Figure 11B and/or the industrial machine
1100C of Figure
11C. Note that the CNC 1100B and industrial machine 1100C are examples, and
the industrial
equipment (including the CNC 1100B and the industrial machine 1100C) can be
designed and
built to perform a single operation or be designed and built to perform a
combination of two or
more operations. In any case, the industrial equipment can perform one or more
operations that
generate multiple functional parameters that can be understood by a trained
machine learning
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algorithm through the use of various data inputs, as described in this
specification. In some
embodiments, two or more sensor hubs 900 are coupled with the industrial
equipment.
[0108] In the example of Figure 9A, the sensor hub 900 includes a
controller 902. The
controller 902 includes one or more processing cores and memory. In some
examples, the
controller 902 is a system on a chip (SoC). As shown, the controller 902 is a
mixed signal
controller that integrates both analog and digital inputs. Analog inputs 906
are provided to the
controller 902. The controller 902 outputs analog outputs 908. Similarly, the
controller 902
receives digital inputs 910. The controller 902 outputs digital outputs 912.
The controller 902
also communicates via a serial RS-485 interface 904. Additionally, the
controller 902 includes
future expansion 914. In some embodiments, the future expansion 914 is an
expansion bus. The
expansion bus may be for example, an Inter-Integrated Circuit bus (I2C). In
some examples, the
future expansion 914 enables lower speed peripheral components to be
communicatively coupled
with the controller 902.
[0109] The controller 902 includes or is coupled with a battery 916. In
examples, the battery
916 is rechargeable or replaceable. In some embodiments, the controller 902 is
coupled with one
or more sensors. In the example of Figure 9A, the sensors include an inertial
measurement unit
(IMU) 918 and a temperature sensor 920. Although particular sensors 918 and
920 are shown in
the example of Figure 9A, any suitable sensor can be included in the sensor
hub 900. In some
examples, the IMU 918 includes a gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, or
any
combinations thereof In operation, the IMU 918 captures accelerations or other
movement data
associated with the industrial equipment. The temperature sensor 920 captures
temperature data
associated with the industrial equipment. Other suitable sensors may be, for
example pressure,
humidity, current, voltage, particle count, flow-rate, level measurement,
speed, distance,
proximity detection, up-down count, etc.
[0110] The controller 902 is communicatively coupled with the interface
904. In the example
of Figure 9A, the interface 904 is operable according to an RS-485 standard.
RS-485 is a
standard defining the electrical characteristics of drivers and receivers for
use in serial
communications systems. RS-485 specifies the electrical characteristics of a
generator and
receiver. It does not specify or recommend any communications protocol. In
some embodiments,
RS-485 is a transmission standard that uses differential voltages to code
transmission data for
multipoint, multi-drop LAN systems. The sensor-hub can use the RS-485
interface to
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communicate directly with equipment like variable frequency drives,
programmable logic
controllers (PLCs), and other industrial control equipment.
[0111] In some embodiments, the sensor hub includes fewer or additional
components than
those provided in the example of Figure 9A. In a first example, a sensor hub
900 includes an
accelerometer and a temperature sensor, is battery operated, and uses a very-
low power design
approach. In a second example, an analog-only sensor hub 900 includes an
accelerometer and a
temperature sensor, is not battery operated, and also enables users to connect
multiple external
analog sensors, thus extending the capability of the sensor hub 900. In some
embodiments, an
analog only sensor hub includes multiple analog outputs and an RS-485 port. In
a third example,
a fully-loaded sensor hub 900 extends the features of the analog-only sensor
hub described in the
second example, and additionally enables multiple digital inputs, multiple
digital outputs and an
expansion bus (I2C).
[0112] Figure 9B is a drawing of a sensor hub 950. The sensor hub 950 can
be, for example,
the sensor hub 900 described with respect to Figure 9A. The sensor hub 950 can
include
components described with respect to the sensor hub 900 in a plastic enclosure
960. The sensor
hub 950 and the plastic enclosure 960 are small. In examples, the sensor hub
950 and plastic
enclosure 960 are less than or equal to 83 millimeters (mm) x 83 mm x 39 mm
for a sensor hub
that is fully loaded or an analog-based sensor hub. In examples, the sensor
hub 950 and plastic
enclosure 960 are less than or equal to 83 mm x 83 mm x 55 mm for a sensor hub
that is battery
operated. The small size of the sensor hub 950 and plastic enclosure 960 along
with the wireless
communication of the sensed data facilitates placement of the sensor hub 950
and plastic housing
960 in many different locations on industrial equipment, including hard to
reach locations. In
some embodiments, the sensor hub 950 and plastic enclosure are mounted to the
industrial
equipment using stud mounting or two-pole magnetic mounting, depending on the
equipment
being monitored. In the example of Figure 9B, IP67 waterproof M12 connectors
970 are shown.
In some embodiments, the IP67 waterproof M12 connectors 970 enable coupling
the power
supply, analog and digital inputs/outputs, RS485, and I2C with the sensor hub.
[0113] Figure 10 is a block diagram of a data flow architecture 1000 for
sensor hub
implementation. In the example of Figure 10, the sensor hubs may be, for
example a sensor hub
900 as shown in Figure 9A. An operational site 1002 represents a location
where industrial
equipment is located. For example, the operational site 1002 may be that of an
organization that
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owns or operates industrial equipment. Hardware 1020 and software 1030 are
located at the
operational site 1002. In examples, the hardware 1020 includes one or more
sensor hubs. Sensor
data is captured at the operational site 1002 and transmitted to a cloud
infrastructure 1004.
[0114] The cloud infrastructure 1004 includes one or more trained machine
learning models
1040. In some embodiments, the machine learning models are an ensemble-based
model trained
to predict an operating condition of the industrial equipment based on sensor
data captured
during operation of the industrial machinery. Trained machine learning models
can also detect
model accuracy and data drifts. Additionally, the trained machine learning
models are self-
learning, where the models are updated based on newly available sensor data.
In some
embodiments, trained machine learning models are deployed in the cloud
infrastructure 1004,
where the trained machine learning models predict an operating condition of
the industrial
equipment in an online manner (e.g., with cloud access). In some embodiments,
trained machine
learning models are deployed at the operational site 1002, where the trained
machine learning
model predicts an operating condition of the industrial equipment in an
offline manner (e.g.,
without access to a cloud infrastructure).
[0115] The sensor data is labeled to characterize the subtle differences or
trends that appear
over a period of use, e.g., over the lifetime of use of the industrial
equipment. In some
embodiments, the labels are acquired via periodic polling from control
equipment (including
PLCs, variable frequency drives (VFDs), pump controllers, refrigeration
controllers, building
management system (BMS), etc.) for a state associated with the industrial
equipment. In some
embodiments, the labels are acquired via manual inputs from the equipment
operator(s)
(including truck drivers, service technicians, maintenance personnel, shop-
floor supervisors, fleet
operators, CNC (computer numerically controlled) machine operators, etc.)
using the provided
user interface running on a portable tablet device (e.g., device 1114 of
Figure 11). Over a period
of time, after collecting several cycles of sensor data from the industrial
equipment as it operates
and degrades, the machine learning models can be trained using the labeled
sensor data. This
degradation during operation thus produces "anomalous conditions" that exhibit
a physically
measurable (using attached sensors) data footprint that is different from the
data footprint when
the industrial equipment is new, freshly mounted/installed, and configured
according to
manufacturer specifications. With enough cycles of usage, the machine learning
models can
distinguish between good sensor data, various levels of degradation, and bad
sensor data. In
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examples, good data includes properly installed pumps running without any
cavitation, rotary
equipment used in cutting operations that produce the "right" quality of cuts
of media being
operated on, rotary equipment used in surface-finish operations that produce
the "right" surface-
finish, etc. In examples, bad data includes improperly installed pumps, pumps
running dry over a
long time, pumps producing lots of cavitation, rotary equipment used in
cutting operations that
produce "bad" quality cuts, rotary equipment used in surface-finish operations
that produce
"bad" quality surface-finish, etc. In some embodiments, the sensor data is
captured across
multiple operational sites (e.g., multiple customer installations). In some
embodiments, the data
is transmitted from the operational site 1002 to the cloud infrastructure 1004
according to a
secure communication protocol. In some embodiments, the protocol is the
Advanced Message
Queuing Protocol (AMQP) or the MQTT protocol according to the OASIS Message
Queuing
Telemetry Transport Technical Committee.
[0116] Figure 11A is a block diagram of an edge architecture operable via a
network 1100A
that includes one or more sensor hubs. In some embodiments, the network 1100A
is a low
power, peer-to-peer, multi-hop wireless network, wherein nodes of the network
collectively
coordinate routing of frames across the network. The present systems and
techniques include a
power-optimized sensor hub platform and an end-to-end support ecosystem for
machine learning
prediction completely offline and at the edge. In some embodiments, cloud
connectivity is
optional. In some embodiments, trained machine learning models (e.g., machine
learning models
1040 of Figure 10) can be deployed at the operational site 1002. In
particular, the machine
learning models are deployed at a device 1114 located at the operational site
1002. Secure
communication pathways are shown in Figure 11A with a lock adjacent to the
arrow representing
the communication pathway. In examples, secure communication pathways are
enabled via a
trusted platform module (TPM).
[0117] The network 1100A includes nodes 900A, 900B, and 900C. Each of the
nodes 900A,
900B, and 900C represent a respective sensor hub (e.g., sensor hub 900 and/or
sensor hub 950 of
Figures 9A and 9B). The sensor hubs are positioned at predetermined locations
on or near the
industrial equipment. Figure 11B is a drawing of a computer numerically
controlled (CNC)
machine 1100B. Figure 11C is a drawing of an industrial machine 1100C. Sensor
hubs, such as
sensor hubs corresponding to nodes 900A, 900B, and 900C may be placed at
predetermined
locations with respect to the CNC 1100B and industrial machine 1100C. The
sensor hubs are
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located adjacent to components of the CNC 1100B and industrial machine 1100C
that are
sources of sensor data. In some embodiments, a position and an orientation of
the at least one
sensor hub enables capture of sensor data associated with the component and
avoids attenuation
(e.g., reduction in amplitude) of the sensor data due to a distance between
the component and the
at least one sensor hub. In some embodiments, installation technicians (e.g.,
technicians that
install sensor hubs at locations on or near the industrial equipment) can
utilize the provided
commissioning user interface tool (e.g., device 1114). The tool can report the
quality of the
signal dynamically to determine the best mounting position or if signal
routers have to be
installed between the sensor-hub and the gateway.
[0118] In
some embodiments, a source of sensor data is a source of energy that moves or
controls a component of the industrial equipment. In the example of Figure
11B, the CNC 1100B
includes components such as a cutter and a motorized maneuverable platform.
Sensor hubs are
located at a predetermined location 1150 on or near the cutter of the CNC
1100B, and a
predetermined location 1152 on or near a motor of the motorized maneuverable
platform of the
CNC 1100B. The cutter and the motorized maneuverable platform are sources of
sensor data that
is captured by sensors of one or more sensor hubs. In the example of Figure
11C, the industrial
machine 1100C includes components such as a motor and a feed roll end. Sensor
hubs are
located at a predetermined location 1160 on or near the motor of the
industrial machine 1100C,
and a predetermined location 1162 on the side of the drive shaft opposite to
the motor end of the
rotor on the industrial machine 1100C. The motor and the feed roll end are
sources of sensor data
that is captured by sensors of one or more sensor hubs.
[0119]
Referring again to Figure 11A, an operational site 1002 and a cloud
infrastructure
1006 is shown. In some embodiments, the cloud infrastructure 1006 is a
Microsoft Azure cloud.
In examples, a Modbus Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) protocol is used to for
communications
with the sensor hub via the RS-485 physical bus (e.g., interface 904 of Figure
9A). The sensor
hubs are driven by a variable frequency drive 1102. Inputs/outputs 1104
correspond to analog
inputs 906, analog outputs 908, digital inputs 910, and digital outputs 912 as
described with
respect to Figure 9A. In examples, inputs/outputs 1104 include inputs such as
digital inputs (used
for on/off type inputs), analog inputs (used for reference inputs like
temperature reference, speed
reference, etc.), R5485 inputs (used for Modbus RTU communication with PLC,
etc.) and I2C
input (used for future expansion). In examples, inputs/outputs 1104 include
digital outputs (used
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to turn an indication light on/off or start/stop something) and analog outputs
(used to provide
reference to an externa system, like used to control the speed of a motor,
etc.) In an exemplary
sensor hub, there are four digital inputs, four analog inputs, one RS-485
input, and one I2C input.
The exemplary sensor hub also includes four digital outputs and two analog
outputs.
[0120] A thermopile 1106 is used to capture surface temperature of the
media under
operation. This surface temperature data is used to train machine learning
models. In some
examples, the temperature of the media affects the output quality of the
process. Media refers to
anything that is being operated upon. For example, in a CNC machine, media is
a block of metal
that needs to be machined. In other examples, such as a pelletizer, media is
strands of extruded
plastic that needs to be cut to form pellets. In the example of a paper cutter
or textile cutter,
media is paper and textile respectively.
[0121] The nodes 900A, 900B, and 900C capture sensor data associated with
industrial
equipment and transmit the sensor data using the network 1100A. In some
embodiments, the
network 1100A is an IPv6-based network. In examples, the network 1100A is an
OpenThread
network (e.g., 802.15.4 Thread) that routes data from one or more sensor hubs
across the
network consisting of one or more router nodes that form the mesh. In
examples, the network
1100A is a Matter network as provided by the Connectivity Standards Alliance.
In examples, the
network 1100A is a Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) network as provided by the
Bluetooth Special
Interest Group. In examples, the network 1100A is a Bluetooth mesh network as
provided by the
Bluetooth Special Interest Group. In examples, the network 1100A is a Zigbee
network as
provided by the Connectivity Standards Alliance. In examples, the network
1100A is an ANT
Network as provided by the ANT+ Alliance. In examples, the network 1100A is a
proprietary
2.4GHz networking protocol, developed in-house.
[0122] In the example of Figure 11, the network 1100A is an IPv6-based, low-
power mesh
networking technology for IoT devices, and is secure and future-proof In some
embodiments,
the sensor hubs (e.g., sensor hubs 900, 950 of Figures 9A and 9B) are located
in a high
temperature industrial environment. High temperature may be, for example, up-
to 130 C. The
low power IP based smart mesh network is operable in the high temperature
industrial
environment by isolating the electronics (e.g., processor, peripheral silicon
devices and
networking radio) from a transducer (e.g., device that converts energy to an
electric signal) of the
sensor hub. The isolation enables the electronics to operate at a reduced
temperature at up-to
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85 C when compared to the high temperature industrial environment. As
described herein,
intelligent sequencing enables large data transfer from multiple sensor-hubs.
The sensor hubs
communicate according to a predefined protocol that enables each sensor hub to
participate in
the data transmission on the network. Each sensor hub is an endpoint of the
network that
transmits captured sensor data via one or more router nodes 1108 to finally
reach the IoT
gateway 1116. This data can include metrics from sensors such as an
accelerometer, temperature
sensor, RS-485 (data from variable frequency drives, PLCs, etc.)
[0123] The one or more router nodes 1108 transmit sensor data captured at
the sensor hubs
corresponding to nodes 900A, 900B, and 900C. In examples, the network 1100A
includes
multiple types of nodes. For example, a node can be a full thread device
(FTD), a minimal thread
device (MTD), or any combinations thereof An FTD includes a radio that is
always on, while an
MTD includes a radio that is periodically placed in a sleep state. In the
example of Figure 11A,
the nodes 900A, 900B, and 900C are a type of MTD referred to as a sleepy node.
A sleepy node
optimizes power consumption by waking up from a sleep mode for a brief amount
of time during
which it does end-use application specific tasks. Upon completion of the
tasks, the sleepy node
returns to a sleep state. The longer a node sleeps, the more power is
conserved.
[0124] The one or more router nodes 1108 transmit data to the border router
1110. The
sensor data is wirelessly transmitted to the router nodes 1108, which relay
information to the
border router 1110. The border router 1110 translates between the IPV4 network
(e.g., the
Internet) to which a gateway 1116 is connected, and the IPV6 network. Data
moving between the
nodes 900A, 900B, and 900C and the cloud infrastructure 1006 are transmitted
through the
gateway 1116. The border router 1110 is positioned at an edge of the network
1100A, and in
some embodiments, the border router 1110 routes data between the low-power
mesh network
1100A and an external network, such as the Internet. The border router 1110
enables
connectivity of nodes on the low-power mesh network 1100A to other devices in
external
networks or to the cloud infrastructure 1006. As shown, the border router 1110
is
communicatively coupled to an IoT gateway 1116. The border router 1110
transmits sensor data
to the IoT gateway 1116, and the IoT gateway 1116 to the device 1114. In
examples, the device
1114 is a tablet computer, cellular phone, laptop, or other mobile electronic
device. In some
embodiments, the device 1114 operates using an Android or iOS based operating
system. In
some embodiments, a rate of data sampling for each node 900A, 900B, and 900C
is configurable
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via the device 1114. The device 1114 and gateway 1116 are communicatively
coupled with the
cloud infrastructure 1006 via a WiFi router 1112. In some embodiments, the
device 1114 and
gateway 1116 communicate with the cloud infrastructure 1006 using Long-Term
Evolution
(LTE) or Wi-Fi communication standard. The cloud infrastructure 1006 includes
application
cloud and device management 1130. In some embodiments, an application cloud is
used to
display data in a central web dashboard so that an engineer or customer can
look at machine
trends over time to understand degradation of machine tools. In some
embodiments, device
management includes a web application used to manage lifecycle of the IoT
devices deployed at
customer sites. Management, for example, includes deploying a new device, over-
the-air
software updates, rebooting an unresponsive device remotely, etc.
[0125] In some embodiments, the gateway 1116 is hardware and/or software a
program that
is a connection point between the cloud infrastructure 1006, various
controllers, nodes 900A-
900C, and other devices on the network 9100A. The gateway 9116 can execute a
software
library that enables edge functionality on the network. For example, the
gateway 1116 can
execute a Microsoft IoT Edge runtime, which enables predictive monitoring
applications and the
associated machine learning models (e.g., machine learning models 1040 of
Figure 10). The
device 1114 is connected on the IPV4 network and acts as the user interface to
securely onboard
and provision new sensor-hubs on the low-power mesh network, add users with
Role Based
Access Control (RBAC), send configuration updates to the sensor-hubs, send
over-the-air update
firmware for the sensor-hubs, and manually label data for machine learning
model training. In
some embodiments, outputs from the machine learning models are visually
indicated via one or
more lights (e.g., "traffic" lights) connected to the digital outputs of the
sensor hub.
[0126] In some embodiments, the gateway 1116 processes the sensor data
locally at the edge
before transmitting it to the cloud infrastructure 1006. For example, the
gateway 1116 can
aggregate or de-duplicate the sensor data as a way of reducing the volume of
data that is
transmitted to the cloud infrastructure 1006. In some embodiments, the gateway
1116 provides
security to the network. In the example of Figure 11A, the gateway 1116
includes an IoT Edge
Runtime 1118, Edge Device Lifecycle Management Module 1120, End-Use
Application Module
1122, Database 1124, Edge Device Remote Device Management Module 1126, and
Data
Science Module 1128. In some embodiments, the IoT Edge runtime 1118 enables
deploying IoT
workloads on an IoT gateway. The IoT Edge runtime 1118 may be, for example, a
Microsoft
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Azure product. In some embodiments, an Edge Device Lifecycle Management Module
1120
includes a proprietary application that manages the lifecycle of an IoT
gateway. Managing the
lifecycle of the gateway includes, for example, deploying the gateway from
scratch, receiving
and processing over-the-air software updates, etc. An End-Use Application
module 1122 is a
proprietary application that handles data coming in from the sensor hubs. In
some embodiments,
the End-Use Application Module 1122 transmits data from sensor hubs to the
cloud for training
machine learning models. The End-Use Application Module 1122 also executes the
machine
learning model to perform predictions on-premise and locally. In some
embodiments, the
Database Module 1124 stores data captured by the sensor hubs in a database.
[0127] In some embodiments, the peak data throughput of the low-power
networking
protocol used for communication between the nodes 900A-900C and the gateway
1116 without
using any routers between them is 250 kilobits per second (kbps). Large
amounts of raw,
unprocessed data from multiple sensors on-board each sensor-hub can be
captured from multiple
such sensor-hubs for training the machine learning models. In some
embodiments, the raw,
unprocessed data is captured from multiple sensor hubs for input into trained
machine learning
models. In some embodiments, a smart data transfer mechanism assigns a
sequence number and
a group number to each sensor hub during onboarding. The gateway ensures that
at a given point
in time, a predetermined number of sensor-hubs are allowed to transfer data
while all other
sensor-hubs are in a halted mode. Sensor hubs in a halted mode are presumed
ready to initiate
data transfer upon request. The data transfer mechanism ensures that no single
sensor-hub
consumes the available bandwidth on the network for an extended period of
time. The data
transfer mechanism provides each sensor-hub an opportunity to transfer sensor
data captured by
one or more sensor-hubs at least once per data acquisition cycle. In some
embodiments, the data
acquisition cycle is a predetermined time interval. For example, the data
acquisition cycle is of a
duration that enables capture of sensor data as fast as possible (e.g., in
view of hardware and
software limitations) which could be one transmission of the entire payload
once every five
seconds, while collecting as many samples as possible which can be as low as
required or can be
changed to continuous sampling, and with as high sampling frequency as
possible which can be
up-to 32 kHZ. Data acquisition cycle balances wireless throughput and sampling
time, so that
exactly the required amount of data is sampled at the optimal frequency that
enables full
characterization of the signatures produced by "good" operating conditions vs
"bad" operating
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conditions. This facilitates training of the machine learning model(s), as
well as continuous
improvement of trained machine learning model(s), and also ensures that the
data payload per
recording cycle of each sensor-hub is maintained at an optimal level to avoid
overwhelming the
low-power mesh network.
[0128] In some embodiments, a current group of sensor-hubs is active while
the remaining
groups of sensors are in a halted mode. If a sensor-hub does not initiate data
transfer during its
active mode for more than a specified time, for example, thirty seconds, then
the gateway can
enable an additional time window for the sensor-hub to transmit sensor data
captured by one or
more sensors of the sensor-hub before which the sensor-hub will lose its
chance to transfer data
collected in the current recording cycle. Additionally, if the sensor hub
enters an offline mode
while it is transmitting sensor data as a member of the current group for data
transmission, the
gateway 1116 marks the received data as incomplete and the sensor-hub will get
another chance
to retry data transmission. After a predetermined number of opportunities to
transmit data from
the sensor hub, if the sensor-hub is still unresponsive, the data is marked
invalid and the
user/machine operator is notified via the device 1114.
[0129] Figure 12 shows a process 1200 that enables an end-to-end wireless
sensor-hub
system. The process 1200 is operable using the sensor hub 900 of Figure 9A,
sensor hub 950 of
Figure 9B, the data flow architecture 1000 of Figure 10, and/or the network
1100A of Figure
11A. The process 1200 can be executed by the system 1300 of Figure 13. At
block 1202, sensor
hubs are configured in an order using a sequence established by a time of
addition to a network.
In some embodiments, a sequence number is the number assigned to a sensor hub
when the
sensor hub is initially added to the network (e.g., network 1100A of Figure
11A). For example, a
first sensor hub added at the earliest time of addition to the network is
designated as sensor hub
#1, a second sensor hub added at a second earliest time of addition to the
network is designated
as sensor hub #2, a third sensor hub added at a third earliest time of
addition to the network is
designated as sensor hub #3, and so on. In some embodiments, the sequence
number is assigned
by the network gateway (e.g., gateway 1116 of Figure 11A). In some
embodiments, each sensor
hub includes analog inputs and outputs, digital inputs and outputs, an
internal temperature
sensor, flash memory, RS-485, an I2C expansion bus and a trusted platform
module (TPM). In
some embodiments, the sensor hub is battery powered. In some embodiments, the
sensor hub is
powered by field power supply (DC 24V supply).
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[0130] At block 1204, the sensor hubs are assigned to one or more groups.
In some
embodiments, the sensor hubs are assigned to a group by the gateway of the
network. A number
of sensor hubs in a respective group is calculated according to a maximum
bandwidth consumed
by a group of sensor hubs, wherein the maximum bandwidth does not exceed a
data bandwidth
(e.g., throughput at the thread border router) of the network. For example, to
avoid multiple
sensor hubs sending data simultaneously and creating a bottleneck on the low-
power wireless
network, the data bandwidth of the network is divided among a number of sensor
hubs. The
maximum number of sensor hubs that can transmit data simultaneously on the
network without
causing a bottleneck is the group size. For purposes of example, each group
can include three
sensor hubs. In this example, sensor hubs assigned sequence numbers #1, #2 and
#3, are assigned
to group #1. Sensor hubs with sequence numbers #4, #5 and #6 are assigned to
group #2. Sensor
hubs transmit sensor data when their group number is the current group number
as provided by
the gateway. Otherwise, the sensor hubs are placed in a halted mode. Other
maximum number of
sensor hubs per group can also be used, such as a maximum of two or four
sensor hubs per
group.
[0131] At block 1206, sensor data (e.g., IMU data (accelerations,
orientation), temperature
data) captured by sensor hubs of the one or more groups is obtained according
to a current group
number. The sensor data is obtained from sensor hubs in each group of the one
or more groups
according to a predetermined schedule. In some embodiments, a round robin
scheduling is used
to cycle between sensor hubs by group numbers to obtain sensor data. When a
particular group
number becomes current, then the sensor hubs within that group start sending
data. In some
embodiments, the scheduling is manual scheduling according to a predetermined
order.
[0132] Each sensor hub added to the network periodically transmits a
heartbeat message to
the gateway. For example, the time period for transmission of the heartbeat
message may be
once every five seconds. The gateway communicates with the sensor hubs via a
response
message to the heartbeat message. The response message may include, for
example, commands
and statuses such as start data transmission, stop data transmission, firmware
update required,
and the like. The gateway application cycles between groups of sensor hubs
according to the
predetermined schedule. When a group is the current group, the sensor hubs
assigned to the
current group receive a response message that includes a command to initiate
sensor data
transmission in response to their respective heartbeat message. All other
sensor hubs that belong
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to groups other than the current group receive a halted message (e.g., stop
data transmission
command) in response to their heartbeat message.
[0133] For the current group, the gateway waits for a predetermined time
period (e.g., 30
seconds) to receive a heartbeat message from the sensor hubs of the current
group. Heartbeat
messages are periodically sent by each sensor hub regardless of the assigned
group. In examples,
the heartbeat messages are sent once every 5 seconds. This prevents a
situation where a sensor
hub belonging to a particular group goes offline and causes a delay in
response, in which case, it
does not send the heartbeat message. This also prevents a situation where a
sensor hub initiates
transmission of sensor data but does not complete the transmission of data.
Obtaining sensor data
captured by the one or more groups includes transmitting a start data
transmission command in
response to a heartbeat message received from a current group of sensor hubs.
[0134] When the sensor hub is a member of the current group and
transmitting data, sensor
data can be partitioned into multiple frames to accommodate a maximum transfer
unit (MTU) of
networking protocol (e.g., Thread protocol). In examples, when the sensor hub
includes an
accelerometer, 4000 individual accelerometer data points (x, y, z values of
acceleration) are
sampled. However, transmission of the samples may be constrained by networking
protocols. In
the example of a Thread protocol, a maximum of 50 samples can be transmitted
in one frame
without violating the MTU. In some embodiments, a correlation identification
(ID) is assigned to
a sensor hub. The correlation ID is a random number that the gateway assigns
to each sensor hub
the first time the sensor hub is registered on the network. For example, this
assignment occurs
after every reboot of the sensor hub or gateway application). This correlation
ID is appended in
each of the frames along with 50 accelerometer data points and sent to the
gateway. Every frame
which has the same correlation ID is considered to be part of the data that
all belongs to the one
time instance and is assembled together at the gateway to reconstruct the
whole data sample. The
order in which the individual frames (including 50 data points) arrive at the
gateway does not
change. Even if a particular frame is lost, the networking protocol ensures
that frames are
delivered in-order and at least once. The gateway assembles the frames in-
sequence. In
examples, if a particular sensor hub is offline for more than a predetermined
time interval (e.g.,
30 seconds) after beginning a transmission of sensor data, then the gateway
will give the sensor
hub a second chance to respond (e.g., an additional predetermined time
interval of 30 seconds).
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After that, the gateway can discard the partial data received from the sensor
hub, as partial data is
generally not useful for analysis.
[0135] In examples, sensor hubs transmitting at the same time use the 115.2
kbps throughput
of a border router. The network also transmits heartbeat messages and other
messages that are
internal to the network to ensure proper function of the mesh network.
Transmission of sensor
data across the network avoids consuming the maximum throughput of the
network. For a border
router with a maximum throughput of 250 kbps, more than two sensor hubs
transmitting data
simultaneously clogs the network, and the network failed transmissions may
create an avalanche
of further failures. In this example, to avoid failed transmissions, groups of
sensor hubs are
configured such that each group includes two sensor hubs. When a sensor hub is
not a member of
the current group selected for data transmission across the network, the
sensor hub is in a halted
mode. In some embodiments, a halted sensor hub receives a response message
from the gateway
of "stop data transmission" in response to their heartbeat request. The halted
sensor hubs
continue to transmit heartbeat messages at predetermined intervals and wait
for a start data
transmission response from the gateway. A sensor hub will initiate capture of
sensor data after
receiving a start response message from the gateway. In some embodiments, a
sensor hub is
placed in a low power mode when the sensor hub is not actively sampling. For
example, after
receipt of a "stop data transmission," a sensor hub can enter a low power
mode. The low power
mode enables the sensor hub to conserve power consumption and extend battery
life
[0136] Figure 13 is a block diagram of a system 1300 that enables an end-to-
end wireless
sensor hub system. The system 1300 can execute the process 1200 of Figure 12.
In examples, the
system 1300 includes, among other equipment, a controller 1302. Generally, the
controller 1302
is small in size and operates with lower processing power, memory and storage
when compared
to other processors such as GPUs or CPUs. In some embodiments, the controller
1302 consumes
very little energy and is efficient. In examples, the controller 1302 is a
component of (or is) a
mobile device, such as a cellular phone, tablet computer, and the like. In
some cases, the
controller 1302 is operable using battery power and is not required to be
connected to mains
power.
[0137] The controller 1302 includes a processor 1304. The processor 1304
can be a
microprocessor, a multi-core processor, a multithreaded processor, an ultra-
low-voltage
processor, an embedded processor, or a virtual processor. In some embodiments,
the processor
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1304 can be part of a system-on-a-chip (SoC) in which the processor 1304 and
the other
components of the controller 1302 are formed into a single integrated
electronics package.
[0138] The processor 1304 can communicate with other components of the
controller 1302
over a bus 1306. The bus 1306 can include any number of technologies, such as
industry
standard architecture (ISA), extended ISA (EISA), peripheral component
interconnect (PCI),
peripheral component interconnect extended (PCIx), PCI express (PCIe), or any
number of other
technologies. The bus 1306 can be a proprietary bus, for example, used in an
SoC based system.
Other bus technologies can be used, in addition to, or instead of, the
technologies above.
[0139] The bus 1306 can couple the processor 1304 to a memory 1308. In some
embodiments, such as in PLCs and other process control units, the memory 1308
is integrated
with a data storage 1310 used for long-term storage of programs and data. The
memory 1308 can
include any number of volatile and nonvolatile memory devices, such as
volatile random-access
memory (RAM), static random-access memory (SRAM), flash memory, and the like.
In smaller
devices, such as programmable logic controllers, the memory 1308 can include
registers
associated with the processor itself The storage 1310 is used for the
persistent storage of
information, such as data, applications, operating systems, and so forth. The
storage 1310 can be
a nonvolatile RAM, a solid-state disk drive, or a flash drive, among others.
In some
embodiments, the storage 1310 will include a hard disk drive, such as a micro
hard disk drive, a
regular hard disk drive, or an array of hard disk drives, for example,
associated with a distributed
computing system or a cloud server.
[0140] The bus 1306 couples the processor 1304 to an input/output interface
1312. The
input/output interface 1312 connects the controller 1302 to the input/output
devices 1314. In
some embodiments, the input/output devices 1314 include printers, displays,
touch screen
displays, keyboards, mice, pointing devices, and the like. In some examples,
one or more of the
I/O devices 1314 can be integrated with the controller 1302 into a computer,
such as a mobile
computing device, e.g., a smartphone or tablet computer.
[0141] The controller 1302 also includes machine learning models 1316. The
machine
learning models 1316 are trained using sensor data captured by one or more
sensor hubs 1318.
Sensor data from the sensor hubs 1318 is transmitted to the machine learning
models 1316 using
a gateway 1320. The gateway 1320 enables the controller 1302 to transmit and
receive
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information across a network 1322. Although not shown in the interests of
simplicity, several
similar controllers 1302 can be connected to the network 1322.
Proactive Prediction of Operating Conditions in Industrial Equipment
[0142] Sensor hubs capture sensor data that characterize the subtle
differences or trends that
appear over a period of use, e.g., over the lifetime of use of industrial
equipment. Anomalous
conditions of the industrial equipment exhibit a sensor data footprint that is
different from the
sensor data footprint when the industrial equipment is new, freshly
mounted/installed, and
configured according to manufacturer specifications. The sensor hubs enable
proactive
prediction of operating conditions in industrial equipment. Machine learning
models are trained
to predict an operating condition of the industrial equipment based on sensor
data captured
during operation of the industrial equipment. An ensemble-based model is
created using the
trained machine learning models, and the trained machine learning models
predict an operating
condition of the industrial equipment. In examples, an anomalous condition is
a type of operating
condition. In some embodiments, operating conditions include fretting,
abrasive wear, and other
conditions or any other anomalous conditions associated with typical
industrial equipment like
pumps, milling-drilling machines, compressors, etc.
[0143] Sensor hubs (e.g., sensor hub 900 and/or sensor hub 950 of Figures
9A and 9B), may
be placed at predetermined locations with respect to industrial equipment
(e.g., CNC 1100B of
Figure 11B or industrial machine 1100C of Figure 11C). One or more sensor hubs
are physically
coupled with industrial equipment, including but not limited to pumps, heavy
duty industrial
tools, compressors, automated assembly equipment, and the like. The industrial
equipment can
further include machines such as turning machines (e.g., lathes and boring
mills), shapers and
planers, drilling machines, milling machines, grinding machines, power saws,
cutting machines,
stamping machines, and presses. Each sensor hub includes multiple sensors,
such as sensor 120
of Figure 1A.
[0144] Figure 14 shows an end-to-end model training pipeline 1400. In
examples, machine
learning models are trained using data generated while one or more
predetermined operating
conditions exist. Labeled sensor data is captured during multiple runs of
experiments to isolate
the effects of operating conditions of the industrial equipment. The operating
conditions can
include, for example, sample diameter-lengths of media, sample-media types,
number of strands,
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feed roll speeds, cutting gaps, ambient temperatures, and the like. In
examples, a speed
associated with the industrial equipment can be varied using a variable
frequency drive (VFD)
controlling an oversized motor which provides enough horsepower to operate the
industrial
equipment under reduced motor speed. For example, when the industrial
equipment is a cutting
machine, cutting gaps can be manually adjusted using an analog caliper.
Multiple sensor hubs
can be used to measure data associated with the industrial equipment. In some
embodiments, an
auxiliary sensor is used to validate the sensor data captured by the sensor
hubs. The auxiliary
sensor can be an accelerometer.
[0145] At block 1402, labeled sensor data is uploaded. The sensor data is
labeled to
characterize the subtle differences or trends that appear over a period of
use, e.g., over the
lifetime of use of the industrial equipment. The labeled sensor data is
preprocessed and split into
multiple datasets. For example, the labeled data is split into a training
dataset, a first dataset, and
a second dataset. The first dataset includes a first test dataset and a first
validation dataset, and
the second dataset includes a second test dataset and a second validation
dataset. In examples,
the first dataset and the second dataset are generated based on rotor/feed
roll speeds. For
example, a first dataset belongs to sets of speeds which are used to train the
machine learning
models. The machine learning models are evaluated using the second dataset
that includes
unseen or unknown data.
[0146] At block 1404, the machine learning models are trained using the
training dataset.
The degradation during operation of industrial equipment creates anomalous
conditions. The
machine learning models are trained to predict operating conditions that
include various levels of
degradation of the industrial equipment. The models are trained on specific
operating conditions
and tested on unknown datasets. For example, the first dataset includes a set
of feed roll speeds
(e.g., specific operating conditions) included in a corresponding training
dataset. In examples,
the second dataset is a set of unseen/unobserved feed roll speeds (e.g.,
unknown datasets). In
examples, an optimal number of data points are provided in the training
dataset. The optimal
number of data points in the training dataset is selected to ensure sufficient
variabilities/parameters of the equipment are captured. For example, if sensor
generates 50000
data points across each speed of the industrial equipment for the known
datasets, then 70% of the
50000 data points results in 35000 data points will be included in the
training dataset. The
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remaining 15000 data points are split into validation and test sets for
known/seen speeds (e.g.,
the first dataset).
[0147] At block 1406, the machine learning models are evaluated using the
first validation
dataset, the first test dataset, the second validation dataset, and the second
test dataset. In some
embodiments, the best model or best ensemble based models are selected
according to accuracies
computed using unknown datasets. In some embodiments, the ensemble based model
is
comprised of features learnt from classical physics based feature-extraction
techniques like
wavelet transforms, Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT), power spectral density (P
SD), etc. in
conjunction with deep-learning based auto-features.
[0148] In the example of a model trained using a set of feed roll speeds, a
machine learning
model can be tested under multiple combinations of the first dataset and the
second dataset, and
can yield 100 % accuracy in predicting a dull or sharp condition of an
industrial machine with a
cutter. In this example, a dull cutter is an anomalous condition, and a sharp
cutter is a nominal
operating condition. The trained models are subsequently executed on sensor
data captured by
sensor hubs during real-time operation of industrial equipment. In some
embodiments, the
trained models output a prediction of one or more operating conditions
currently affecting the
industrial equipment based on the sensor data. The sensor hubs enable low
power data collection
and transmission at an operational site, and the models can make predictions
using this data.
[0149] The block diagram of Figure 14 is not intended to indicate that the
system pipeline
1400 is to include all of the components shown in Figure 14. Rather, the
pipeline 1400 can
include fewer or additional components not shown in Figure 14 (e.g.,
additional sensor data,
training, validation, and testing). The pipeline 1400 may include any suitable
number of
additional components not shown, depending on the details of the specific
implementation.
Furthermore, any of the models, sensor hubs, and other described systems and
techniques can be
partially, or entirely, implemented in hardware and/or in a processor. For
example, the
functionality can be implemented with an application specific integrated
circuit, in logic
implemented in a processor, in logic implemented in a specialized graphics
processing unit, or in
any other suitable processing device.
[0150] In some embodiments, a two-layer ensemble approach for model
prediction includes
a first layer where sensor data is reshaped into intermediate buckets and
predictions are made
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based on the buckets, and a second layer where an ensemble of machine learning
models are
used to predict operating conditions of industrial equipment.
[0151] In the first layer, the sensor data is reshaped into intermediate
buckets with a
predetermined size. In examples, the sensor data includes additional sensor
data, additional
temperature data, or a combination thereof captured during operation of the
industrial equipment.
Each bucket is further divided into a number of subsample windows with a
predetermined size.
For example, a number of buckets are generated with 500 data-points in each
bucket. Each of the
buckets with 500 data points is divided into 5 sub-sample windows that each
contain 100 data
points. Feature extraction techniques and model predictions are applied to
each of the sub-sample
windows. In this manner, multiple predictions can be made for each bucket.
Continuing the
previous example, 5 predictions are generated, where a prediction is made for
each of the 5 sub-
sample windows. A statistical mode (e.g., average) or voting scheme is applied
to the multiple
predictions from each bucket to determine a prediction for each bucket of
sensor data. For
example, operating conditions for each respective sub-sample window are
predicted according to
extracted features, where an operating condition associated with the
intermediate buckets is
determined according to a number of predictions associated with the sub-sample
windows.
[0152] In the second layer, an ensemble of machine learning models is used
to predict
operating conditions of industrial equipment. The machine learning models
according to the
present systems and methods include supervised and unsupervised machine
learning. In some
embodiments, a final prediction of an operating condition is derived using the
ensemble of
machine learning models, where predictions from multiple machine learning
models contribute
to the final prediction. A statistical mode (e.g., average) or voting scheme
is applied to the
multiple predictions from the ensemble of machine learning models to determine
a final
prediction of operating conditions associated with industrial equipment. In
Figures 15-18,
supervised machine learning models are described. In Figures 19 and 20,
unsupervised machine
learning models are described. In the second layer of predictions, the final
predicted operating
condition is determined from multiple machine learning models using the
bucketized sensor data
captured by sensor hubs.
[0153] Figure 15 is a block diagram of a physics-based model 1500 for
proactive prediction
of operating conditions in industrial equipment. The model 1500 determines a
physics-based top
feature in conjunction with a machine-learning based classifier. Figure 15
includes sensor data
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1502. In an example, sensor data 1502 is captured during operation of
industrial equipment. The
sensor data 1502 may be captured by one or more sensors (e.g., sensor 120 of
Figure 1) of a
sensor hub (e.g., sensor hub 900 and/or sensor hub 950 of Figures 9A and 9B).
A low pass filter
can be applied to the sensor data for denoising. At block 1504, subsample
windows are created
from the captured sensor data 1502. In some embodiments, subsample windows
include
measurements captured at regular time intervals. In some embodiments,
subsample windows
include measurements captured at irregular time intervals. Generally, the
preprocessing as
described herein modifies the sensor data so that it can be processed by the
feature extraction
system at reference number 1506. For example, pre-processing converts the
sensor data from a
first, raw format to a second format. In some embodiments, the preprocessing
can vary according
to the particulars of the feature extraction system used.
[0154] At reference number 1506, wavelet transforms are shown. A wavelet
transform is a
mathematical function used to divide a given function or continuous time
signal into different
scale components. The wavelet transform provides frequency information with
the
corresponding temporal data. In some embodiments, a wavelet transform
decomposes the input
into wavelets of various scales in the time domain. The wavelet transform is
applied to the sensor
data, and the resulting wavelets have variable window sizes and provide a
local structure of the
data in a time ¨ frequency domain. In an example, sensor hubs capture sensor
data that is pre-
processed and reshaped into small packets of 100 sub-samples, 60% training,
20% validation,
and 20% test. The sensor data is transformed into wavelets. The wavelets may
be a 128 x 128
resolution on scale. Wavelet transforms can be used effectively for transient
feature extraction
and to extract signal features over an entire spectrum without a dominant
frequency band. Using
wavelet transforms, frequency information in the sensor data is extracted.
Wavelet
decomposition coefficients are determined using the sensor data, and the
resulting coefficients
are represented by one or more feature vectors.
[0155] At reference number 1508, principal component analysis (PCA) is
shown. The one or
more feature vectors determined through the application of wavelet transforms
are processed
using PCA. PCA reduces the dimensionality of the feature vectors by projecting
each data point
onto a first few principal components to obtain lower dimensional data while
preserving as much
of the variation in the feature vectors as possible. In some embodiments, the
dimensionality of
features extracted using wavelet transform based feature extraction is reduced
via principal
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component analysis to transform the original extracted features into a new set
of uncorrelated
features. In some embodiments, wavelet patterns produced by the wavelet
transforms of sensor
data captured during various operating conditions are visually different.
These distinct patterns
are learned by the model during training.
[0156] At reference number 1510, the feature vectors are obtained by a
machine learning
model. In the example of Figure 15, a machine learning based classifier
predicts one or more
operating conditions by classifying the feature vectors into one or more
operating conditions. In
an example, the machine learning model is a decision-tree-based ensemble
machine learning
algorithm that uses a gradient boosting framework (e.g., XGBoost). In an
example, the machine
learning model is a supervised learning algorithm consisting of a number of
decision trees that
are averaged (e.g., Random Forest). Additionally, in an example, the machine
learning model as
described herein is linear algorithm based on a cost function defined as a
sigmoid function (e.g.,
logistic regression).
[0157] Accordingly, the at least one operating condition is identified by a
likelihood the
operating condition exists based on the sensor data captured using the sensor
hubs. In an
example, the machine learning based classifier uses a training dataset to
determine how the
extracted features relate to one or more operating conditions. The machine
learning model
according to the present techniques can classify the sensor data captured by
sensor hubs into any
operating condition. At block 1512, the performance of the machine learning
model in predicting
the one or more operating conditions is evaluated in a confusion matrix
format. In some
embodiments, evaluation of the classification in a confusion matrix format
enables visualization
of the performance of the classifier.
[0158] The block diagram of Figure 15 is not intended to indicate that the
model 1500 is to
include all of the components shown in Figure 15. Rather, the model 1500 can
include fewer or
additional components not illustrated in Figure 15 (e.g., additional pre-
processing, transforms,
feature extraction, machine learning models, confusion matrices, etc.) The
model 1500 may
include any suitable number of additional components not shown, depending on
the details of the
specific implementation. Furthermore, any of the described systems and
techniques can be
partially, or entirely, implemented in hardware and/or in a processor. For
example, the
functionality can be implemented with an application specific integrated
circuit, in logic
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implemented in a processor, in logic implemented in a specialized graphics
processing unit, or in
any other device.
[0159] Figure 16 is a block diagram of a model 1600 for proactive
prediction of operating
conditions in industrial equipment. The model 1600 is based on wavelet
transforms in
conjunction with a convolutional neural network. Similar to Figure 15, Figure
16 includes sensor
data 1602. The sensor data 1602 may be captured by one or more sensors (e.g.,
sensor 120 of
Figure 1) of a sensor hub (e.g., sensor hub 900 and/or sensor hub 950 of
Figures 9A and 9B). A
low pass filter can be applied to the sensor data for denoising. At block
1604, subsample
windows are created from the captured sensor data 1602. In some embodiments,
subsample
windows include measurements captured at regular time intervals. In some
embodiments,
subsample windows include measurements captured at irregular time intervals.
Additionally, at
block 1604 the data may be further preprocessed according to the particular
feature extraction
system. Generally, the preprocessing as described herein modifies the sensor
data so that it can
be processed by the corresponding feature extraction system. In some
embodiments, the
preprocessing can vary according to the particulars of the feature extraction
system used.
[0160] At reference number 1606, wavelet transforms are illustrated. In the
example of
Figure 16, the wavelet transforms are determined using a feature importance
technique. In
particular, a threshold is applied to the wavelet transform to determine the
most important
features. As used herein, the most important features are those features that
are above a
predetermined threshold. In an example, sensor data is captured, a low pass
filter is applied, and
filtered data is pre-processed. The filtered data is reshaped into small
packets of 100 subsamples,
including training, validation, and testing packets. The wavelet transforms
based on the filtered
data is ranked and input to a fully connected convolutional neural network
(CNN) at reference
number 1608. In some embodiments, the wavelet transforms are processed by the
fully
connected convolutional neural network as images. At reference number 1608, a
CNN is shown.
In some embodiments, the CNN is a wavelet-based CNN including several layers,
such as
convolutional layers, sub sampling layers, and fully connected layers. In the
example of Figure
16, wavelets were used as they have very distinct patterns and can be treated
as images. The
CNN classifies the data output by the feature extraction system into one or
more operating
conditions.
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[0161] At reference number 1610, a CNN based classifier identifies an
operating condition
of the industrial equipment. One or more operating conditions are predicted by
classifying the
feature vectors into one or more operating conditions. At block 1612, the
performance of the
machine learning model in predicting the one or more operating conditions is
evaluated in a
confusion matrix format. In some embodiments, evaluation of the classification
in a confusion
matrix format enables visualization of the performance of the classifier.
[0162] The block diagram of Figure 16 is not intended to indicate that the
model 1600 is to
include all of the components shown in Figure 16. Rather, the model 1600 can
include fewer or
additional components not illustrated in Figure 16 (e.g., additional pre-
processing, transforms,
CNNs, machine learning models, confusion matrices, etc.) The model 1600 may
include any
suitable number of additional components not shown, depending on the details
of the specific
implementation. Furthermore, any of the described systems and techniques can
be partially, or
entirely, implemented in hardware and/or in a processor. For example, the
functionality can be
implemented with an application specific integrated circuit, in logic
implemented in a processor,
in logic implemented in a specialized graphics processing unit, or in any
other device.
[0163] Figure 17 is a block diagram of a physics-based model 1700 for
proactive prediction
of operating conditions in industrial equipment. The model 1700 determines a
physics-based top
feature in conjunction with a machine-learning based classifier. Figure 17
includes sensor data
1702. In an example, sensor data 1702 is captured during operation of
industrial equipment. The
sensor data 1702 may be captured by one or more sensors (e.g., sensor 120 of
Figure 1) of a
sensor hub (e.g., sensor hub 900 and/or sensor hub 950 of Figures 9A and 9B).
A low pass filter
can be applied to the sensor data for denoising. At block 1704, subsample
windows are created
from the captured sensor data 1702. In some embodiments, subsample windows
include
measurements captured at regular time intervals. In some embodiments,
subsample windows
include measurements captured at irregular time intervals. Additionally, at
block 1704 the data
may be further preprocessed according to the particular feature extraction
system selected at
reference number 1706. Generally, the preprocessing as described herein
modifies the sensor
data so that it can be processed by the corresponding feature extraction
system. For example,
pre-processing converts the sensor data from a first, raw format to a second
format. In some
embodiments, the preprocessing can vary according to the particulars of the
feature extraction
system used.
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[0164] At reference number 1706, a plurality of feature extraction systems
are illustrated. As
used herein, a feature extraction system is one or more processes, techniques,
or components
used to characterize sensor data captured by sensors or sensor hubs. In the
example of Figure 17,
feature extraction systems include wavelet transforms, statistical feature
extraction (e.g.,
quartiles, mean, kurtosis, standard deviation, etc.), and time series feature
extraction (e.g., fast
Fourier transform (FFT), power spectral density (PSD), auto-correlation,
etc.). In some
embodiments, the feature extraction system outputs a feature vector. In some
embodiments, a
dimensionality of the output of feature extraction system at reference number
1706 is reduced
using PCA. PCA reduces the dimensionality of the output by projecting each
data point onto a
first few principal components to obtain lower dimensional data while
preserving as much of the
data's variation as possible. Additionally, in some embodiments, t-distributed
stochastic
neighbor embedding (t-SNE), Principal Component Analysis and Linear
Discriminant Analysis
are introduced to reduce the dimensionality of the feature vectors.
[0165] In an example, a feature extraction system applied to the sensor
data is a frequency
domain analysis. Generally, the frequency domain analysis includes a fast
Fourier transform
(FFT), power spectral density (PSD), auto-correlation, and the like. The FFT
translates the
sensor data from the time domain into the frequency domain and features are
extracted. The
power spectral density of the sensor data can also be computed, and features
extracted from the
power spectral density. Generally, autocorrelation is the correlation of a
signal with the delayed
copy of itself Features are extracted from the correlation are input to a
machine learning based
classifier at reference number 1708. Pre-processing data when the feature
extraction system is a
frequency domain analysis includes applying a low pass filter to raw
accelerometer data to
denoise the raw data.
[0166] In a frequency domain analysis, features are extracted as peak
amplitudes on a chart
charting against time lag in seconds. For a subsample window of sensor data,
the FFT, power
spectral density, and autocorrelation are plotted. The peaks of each algorithm
(FFT, power
spectral density, and autocorrelation) are distinct and different for each of
the conditions. In
some embodiments, the machine learning algorithm distinguishes between
conditions based on
the peak of the respective frequency domain analysis plots. In another
example, a feature
extraction system applied to the sensor data is a statistical time domain
feature extraction system.
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In this example, statistical time domain features include quartiles, mean,
kurtosis, standard
deviation, and the like.
[0167] In some embodiments, local characteristic decomposition (LCD) is
used to transform
the raw signals into a number of intrinsic scaled components (ISC). In the
subsequent steps, any
feature extraction system is applied to the ISC (e.g., FFT, wavelet
transformations, kurtosis,
mean, median etc.). For each feature extracted using post LCD-ISC (e.g., high
dimensional
features), dimensional reduction techniques like t-SNE or PCA are implemented.
These reduced
dimensional features can then be input into a machine learning based
classifier for classifying
into different pump conditions.
[0168] At reference number 1708, the output of the one or more feature
extraction systems is
obtained by a machine learning model. The machine learning model predicts one
or more
operating conditions by classifying the data output by the feature extraction
system into the one
or more operating conditions. In an example, the machine learning model is a
decision-tree-
based ensemble machine learning algorithm that uses a gradient boosting
framework (e.g.,
XGBoost). In an example, the machine learning model is a supervised learning
algorithm
consisting of a number of decision trees that are averaged (e.g., Random
Forest). Additionally, in
an example, the machine learning model as described herein is a linear
algorithm based on a cost
function defined as a sigmoid function (e.g., logistic regression).
[0169] The at least one operating condition is identified by a likelihood
the operating
condition exists based on the sensor data. In an example, the machine learning
based classifier
uses a training dataset to determine how the extracted features relate to one
or more operating
conditions. The machine learning model according to the present techniques can
classify data
captured by the sensor hubs into any suitable operating condition. At block
1710, the
performance of the machine learning model in predicting the one or more
operating conditions is
evaluated in a confusion matrix format. In some embodiments, evaluation of the
classification in
a confusion matrix format enables visualization of the performance of the
classifier.
[0170] The block diagram of Figure 17 is not intended to indicate that the
model 1700 is to
include all of the components shown in Figure 17. Rather, the model 1700 can
include fewer or
additional components not illustrated in Figure 17 (e.g., additional pre-
processing, frequency
domain analysis, time series feature extraction, statistical based feature
extraction, machine
learning models, confusion matrices, etc.) The model 1700 can include any
suitable number of
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additional components not shown, depending on the details of the specific
implementation.
Furthermore, any of the described systems and techniques can be partially, or
entirely,
implemented in hardware and/or in a processor. For example, the functionality
can be
implemented with an application specific integrated circuit, in logic
implemented in a processor,
in logic implemented in a specialized graphics processing unit, or in any
other device.
[0171] Figure 18 is a block diagram of a long short-term memory (LSTM)
based model 1800
for proactive prediction of operating conditions in industrial equipment. The
model 1800 is an
LSTM deep learning architecture with auto-extraction classification. Similar
to Figure 16, Figure
18 includes sensor data 1802. The sensor data 1802 may be captured by one or
more sensors
(e.g., sensor 120 of Figure 1) of a sensor hub (e.g., sensor hub 900 and/or
sensor hub 950 of
Figures 9A and 9B). A low pass filter can be applied to the sensor data for
denoising. At block
1804, subsample windows are created from the captured sensor data 1802. In
some
embodiments, subsample windows include measurements captured at regular time
intervals. In
some embodiments, subsample windows include measurements captured at irregular
time
intervals. Generally, the preprocessing as described herein modifies the
sensor data so that it can
be processed by the feature extraction system at reference number 1806. For
example, pre-
processing converts the sensor data from a first, raw format to a second
format. In some
embodiments, the preprocessing can vary according to the particulars of the
feature extraction
system used.
[0172] At reference number 1806, an LSTM based architecture is shown. The
LSTM
processes a plurality of parallel sequences of sensor data. For example, a
three axis
accelerometer captures data along the x, y, and z axes. Data captured along
each axis is referred
to as a parallel sequence of sensor data. Using an LSTM based architecture,
the raw sensor data
is filtered to remove noise. The LSTM then extracts features from the filtered
signals and
classifies the features into one or more operating conditions. In some
embodiments, creating
subsample windows of the raw sensor data for input into an LSTM based
architecture includes
partitioning the data into multiple overlapping windows. In some embodiments,
the input data is
classified into one or more operating conditions by using the prediction from
the last time step as
the classification head of the neural network. The LSTM based architecture as
described herein
implements a gate-based network (e.g., LTSM, Recurrent Neural Network, Gated
Recurrent
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Units, etc.) to classify the sensor data into an operating condition without
separate feature
extraction for classification.
[0173] At block 1808, the performance of the LSTM-based architecture in
predicting the one
or more operating conditions is evaluated in a confusion matrix format. In
some embodiments,
evaluation of the classification in a confusion matrix format enables
visualization of the
performance of the classifier.
[0174] The block diagram of Figure 18 is not intended to indicate that the
model 1800 is to
include all of the components shown in Figure 18. Rather, the model 1800 can
include fewer or
additional components not illustrated in Figure 18 (e.g., additional pre-
processing, LTSM
architectures, machine learning models, confusion matrices, etc.) The model
1800 can include
any suitable number of additional components not shown, depending on the
details of the
specific implementation. Furthermore, any of the described systems and
techniques can be
partially, or entirely, implemented in hardware and/or in a processor. For
example, the
functionality can be implemented with an application specific integrated
circuit, in logic
implemented in a processor, in logic implemented in a specialized graphics
processing unit, or in
any other device.
[0175] In unsupervised machine learning models, sensor data distributions
in terms of width
of degree of variance/standard-deviation are determined. A numerical threshold
is devised to
predict operating conditions of the industrial equipment. In examples,
thresholds can be defined
to categorize or identify different operating conditions.
[0176] Figure 19 shows a density plot 1900. In the example of Figure 19, a
distribution of
sensor data is illustrated. The distribution of sensor data refers to the
shape of the graph 1900
when the sensor data is plotted based on how frequently each data point
occurs. The mean
acceleration components are represented along an x-axis 1902 representing data
values and a y-
axis 1904 representing the number of occurrences of the data point in the
sensor data.
Distributions 1910, 1912, 1914, and 1916 are illustrated. In examples, the
distribution 1910
represents data points that correspond to an anomalous condition, such as
operation using a blunt
cutter of a cutting machine. The distribution 1912 represents data points that
correspond to a
normal condition, and the distribution 1914 represents data points that
correspond a no load
condition. In the example of a cutting machine, a no load condition signifies
that the cutters are
not fully engaged to shear samples. The distribution 1916 represents data
points that correspond
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to a transition into an anomalous condition. In the example of a cutting
machine, the distribution
1916 represents a transition to a blunt state of a cutter. In addition, based
on the confidence-
interval/probability scores generated from deep learning or machine learning-
based classifier-
models, a numerical measure can be devised to pro-actively alert the operators
(in terms of traffic
light). In examples, sigmoid or SoftMax-based functions which generate
probability scores to
classify input data into a specific category. For example, in a binary
classification, higher the
confidence in a predicted class of operating conditions, the closer the
probability score is to one.
The lower the confidences is in a predicted class of operating conditions, the
closer the
probability score is to zero. Based on the distribution of probability scores,
an appropriate
threshold can be selected to pro-actively predict operating conditions of the
industrial equipment.
In turn, the predictions can be used to alert operators to the operating
conditions of the industrial
equipment.
[0177] Figure 20 is a block diagram of an LSTM-auto encoder-based model
2000 for
proactive prediction of operating conditions in industrial equipment. Figure
20 includes sensor
data 2002. In an example, sensor data 2002 is captured during operation of
industrial equipment.
The sensor data 2002 may be captured by one or more sensors (e.g., sensor 120
of Figure 1) of a
sensor hub (e.g., sensor hub 900 and/or sensor hub 950 of Figures 9A and 9B).
In examples, the
sensor data 2002 is accelerometer data captured along the x-y-z axes in a
three-dimensional
coordinate system.
[0178] At reference number 2004, an LSTM-auto encoder is illustrated. In
embodiments, the
LSTM-auto encoder is an encoder that makes use of the LSTM encoder-decoder
architecture to
compress sensor data using an encoder and decode it to retain original
structure using a decoder.
The LTSM auto-encoder enables detection of temporal patterns in the sensor
data that
correspond to various operating conditions. For ease of description, an LSTM-
auto encoder has
been described. However, any similar auto-encoder can be used.
[0179] At reference number 2006, model loss is determined. The model loss
represents the
evolution of mean-average error or mean-squared error (MAE/MSE) loss functions
with multiple
iterations/epochs executed on training and validation datasets. At reference
number 2006, the
loss function saturates after 20-30 epochs, indicating that the model weights
are optimized.
[0180] At reference number 2008, thresholds are applied to the sensor data
to predict
operating conditions of industrial equipment. A threshold based approach can
be used to detect
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anomalous conditions or outliers. In the example of a cutting machine, the
anomalous condition
can be a degree of bluntness of the cutter. The distributions of loss
functions are plotted with
frequency of occurrences on vertical axis and each individual loss-values
plotted along the
horizontal axis. As shown at reference number 2008, the distribution consists
of values less than
0.1. Based on that, appropriate thresholds are determined for detecting
anomalies in any future
vibration signals. For example, if the magnitude of loss function exceeds the
thresholds,
anomalies are detected.
[0181] The machine learning models can be deployed at an operational site
in one or more
configurations. In a first configuration, supervised machine learning models
are deployed.
Historical labeled data for various operating conditions of the industrial
equipment under the
most frequent operating configurations in production is obtained. The models
can be trained
using this data on edge devices, or the models are trained in the cloud and
deployed as needed. In
the example of a cutting machine, the operator of the cutting machine can
provide historical
labeled data for both a sharp operating condition and a dull operating
condition. In examples, a
sharp operating condition is a nominal operating condition, while a dull
operating condition is an
anomalous operating condition.
[0182] In a second configuration, supervised machine learning models are
deployed, and
rigorous labeled data collection trials are performed for various operating
conditions under the
most frequent operating configurations in production for the industrial
equipment. Again, models
can be trained using this data on edge devices, or the models are trained in
the cloud and
deployed as needed. In the example of a cutting machine, the results of the
data collection trials
with labeled data for sharp operating conditions and dull operating conditions
are obtained.
[0183] In a third configuration, unsupervised machine learning models are
deployed.
Historical data associated with a nominal operating condition of the
industrial equipment is
provided. However, no labeled data is provided for anomalous conditions and
the model attempts
to detect any drift from the baseline nominal operating conditions of the
industrial equipment. In
the example of a cutting machine, the trained machine learning model detects
drift from a
baseline sharp configuration. If there is a drift due to a new configuration
(as confirmed by the
operator), the data goes into re-training process post a confirmation by the
operator that the drift
is due to a known cause. The cause is then noted for additional model
capabilities (e.g.
misalignment or wear/tear, etc.) using active training to continuously update
the model.
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Otherwise, the model continues to detect anomalous conditions in the form of
drifts. The
unsupervised machine learning models can be trained using this data on edge
devices, or the
models can be trained in the cloud and deployed as needed. In active training,
the machine
learning model is trained using unlabeled input data by identifying patterns
in the unlabeled input
data and predicting the operating conditions based on, at least in part, the
identified patterns.
[0184] Figure 21 is a process flow diagram of a process 2100 that enables
proactive
prediction of operating conditions in industrial equipment. The process 2100
is operable using
the sensor hub 900 of Figure 9A including the sensor 120 of Figure 1A, sensor
hub 950 of Figure
9B including the sensor 120 of Figure 1A, the data flow architecture 1000 of
Figure 10, the
network 1100A of Figure 11A, the system 1300 of Figure 13, the pipeline 1400
of Figure 14, and
the machine learning models in Figures 15-18 and 20.
[0185] At block 2102, sensor data is obtained. Sensor hubs are configured
to capture sensor
data associated with one or more operating conditions of the industrial
equipment. In
embodiments, the sensor data is processed prior prediction. At block 2104, the
sensor data
captured from sensor hubs is reshaped into buckets, with subsample windows of
a predetermined
size.
[0186] Within dashed box 2110, a two-layer approach for proactive
prediction of operating
conditions is provided. A first layer re-shapes the sensor data so that
predictions are made for a
number of sub-sample windows. A second layer uses an ensemble-based model
comprising
multiple trained machine learning models to generate the predictions for the
sub-sample
windows. Accordingly, at block 2104, the sensor data is re-shaped. At block
2106, sensor data is
input to a trained machine learning model, wherein the trained machine
learning model
comprises a physics based feature extraction model and a deep learning based
automatic feature
extraction model. In examples, an ensemble based model is trained using
features extracted from
classical physics based feature-extraction techniques like wavelet transforms,
FFT, PSD, etc. in
conjunction with deep-learning based auto-features. At block 2108, anomalous
conditions
associated with operation of the industrial equipment are predicted.
[0187] In some embodiments, a training dataset is captured by the sensor
hubs and used to
train the machine learning models. For example, the training dataset at block
2107 includes
additional sensor data such as data from IMUs or temperature data. A training
dataset can also
include metadata. In examples, metadata includes a location of the industrial
equipment, a
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number of active parameters associated with the industrial equipment, or any
combinations
thereof The training dataset from the sensor hubs is captured at two or more
time intervals. In
examples, the time intervals correspond to a number of days. By collecting
data over a number of
days, overfitting of the trained machine learning model is avoided. In
examples, the two or more
time intervals include at least a first time interval and a second time
interval, the first time
interval spanning a first amount of time during a given day, and the second
time interval
spanning a second amount of time during the given day, the second amount of
time being shorter
than the first amount of time and being separated from the first amount of
time during the given
day. The training dataset is labeled as corresponding to at least one
operating condition, and a
machine learning model is trained using a training dataset comprising the
labeled additional
sensor data. In some embodiments, the training dataset includes additional
sensor data, additional
temperature data, infrared heat maps of the product being produced, and images
of an output
material or finished product of the industrial machine. The machine learning
model can be
trained using any combination of the additional sensor data, additional
temperature data, infrared
heat maps of the product being produced by the industrial machine, and images
of the product
being produced by the industrial machine.
[0188] The process flow diagram of Figure 21 is not intended to indicate
that the blocks of
the example process 2100 are to be executed in any order, or that all of the
blocks are to be
included in every case. Further, any suitable number of additional blocks not
shown may be
included within the example process 2100, depending on the details of the
specific
implementation.
[0189] Although exemplary processing systems have been described,
implementations of the
subject matter and the functional operations described above can be
implemented in other types
of digital electronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or
hardware, including the
structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents,
or in combinations of
one or more of them. Implementations of the subject matter described in this
specification, such
as control of a data generation, model training, and model execution can be
implemented as one
or more computer program products, i.e., one or more modules of computer
program instructions
encoded on a tangible program carrier, for example a computer-readable medium,
for execution
by, or to control the operation of, a processing system. The computer readable
medium can be a
machine readable storage device, a machine readable storage substrate, a
memory device, or a
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combination of one or more of them.
[0190] The term "system" may encompass all apparatus, devices, and machines
for
processing data, including by way of example a programmable processor, a
computer, or
multiple processors or computers. A processing system can include, in addition
to hardware, code
that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question,
e.g., code that
constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management
system, an operating
system, or a combination of one or more of them.
[0191] A computer program (also known as a program, software, software
application, script,
executable logic, or code) can be written in any form of programming language,
including
compiled or interpreted languages, or declarative or procedural languages, and
it can be deployed
in any form, including as a standalone program or as a module, component,
subroutine, or other
unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program does not
necessarily
correspond to a file in a file system. A program can be stored in a portion of
a file that holds
other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup language
document), in a
single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated
files (e.g., files that
store one or more modules, sub programs, or portions of code). A computer
program can be
deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are
located at one site or
distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication
network.
[0192] Computer readable media suitable for storing computer program
instructions and data
include all forms of non-volatile or volatile memory, media and memory
devices, including by
way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash
memory
devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks or
magnetic tapes; magneto
optical disks; and CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, and Blu-Ray disks. The processor and the
memory can
be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.
Sometimes a server is a
general purpose computer, and sometimes it is a custom-tailored special
purpose electronic
device, and sometimes it is a combination of these things. Implementations can
include a back
end component, e.g., a data server, or a middleware component, e.g., an
application server, or a
front end component, e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface
or a Web browser
through which a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matter
described is this
specification, or any combination of one or more such back end, middleware, or
front end
components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or
medium of
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digital data communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples of
communication
networks include a local area network ("LAN") and a wide area network ("WAN"),
e.g., the
Internet.
[0193] A number of embodiments of the invention have been described.
Nevertheless, it will
be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from
the spirit and
scope of the invention.
[0194] In the foregoing description, embodiments of the invention have been
described with
reference to numerous specific details that may vary from implementation to
implementation.
The description and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an
illustrative rather than a
restrictive sense. The sole and exclusive indicator of the scope of the
invention, and what is
intended by the applicants to be the scope of the invention, is the literal
and equivalent scope of
the set of claims that issue from this application, in the specific form in
which such claims issue,
including any subsequent correction. Any definitions expressly set forth
herein for terms
contained in such claims shall govern the meaning of such terms as used in the
claims. In
addition, when we use the term "further comprising," in the foregoing
description or following
claims, what follows this phrase can be an additional step or entity, or a sub-
step/sub-entity of a
previously-recited step or entity.
