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OmniMonitor®

Increased focus on worker and public safety has dramatically increased condition monitoring and failure prediction in safety critical applications. These applications have varying sensing requirements although the basic operational requirements of the condition monitoring and event prediction system is similar.  As such, Weir-Jones has introduced the OmniMonitor® - low-cost, stand-alone embedded hardware platform that may be used in a variety of safety critical applications for condition monitoring and failure prediction.  Each application has the same data acquisition and control hardware with the exception of the connected sensors and software algorithms.
 

System Details

The OmniMonitor® consists of three separate technologies combined to operate as a flexible condition monitoring and event prediction system ‒ data acquisition technology, sensor technology and event prediction software technology. A diagram of the system and environment is shown below:
 
 
The system software consists of proven condition monitoring and event/failure prediction algorithms for many applications:
 
Operating System Linux 
Network protocol TCP/IP v4 with dynamic IP address 
Architecture Multi-tasking in one of two modes: continuous real-time data acquisition and recording or event-triggered data acquisition  and recor.d ing
Alarm events Capable of distinguishing many event signatures and failure mechanisms.  Thresholds are  programmable and remotely configurable over the Internet with set levels of control. 
Self diagnostics Basic health monitoring of system, daily check-in with system health and data exceeding thresholds.  Auto-alarm by exception if monitoring system component is damaged or compromised.
Power modes The device will automatically switch from low power mode to full power mode if data exceeds thresholds and remain in this mode until the observation is acknowledged by a response from an external server.  In low power, the device will check in once per day and push necessary data to a predetermined remote server. 
Applications Software Selection of standard data acquisition, analysis, graphing and dashboard software, or fully customizable application specific software. 

 

The data acquisition system has to following features ensuring reliable operation in harsh environments: 

System Microprocessor based continuous real-time data acquisition and recording with capability to be set for event-based recording only 
Microprocessor Capable of sampling and storing data at a rate up to 1 kHz while simultaneously transmitting stored data to a remote server through a wired or wireless network connection 
Memory Sufficient memory to store up to 1 year of data locally (6 channels at 1 kHz) 
Wireless connectivity  Configurable for cellular 3G or WiFi 
Wired connectivity Ethernet, common wired railway communication standards, and CAN bus
GPS 10 m accuracy for position, 0.1 µs accuracy for timing 
Operating temperature -40°C to 85°C (-40°F to 185°F)
Power supply 110 Vac standard with UPS backup and charge control, 9 to 36 Vdc with battery backup and charge control, 24 Vdc solar power option 
Power modes Supports full power or low power modes 
Analog inputs 13 analog inputs (6 channels with 16 or 24 bit resolution, 7 channels with 12 bit resolution) 
Analog outputs 2 analog outputs (12 bit resolution) 
Digital I/O 8 digital configurable I/O channels, with up to 4 dry contact relays 
Sampling rate Maximum 1 kHz on all channels 
Size 5.9 x 7.9 x 3 in (130 x 175 x 75 cm) 
Enclosure IP67 rated with NEMA 6 enclosure
Humidity 95% (non-condensing)
Mounting  I-beam clamp, screws, bolts and nuts, or steel band 
Installation To be performed via unskilled field labour and requires no more than 2 hours using standard hand tools.  Sensor installations in vehicles will take into account the vehicle’s working environment. 
Air quality Extreme dust 
Outdoor conditions Rain, dew, lightning, wildlife 
Vibration High vibration and shock 

 

The system has a wide range of applications, including Earthquake Early Warning (EEW), security, structural monitoring and a multitude of industrial applications. As noted below, it can run a number of sensor applications:

Sensor types

  • Temperature
  • Hall effect 
  • Single tri-axial velocity sensor (3C geophone) or piezometric patch
  • Strain 
  • Visual 
  • Acoustic
  • Acceleration
  • Pressure 
  • Flow
  • Humidity
  • Or any 4 - 20MA sensor input