Wireless Sensor Network for the Real Time Fault Detection of Motor Arrays

Energy monitoring and fault diagnostics are critical for industrial motor systems to maintain safety, reliability, efficiency, and uptime. Accurate monitoring and estimation of energy usage condition of motor systems enable proper actions at various levels to be taken to improve the overall system efficiency for energy savings. Early detection of motor system failures through fault diagnostics and prognostics allows appropriate maintenance to be scheduled proactively to prevent catastrophic motor failures, avoiding expensive economic losses associated with process downtime caused by motor failures. The advances in wireless communications and highly integrated electronics have enabled the implementation of low cost, low-power, and multifunctional sensors and actuators. The deployment of large numbers of these sensors and actuators resulted in the development of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The collaborative operation of WSNs brings significant advantages over traditional sensing, including flexibility, high fidelity, self-organization, aggregated intelligence via parallel processing, low cost, and rapid deployment. These unique features make WSNs a promising platform for online and remote implementations of energy monitoring and fault diagnostic systems.