Preventive maintenance: Efficient maintenance through sensor technology and AI

Preventive maintenance is revolutionizing industry by detecting wear and tear on production machinery at an early stage thanks to advanced sensor technology and artificial intelligence. This enables effective planning of maintenance measures and minimizes unplanned downtime.

Definition and importance of Preventive Maintenance

Unplanned breakdowns of production machines lead to considerable downtime and can significantly disrupt supply chains. To avoid these costly interruptions, companies today rely on sensors that continuously monitor machine wear and allow precise forecasts for planned maintenance measures.

Preventive maintenance

Fundamentals and Methods of Preventive Maintenance

A wide range of state-of-the-art sensors is used to record relevant machine conditions over longer periods of time.

These sensors measure mechanical wear in different ways:

3D laser line sensors: Detect surface defects without contact.
Force sensors: Register any load changes that occur.
Microphones: Analyze bearing noise.
Temperature sensors: Record over- or undertemperatures.
Accelerometers: Measure vibrations.
Laser distance sensors: Determine runout and end positions.

This diverse sensor information is correlated and analyzed by powerful artificial intelligence software. With the help of statistical methods, precise forecasts can be made to determine the optimal time for preventive maintenance measures. This software is usually adaptive and becomes increasingly precise in its forecasts over time.

Preventive maintenance is an indispensable tool for ensuring production continuity and drastically reducing unplanned downtime. By integrating modern sensor technology and artificial intelligence into the maintenance process, companies are able to increase their efficiency and enhance their competitiveness.

Preventive maintenance with QuellTech

At QuellTech, we use state-of-the-art 3D laser line sensors for preventive maintenance. These sensors enable the rapid detection of the height of tools or workpieces in seconds. But how does this impressive technology work?

The laser triangulation: basic principle and structure

Laser triangulation is an advanced technique for distance measurement and shape determination of objects based on the principles of geometry and optics. Here, the distance to an object is calculated using angles and known dimensions of a triangle consisting of a light source, a sensor and the object to be measured.

Preventive maintenance

The structure in detail:

A laser light source sends a precise laser line onto the object to be measured.
The laser light hits the object surface and is reflected.
A special camera sensor receives the diffusely reflected laser light at a specific angle.
The position of each point on the laser line is detected and calculated in height (z).

By knowing the fixed distance between the laser source and the sensor, as well as the angle at which the laser light reaches the sensor, the points of the laser line can be calculated in height (z) and width (x). This results in a precise 2D profile. Multiple profiles taken at a specific distance from an object create a 3D point cloud. These calculations are performed in the 3D Laser Lines Triangulation Sensor using trigonometry and triangulation principles.

The accuracy of these measurements depends on several factors, including the precision of the angle measurement, the wavelength of the laser light, the quality of the optics, and the resolution of the sensor. Careful calibration processes are performed to ensure accurate measurements and account for potential errors or deviations in the system.

Concrete example of preventive maintenance with QuellTech 3D laser scanner

A concrete example shows how our technology is used in the preventive maintenance of production machines:

In a material crushing machine consisting of two large counter-rotating cylindrical rollers, the surface area and number of pins were recorded in a comprehensive 3D data file when new.

During the production process, the pins and the roll surface wear out. Every day, our QuellTech 3D laser scanner captures a complete 3D point cloud of the rolls and compares it with the data from the new condition. As soon as the measured height values of the pins and the roll surface fall below certain minimum values, an alarm is triggered. The QuellTech application software also makes it possible to create a long-term forecast and to specifically plan the timing of upcoming maintenance measures.

This approach makes it possible to plan the intervals between maintenance flexibly, yet precisely and with foresight, depending on the load on the rolls. As a result, we minimize downtime and maximize the efficiency of your production.

Advantages of QuellTech Preventive Maintenance

Preventive maintenance with QuellTech 3D laser line sensors offer numerous advantages. Here are the most important reasons why companies benefit from this innovative technology:

➜ Longer machine service life:

With our precise sensor technology, the actual wear of tools is measured directly and accurately. This enables an extension of machine service life, as maintenance measures are carried out exactly when they are really necessary.

➜ Avoidance of unplanned downtime:

QuellTech’s preventive maintenance significantly minimizes the risk of unplanned machine downtime. Early detection of wear enables planned maintenance, avoiding costly interruptions.

➜ Higher productivity:

Continuous monitoring and precise analysis of machine condition significantly increase productivity. Your production equipment runs more smoothly and efficiently, resulting in higher throughput rates.

➜ Better planning:

The recorded data flows into a long-term forecast that makes it possible to track the course of wear over long periods of time. This allows you to flexibly adjust the machine service life to the actual degree of wear, while at the same time maintenance measures can be planned in good time.

➜ Better cost structure:

Preventive maintenance with QuellTech reduces maintenance costs in the long term. By optimizing maintenance cycles and avoiding expensive emergency operations, your cost structures become more efficient and easier to plan.

3D laser sensor solutions from QuellTech offer an intelligent solution for preventive maintenance to extend the life of your machines, increase productivity and reduce costs. Rely on our technology to optimize your manufacturing processes and achieve competitive advantages.

Areas of application of preventive maintenance

Preventive maintenance is crucial in various industries. Here are some examples of application areas where this advanced technology is successfully used:

Metalworking

Monitoring of milling results on metal blocks to ensure the quality of machining.
Precise measurement of the surface finish of roll grinding machines to improve product quality.

Mining:

Continuous monitoring of material shredding machines to detect and prevent wear and possible failures at an early stage.
Detection of defects on conveyor belts to ensure smooth conveying processes and minimize downtime.

Power Engineering:

Press mold monitoring in battery manufacturing to ensure consistency and quality of battery components and reduce scrap.

Automotive:

Preventive monitoring of the roll seam on the fender to ensure quality assurance in the production of vehicle parts.

These examples illustrate how preventive maintenance with advanced sensors and data analytics is being used in various industries to increase efficiency, minimize downtime and improve overall production quality.

Examples of Preventive Maintenance with QuellTech

In the past, we have used Quelltech solutions for Preventive Maintenance in a wide variety of projects. Here you can find a small excerpt of these projects:

QuellTech Preventive Maintenance Products

The QuellTech laser scanner series is ideally suited for preventive maintenance:

Q6-D

high resolution, large measuring width and high measuring rate (number of profiles) allow precise and large-area monitoring of the mold condition
QuellTech Q6 laser scanner

Q5-D

medium resolution, medium measuring width and very high measuring rate allow precise and fast monitoring of the mold condition
QuellTech Q5 laser scanner
QuellTech Laser Scanner comparison

Q6 Laser Scanner

Q5 Laser Scanner

Do you have questions about Preventive Maintenance, or would you like QuellTech to advise you on these topics?

If you have any questions about Preventive Maintenance, or would like advice from QuellTech on this topic, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We would like to help you evaluate your specific measurement task. By performing an initial free test measurement of your application, we can make an early assessment of feasibility.

There is always potential for improvement, we will help you with that. Contact us for more information or to make an appointment for a consultation.

Your personal contact:

Stefan Ringwald
Tel: +49 89 124 723 75

Or you can also contact us using the contact form:

Contact form