Logging and Monitoring With CompactRIO: The Ultimate Multipurpose Controller
In the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), engineers depend on measurements to make key decisions and discoveries -- missing significant data can even be catastrophic when monitoring critical assets and infrastructure. For example, in 2009 the Sayano–Shushenskaya hydro-electric plant in Khakassia Russia experienced a catastrophic failure of its No. 2 turbine resulting in $1.3 billion in damage, and the loss of 75 lives. Furthermore, it took approximately 5 years to complete all the repairs to the plant.
Figure 1. Missing critical data with limited tools that can’t meet your application needs can be catastrophic.
Condition monitoring of critical assets is commonly performed through routine, manual diagnostic rounds. However, trends such as lower cost sensors, automated monitoring systems, and the emergence of Big Data analytics are fueling the adoption of automated solutions. Applying a continuous online monitoring solution provides the greatest insight into the overall health of your assets, helping you thoroughly understand your operations and make informed business decisions.
- Learn more about condition monitoring for power generation
- Learn more about condition monitoring for industrial manufacturing
The Electrical Power Research Institute has calculated comparative maintenance costs in US dollars per horsepower (HP) for different maintenance strategies. According to the research, a scheduled maintenance strategy also known as preventative maintenance is the most expensive at $24.00 per HP. A reactive maintenance strategy, or waiting until a failure occurs to address maintenance issues is the second most costly at $17.00 per HP, but it can also be dangerous as some failures can be highly catastrophic as seen at the Sayano–Shushenskaya plant. A predictive maintenance strategy is the most cost-effective at only $9.00 per HP and cuts the risk of secondary equipment and human damage from catastrophic failures.
Figure 2. A predictive maintenance strategy is the most cost-effective at only $9.00 per HP and cuts the risk of secondary equipment and human damage from catastrophic failures.
The Ideal Platform For Condition Monitoring
For more than a decade, industries including industrial manufacturing, heavy equipment, transportation, oil & gas, and power generation have used the CompactRIO platform to monitor and log data on the health and condition of fleet wide equipment and processes to ensure the reliability and efficient operation of their industrial equipment. CompactRIO is the ideal solution for permanent or semi-permanent monitoring and data logging applications. Using CompactRIO you can perform advanced data logging or online monitoring in even the most extreme environments. CompactRIO provides a highly reliable, headless solution which enables continuous monitoring of critical assets. CompactRIO controllers are built according to stringent design practices and undergo extensive testing and validation to ensure you can deploy a reliable system that lasts. With extended operating temperature ranges of -40 °C to 70 °C (-40 °F to 158 °F), 50 g shock rating, and a variety of international safety, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), and environmental certifications and ratings CompactRIO is sure to meet your needs.
Figure 3. CompactRIO controllers are built according to stringent design practices and undergo extensive testing and validation to ensure you can deploy a reliable system that lasts.
CompactRIO ships with built in storage, and options for adding external storage so you can adapt to your data collection or logging needs. Using LabVIEW to program and customize CompactRIO, you can leverage native APIs to store data locally or transfer it to the enterprise or the cloud for further analysis or storage. Furthermore, CompactRIO provides an openness that allows you to gain access to the raw engineering measurements to adapt to new and innovative analysis techniques and extend your solution to meet your maintenance program needs.
Figure 4. Using the CompactRIO platform, you can leverage native APIs to store data locally or transfer it to the enterprise or the cloud for further analysis or storage.
Furthermore, the CompactRIO platform offers more than 150 NI and third-party measurement-specific modules with built-in signal conditioning to connect to a wide array of sensors and signals. Options for bank and channel-to-channel isolation, and support for wide temperature ranges are available to meet a variety of application and environmental needs all within a single rugged package.
Figure 5. Choose from more than 150 NI and 3rd party measurement-specific modules with built-in signal conditioning to connect to a wide array of sensors and signals.
Finally, the CompactRIO platform allows you to take your logging and monitoring one step further by incorporating processing and analytics directly into the controller. This provides the ability to process and analyze acquired data in real-time locally at the edge as well as across the entire enterprise to make informed decisions fast. With CompactRIO, you can leverage hundreds of built-in signal processing, analysis, control, and mathematics functions in LabVIEW to accelerate the development of your application. Combine CompactRIO with powerful data management and data analytics software like DIAdem and SystemLink TDM DataFinder Module to create a world-class end-to-end data monitoring and analytics solution.
Learn more about the processing and analysis capabilities of the CompactRIO platform.
Explore display and data visualization of CompactRIO
Next Steps
Improve the integration and performance of your next monitoring and logging application with CompactRIO: The Ultimate Multipurpose Controller. Learn more about the CompactRIO platform, or read more about the CompactRIO Controller.