KMT Kraus Messtechnik (1979 – 2021)

he company KMT Kraus Messtechnik manufactured compact and robust measurement systems and digital, modular telemetry systems in Otterfing near Munich from 1979 to 2021. At the end of 2020, KMT merged with the measurement technology manufacturer imc Test & Measurement. KMT had already been associated with imc since 2017 through joint projects and a development and sales partnership. KMT's telemetry products, for example, complement the range of solutions by imc, including an interface for the digital and synchronous connection of KMT measurement technology. Through the purchase of KMT, imc finally integrated the KMT telemetry products into its own product portfolio in 2021. The Otterfing site was closed and manufacturing moved to Berlin, the headquarters of imc Test & Measurement.

In order to strengthen synergy effects and enable further growth in the future, imc will continue to develop and produce KMT telemetry under the imc brand. The international sales network advises customers worldwide on this. Measurement solutions utilizing KMT products are used in development and testing in the automotive, rail vehicle, and construction machinery industries. KMT measurement systems are also widely used in the development of aviation systems, in heavy industry, or in shipbuilding and mechanical engineering.

KMT Product History - From Mobile Data Recorders to Wireless Measurement Data Acquisition

KMT's first measurement system, the KMT16 digital magnetic tape recorder, was launched in 1980. At its time, the mobile data recorder was a highly innovative measurement system with an integrated measurement amplifier, filters, and AD converter. It was designed for mobile recording and playback of measurement data for 16 and 32 channels. The versatility of the device was expressed, among other things, in the fact that it could be combined with telemetry systems. In this way, measurement data could be acquired centrally during test runs or from single and remote measuring points in a control room.  

During the 1980s, the magnetic tape was finally replaced as data storage by a more modern and lighter DAT drive. In this way, KMT responded to the market demand for higher data capacity and for increasingly compact and mobile measuring instruments.

At the beginning of the 1990s, KMT made the step from a pure measurement technology manufacturer to a solution provider with especially small telemetry systems and multi-channel systems for non-contact sensor signal transmission of rotating waves and moving objects with a 1-channel system for wireless signal transmission of temperature or strain measurement values.

KMT Telemetry Solutions Today

The success of the first wireless measurement systems eventually led to a continuous optimization process in terms of robustness, modularity, and manageability. This led to the development of further multichannel solutions. Whereas users initially had to commit to one sensor type for each measuring module, today different sensors can be connected to the measuring modules. The measuring channels can be individually configured via the software. In addition to rotating telemetry systems for transmitting measured values from rotating shafts, wheels, or propellers, point-to-point telemetry has been developed that can be used to transmit analog and digital measured values from vehicles or for pass-by measurements.

Here, we provide information on older, already discontinued products.