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Networked measurement from imc at the heart of digitization

Digitization and networking offer decisive competitive advantages in production, infrastructure and vehicle development by creating higher financial value. Before an industrial machine can be networked to the Internet as a "thing", however, its digitization is necessary ─ the analog values of the machines must be converted into digital values.

An important component on the way to digitization is measurement technology. Sensors, measurement amplifiers and acquisition systems are required to detect an analog signal, such as the pressure in a hydraulic cylinder. These convert the analog signal into an electrical one, amplify and digitize it. The imc measurement devices and systems can also act as networked agents ─ in this way, the opportunities for the use of measurement solutions and the processing of the collected data are broadened.


Always the right bus system and internet interfaces

Measurement systems must have the appropriate vehicle bus, fieldbus and IT interfaces for networked data acquisition on machines. The modular imc data loggers and measurement systems communicate via CAN, CAN FD, Ethernet, Profibus and EtherCAT interfaces, among others, and are also robust, stand-alone and PC-independent. In addition to analog and digital measurement channels (temperatures, pressures, distances, forces, vibrations, etc.), they also synchronously acquire machine data from the CAN bus and GPS coordinates.

From "Big Data" to "Smart Data" in real time with imc Online FAMOS

Information compression: real-time analysis of raw data

Data acquisition on machines and systems ─ whether in development or in real operation ─ often requires the processing of hundreds of measurement channels. Networked data monitoring requires efficient pre-processing of local measurement data in real time - i.e., local and thus fast big-data-analysis. This so-called "edge computing" consolidates the information into selected result parameters. It is particularly useful in harsh test environments where, for example, only a limited time window is available for data transmission or for decentralized, distributed measurements.

The imc measurement devices and systems offer the evaluation software imc Online FAMOS for this "Smart Data" analysis in real time. The functional scope of imc Online FAMOS ranges from simple statistical calculations, such as averaging, filtering or effective value calculation, to sophisticated analysis algorithms. These can be easily edited line by line as mathematical formulas and function calls. Furthermore, imc Online FAMOS has functions for automated measurement. Continuous plausibility checks of the acquired data thus guarantee a high level of data security and data integrity.

Secure data transfer into the cloud

Networking imc measuring devices or systems can increase the cost-effectiveness of a measurement solution. Configuring the devices and evaluating the data is more secure, transparent, and faster when it comes to long-term measurements, measurements in hard-to-reach, harsh, or dynamic environments, or when hundreds of parameters or states from a wide variety of sources must be recorded and processed for complex products.

To ensure the security of the transmitted data, imc measurement systems can be combined with any router, including those with VPN encryption. It is also possible to send status information via MQTT using HTTPS encryption, for example, to web-based dashboards. This also applies to the subsequent storage of the transmitted data. You are free to choose which data management system you wish to use. From simple OneDrive, Nextcloud, or Google Drive storage, to database systems based on ASAM/ODS or SQL, for example, all the way to data lake architectures - many solutions are possible. Depending on the solution, the connection can be established in various ways: via the standalone device combined with imc LINK, via the FAMOS-ODS interface, or, for example, via a customized Python implementation in combination with imc STUDIO.

Everything from a single source – solutions with imc

With intelligent and networked data loggers, the test and measurement specialists at imc offer a complete digitization solution for bringing systems, machines, vehicles and much more to the Internet of Things. Combined with the imc Cloud solution, users today already have powerful tools at their disposal to make existing machines and systems fit for IoT and to increase added value.

imc solutions are characterized by their flexibility. Customized applications can be realized with imc standard components. These range from individual sensor adaptation to a modular measurement system with a wide variety of interfaces and an integral real-time platform to cloud services for mobile devices. Depending on their own experience, expertise and expectations, customers either create these themselves or purchase a turnkey complete solution as an engineering service from imc.

Main areas of application for remote testing on vehicles, machines and systems

  • Trial measurements
  • Test drives
  • Commission testing
  • Acceptance testing
  • Long-term measurement and monitoring
    • Measurement data under real operating conditions
    • Qualified defense against unjustified warranty claims in the event of improper use
    • Optimization of models

Application examples

Everything you need

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