IIoT Scenario

Manufacturers of complex machinery need to monitor it, regardless of its location, to ensure flawless operation and maximum uptime.

As an example, a manufacturer of batteries for mobile container cranes wants to monitor the condition of the batteries, for signs of declining performance, wear and tear etc. Key battery components are equipped with sensors measuring mission critical parameters like voltage, temperature, pressure, humidity, etc. Data is collected and forwarded via a DATAEAGLE 7050 mobile radio gateway. This gateway is specially developed to operate under harsh conditions, e.g. being surrounded by metal, a well-known challenge for radio communication.

Also, as the batteries are scattered in container terminals all over the world, mobile radio is the most suitable connectivity solution, because it offers global coverage at an attractive price. Moreover, mobile radio secures independence from local infrastructure.

With this IoT infrastructure in place the manufacturer – or a company trusted with maintaining and servicing the batteries – can access vital data to perform predictive maintenance and to secure optimal operation of the equipment at any time.

Some of the problems to be solved came from the cranes themselves: they are continuously in motion, and on top of that, the gateways in the battery containers are surrounded by metal. Therefore high performance radio communication technology is required to secure dependable and stable data transfer. Another challenge was posed by the fact that E-RTG cranes powered by Conductix-Wampfler batteries are scattered in container terminals around the world. So, if you want to roll out your remote monitoring solution on a global scale, you need to design a global connectivity infrastructure, the cranes being on the edge of the network and a web portal in its centre, located with the operator monitoring the equipment.

Read here the Case Study – Condition Monitoring of E-RTG Cranes