SMART PNEUMATICS
Smart pneumatics from Aventics has been created to help with maintenance of pneumatic systems
Photo by: Victor Moolman
At the 2017 Hannover Messe, in Germany, which took place last month, pneumatics manufacturer Aventics will show how the company’s intelligent pneumatics can anticipate system maintenance, using already available sensors and a new smart pneumatics monitor which is the company’s first Internet of Things (IoT) device.
The company’s pneumatics specialists showcased a pneumatics application by monitoring the shock absorber functions and cylinder speeds based on an electro- pneumatic valve system at the show. The existing sensors in the system were monitored, along with the controls.
The company also presented information on the topic of predictive maintenance at a special exhibition space which had the same name, which was located next to the company’s stand in Hall 23. The motto for the area was ‘Smart pneumatics, the driver for predictive maintenance’.
Aventics explains that to do predictive maintenance, data is analysed with the advanced valve and advanced electronic system (AES) series valve systems and the smart pneumatics monitor, which is an additional module for the AES valve electronics. Monitoring the load allows the system to determine the current state of the shock absorber and detect wear early on. The information is then provided to the user in standardised data logs.
Compressed air supply system provider Boge also demonstrated how intelligent pneumatics can ensure efficient system operation at its stand in the same hall. Using existing sensors, Aventics provides Boge with information on the current state of its systems and their air consumption in the standard data format. This allows Boge to optimise the entire compressed air mains of a system and to operate it more efficiently.
“The advantages of predictive maintenance are nothing new to us. But the IoT has now made it possible to generate the information required for predictive maintenance that really lives up to its name,” says Aventics IoT expert Dieter Michalkowski.
He explains that preventive maintenance with intelligent data analysis is now considered an important value driver in the industrial sector as it can prevent unplanned machine downtime and increase system availability.
Based on the relevance of predictive maintenance for IoT environments, he says that, this year, the Hannover exhibition organisers gave the topic its own exhibit area. The special exhibit took place as part of the Motion, Drive & Automation trade fair, which focused on drive and fluid technologies within the context of the IoT.
“Companies already using maintenance systems today presented in the special space, measuring around 500 m2. The special exhibition also included lectures arranged by the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association,” says Michalkowski.