Csi Technology, Inc.

Computational Systems, Inc.

Zbigniew Czyzewski

Ronald G Canada

James C Robinson

Thomas E Nelson

James W Pearce

Danny Simpson

Taylor L Davidson, Jr

A method of configuring and synchronizing a wireless machine monitoring system that has at least one chain, that includes at least one machine monitor and at least one repeater is disclosed. The wireless machine monitoring system may further include a master repeater that is in communication with the chain and a command station that is in communication with the master repeater. The wireless machine monitoring system is configured so that only one element of the system is communicating at any given time. In addition, bit error rate transmission tests are performed on the elements of the system to determine their ability to communicate at different transmission power levels. Thus, power consumption of battery powered elements is minimized by decreasing the amount of time the devices are active and by configuring the communicating elements to transmit at the lowest acceptable power level. An installation and configuration unit is provided for installing and configuring the machine monitors and the repeaters within each chain of the wireless machine monitoring system.

Method and apparatus for configuring and synchronizing a wireless machine monitoring and communication system

A wireless machine monitoring and communication system includes one or more machine monitors which attach to one or more machines to sense a physical characteristic of the machine, such as vibration or temperature, and to produce wireless transmissions corresponding to the sensed characteristic. A command station executes machine status polling in accordance with a time-division communication protocol and processes machine status data obtained during polling to determine the status of the machine. The machine monitor incorporates a wireless transmitter for transmitting at least status information, and the command station incorporates a wireless receiver for receiving monitor transmissions. To conserve power, the machine monitors are turned on only at preprogrammed times in accordance with the time-division communication protocol. Each machine monitor includes a receiver and the command station includes a transmitter to enable the command station to send commands to each machine monitor. A microcomputer in each monitor analyzes sensor data and a memory stores the analyzed sensor data. Repeaters are employed as necessary to assist in propagating wireless transmissions throughout the system. A tachometer sensor is employed at each machine to provide monitors and sensors with information relating to machine speed. A computer network is connected to the command station for transferring data and for controlling the overall operation of the system.

Wireless machine monitoring and communication system

A hand held data collector and analyzer achieves superior stability, accuracy and reliability through the use of a fixed frequency anti-aliasing filter and two analog to digital converters, one for high frequency signals and one for low frequency signals. Efficient digital filtering and decimation is achieved by providing specialized hardware filters and decimators and implementing software filters and decimators in a data processor. A true zoom method is employed to take advantage of the filtering and decimation capabilities, and independent digital signal processors operate serially on incoming signals to further reduce demands on the central processing unit. In addition, the RAM system memory is formatted as a pseudo-card to facilitate use of a PCMCIA memory card or the RAM system memory.

Hand held data collector and analyzer system

A zoom processor for increasing the resolution of a band of interest within an acquired analog time domain frequency signal. The signal is converted from an analog time domain signal to a digital time domain signal. Next, the signal is multiplied by a value which will lower the center frequency of the band of interest to zero. The value by which the signal is multiplied is based on both the sine and cosine of a function of the center frequency and the sampling frequency used to digitize the signal. The sine function is solved with the aid of a numerical substitution which simplifies finding the value of the function in a sine table. After the signal is shifted, it is low-pass filtered, which removes all of the signal except the band of interest. During filtering, the band is also decimated by a predetermined factor, which compresses the time domain signal, and proportionally expands the frequency domain signal which is produced at a later step of the method. A transform, such as a Fast Fourier Transform, is performed on the band, to convert the signal from time domain to frequency domain. The signal is analyzed according to the ultimate function of the instrument in which the zoom processor is incorporated.

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Knoxville, TN, United States of America

Zbigniew Czyzewski