‘Cee-ing’ the way ahead

igus has developed a new predictive maintenance device, a new home for the software to power its smart plastics products – the i.Cee:local module.

The module calculates the remaining service life of the energy chain, cable, linear guide and/or plain bearings during their operation. By doing this, the service life of the system can be optimised, faults are detected and rectified at an early stage, and more accurate maintenance can be planned in advance.

Smart plastics sensors

Thanks to its multi-connectivity to a wide range of input and output channels, i.Cee:local can be integrated over the Internet or without IoT connectivity over a local network, depending on customer requirements. The module monitors abrasion, measures tensile/push force and provides information about an impending overload in the energy chain or plastics system, using smart plastics sensors from igus.

As the name suggests, the maintenance team can read real, accurate information about the condition of their plant using the i.Cee:local. The intelligent module bundles the data of all the smart plastics products used in the system and displays this for the maintenance engineer.

igus has authored open source i.Cee software, the brain of smart plastics, which resides in the i.Cee:local module. The first time the module is installed, the software is parameterised and thus adapted to the specific application that igus compares to its lifetime algorithms.

Lifetime forecast

Justin Leonard, e-chain director at igus UK, explains. "The lifetime forecast, which we determine on the basis of gigabytes of test data in our 3,800 square metre laboratory, is compared and adjusted in operation with the values determined in real life, so that a real-time service life statement can be made on the reliability of the machine and plant."

With i.Cee:local, maintenance can be planned ahead predictably and faults can be detected in good time, and thus plant failures prevented, states igus.

Costs for an early retrofit caused by using the maximum number of igus components can be reduced. In addition spare parts can be ordered automatically earlier, saving time. The i.Cee:local is suitable for all igus smart plastics products, from plain bearings to e-ketten, igus’s e-chain.

Multi-connectivity for a simple overview

After the i.Cee software, the second important feature of i.Cee:local is multi-connectivity. i.Cee:local is designed to seamlessly integrate into many designated network environments, in various ‘Industry 4.0’ connected factory applications. Data from the i.Cee:local module can be conveyed and displayed in several ways; at the plant, via a cloud solution or an IoT dashboard, as the JSON /MQTT protocol, in the intranet, via the REST API interface or directly via an SMS message or email.

"Whether online or offline, depending on the customer's choice, data for the maintenance engineer is quickly and easily accessible, thanks to the i.Cee:local module", adds Leonard.