Low-cost accelerometers are increasingly being integrated into a variety of industrial systems, making many cost-sensitive, "condition-monitoring" applications economically viable.
In recent years, the term microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) has become synonymous with the reference to such low-cost sensors, generally implying the use of a micro-machined silicon structure as the heart of the sensing element. More recently, however, advances in ceramic processing and production have spawned a new generation of low-cost, low-power piezoelectric accelerometers. These devices rival most MEMS sensors in price, while offering a new range of performance choices for many industrial vibration monitoring applications.
Radio-linked
One such application gaining increasing interest is that of wireless integrated networking systems. This expanding and often complex radio-linked network of sensors, data acquisition and control systems embedded in critical equipment is expected to enable businesses to better monitor, control and manage their assets. By monitoring vibration characteristics related to tool chatter on a cutting machine, for example, factory personnel can tell when a tool is getting dull and needs to be changed -- before defective or out-of-specification product is produced. A wireless data acquisition control network can be used to collect, measure and transmit vibration data via a wireless link to a host personal computer, which displays the data in a user-defined format.