Listen to the machines

Machine malfunctions could be avoided in the future just by listening to the sounds that they make.

An European research program in Italy aims to analyze vibrations emitted by machines in order to determine their mechanical state of health. A network of sensors will gather data from component vibrations, providing researchers with an insight to the language of machines. Thus, they could forecast and prevent any possible breakdowns.

'Vibrations come from rotation and moving parts inside the motors, and make up a unique signature for each machine. Using them, we can make a predictive diagnosis of the machine’s mechanical state. If certain vibrations are generated, they can indicate mechanical faults,' explained Alessandro Zanella from the Fiat Research Center.

Components which are about to malfunction start emiting higher rate vibrations which peak just before the breakdown point. Sensors registering these sounds record them on electrocardiogram-like graphics, following that complex algorithms will transform the data into detailed information about the state of the machine.

'We analyze the data stream in real time and use some sophisticated methods of checking the data in time and frequency domains. Then we extract the features that can pinpoint the presence of defects and send only these features upstream to the central point,' said Mihai Marin-Perianu, a computer science researcher.

Vibration is present in every machinery, even tough people cannot sense it. By evaluating these sounds, not only will industry become more efficient, but it will be safer and it will make more high quality products.

Planes, trains, cars, industrial machines all over the world will be equipped, in the years to come, with vibrations monitoring sensors.

Even tough the scale of the project seems massive, costs for implementing it are reduced to a minimum since sensors are inexpensive and can power themselves.