University researches near-zero breakdown performance
November 2007Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
Advantech's Industrial Automation Group has created an e-Manufacturing Lab at the University of Cincinnati. The lab will promote research, development and education for students and professionals alike.
The Advantech e-Manufacturing Lab will be under the guidance of Professor Jay Lee. Lee is director of the NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Intelligent Maintenance Systems (IMS). The IMS Center was established to enable products and systems to achieve and sustain near-zero breakdown performance, and ultimately transform the traditional maintenance practices from 'fail and fix' to 'predict and prevent' methodology. Lee's research focuses on frontier technologies in embedded and remote monitoring, prognostics technologies and intelligent decision-support tools.
Advantech has provided UC with embedded automation controllers with flat panel monitors and USB I/O modules to monitor machines for changes and provide a predictive failure analysis. These analyses are transmitted from high-speed sensors to develop predictions of part failure. Also, a lab station is now equipped with AStudio and a touch panel computer, so that results can be posted on the Web. Ming-Chin Wu, president of Advantech's Industrial Automation Group, said at the grand opening of the lab that the company looked forward to working with the students at the University of Cincinnati (UC).
The IMS Center was recently called upon by the National Science Foundation to assist with the investigation of the bridge collapse in Minnesota. NSF awarded emergency supplemental funding to IMS (an NSF/IUCR centre) to deploy a quick response team to Minneapolis to survey the I-35W bridge failure. The data collected from the trip are being used to guide the development and deployment of embedded smart sensors to improve the monitoring and prognosis of potential bridge failures such as this one.
"The Advantech Lab will serve as a catalyst to infuse research into not only our graduate program but undergraduate education as well," pointed out Teik C. Lim, head of the Mechanical, Industrial and Nuclear Engineering department, adding that students in mechanical engineering courses will use this lab as part of their coursework - from doctoral students right down to incoming first-year students.
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