Ultrasound Applications

Wireless Data Management for Ultrasound Predictive Maintenance

Maintenance managers tasked with spearheading predictive maintenance (PdM) programs have their hands full; to say the least. They are often expected to set the vision, choose the appropriate hardware and software, train employees, keep momentum up, and most importantly, reduce costs and downtime.

The backbone of ultrasound predictive maintenance is trending, analysis and reporting from ultrasound readings taken on mechanical components. These software functions require an aggregate of data. Data management can often times be the Achilles heel in the PdM program. Sticking points include: transferring files, gleaning useful information from a sea of data and generating reports.

Wireless data management solves two of the aforementioned problems.

Transferring Files

Wireless data uploads reduce human factor errors when transferring files; the right files are transferred to the correct folders, every time. Answering "yes" or "no" to a prompt screen is much less time consuming than selecting, dragging and dropping files into the correct folders.

Gleaning Useful Information

Wireless-friendly software bridges the gap between data capture devices and trending, analysis, reporting software. Critical data can be uploaded to the analysis software wirelessly for instant feedback on a component. Maintainers can make on-the-spot maintenance decisions about scheduling maintenance or taking the system offline.

Software That Delivers

CTRL Systems has made SoundCTRL 2.0 (pronounced "sound control") a wireless-friendly system. SoundCTRL is an ultrasound data capture and instant analysis system for testing and diagnosing bearings, gears, motors and valves. InCTRL is CTRL's online trending, reporting and analysis software for the test data captured by SoundCTRL. Using a wireless Internet connection maintenance teams can upload ultrasound data to InCTRL for instant threshold analysis and bearing health assessments. SoundCTRL is a powerful system even without a wireless connection; it instantly displays ultrasound waveforms, provides audio/visual play back, calculates anomaly indication and root mean square of the component under test.