hPredict® - FAQ

What is hPredict?

hPredict is an autonomous data capture system, used for predictive maintenance solution for industrial equipment that allows you to detect, diagnose, predict, and prevent failures before they cause unplanned downtime.

 

What equipment can be monitored?

The sensors can be placed in ANY piece of rotating mechanical equipment, not just Handtmann equipment. Use cases could be motors/drives, gearboxes. Specific uses include grinder motors, smokehouse/oven motors, HVAC compressors and other mission critical pumps, motors, valves.

 

Do I need a subscription?

Licenses are required for hPredict Sensors but are by sensor rather than by user.

Installation/Connectivity:

Installation includes added battery powered (AA batteries) sensors to rotating mechanical parts, no magnets are used during installation to avoid signal loss and measurement errors. For new equipment monitoring can begin immediately, for existing equipment a self-learning cycle will set a baseline and then monitor for change. These sensors connect with LoRaWan or LNS (LoRaWAN network Server) to a gateway that can be connected via ethernet, wifi, or cellular SIM card to the internet.

 

Does hPredict require internet access? 

While internet connectivity is preferred at the gateway that connects to the sensors through LoRaWAN, a low frequency 915mHz network protocol that allows for low bandwidth connectivity with superior range over similar technologies from Cellular networks and WiFi. The Gateway could also be connected using a cellular network SIM card.

 

Will it work with my existing plant management software? 

hPredict's dashboard's SQL-based architecture enables seamless integration with facility-wide software platforms, including Redzone, Ignition, CMMS and other operational systems.

Data/Security:

The sensors themselves are not connected to the controls of the equipment they are monitoring and operate only with outbound-only data. Data collected could be used in a server on-cloud or on-premises with no data left in the IoT. Data collected can be accessed through the REST API or PUSH API.

 

Who owns and has access to the data?

The customer owns the data and access to it, there is not an additional fee for each user.

 

What data is collected?

Data is collected every minute (adjustable in settings), the data collected includes 50 key parameters involving Vibration, Ultrasound, and temperature. This data is broken down into the following measurable categories: Known state, Rotation Speed, Ambient Temperature, Utilization Rate, Operating State, Vibrations (Root Mean Square [RMS] Velocity), Ultrasound (RMS Level), Surface Temperature, Vibration (RMS Acceleration), Vibration (Peak Acceleration), Vibration- Kurtosis (Early stage bearing defects and gear tooth cracks), Axial Axis (Alignment), Vertical Axis (Alignment), Horizontal Axis (Alignment),  Vibration (spectrogram), Ultrasound (spectrogram), Sensor Battery Monitoring, Vibration Alarm, Vibration Severity. Ultimately the information is analyzed by a customized A.I. algorithm to present an anomaly score which presents an overall picture of how the equipment is performing and allows us to create an alert to indicate when it’s time to inspect for service.

 

 

Alerts/Results:

Alerts can be generated via email to customers, aftermarket territory managers or to the technical support, along with SMS alerts.

 

What types of issues can hPredict detect?

hPredict can detect wear through a machine learning model. Detection can indicate when components are worn and detect the need for replacement before catastrophic failure.

 

How are alerts delivered?

Currently, alerts are delivered via email; indications can also be found on the dashboard with a simple red, yellow, green traffic light indicator.  SMS coming soon (ready in the next few weeks or so)

 

Who monitors the alerts?

For Handtmann equipment, alerts are sent to any email address the customer indicates. In addition to the customer being notified, the HCU team will also see the alerts, as well as a Handtmann Aftermarket Territory Manager who can assist with initiating a service visit or parts support. 

 

For non-Handtmann equipment the customer is notified of alerts via email and has complete access to the data to share with interested parties. Our AI alerts will offer a diagnostic alert along with the likely cause of the issue, i.e lubrication issue or imbalance.

Still have questions?

If you still have questions email us at hpredict@handtmann.us