VocalZoom laser-based standoff vibration sensors monitor industrial machines

March 16, 2019
The industrial IoT patented sensors use SMLD (self-mixing-laser-diode) technology for standoff sensing in any environment.

VocalZoom (Yokneam, Israel), a provider of vibration sensors for industry 4.0, launched its predictive maintenance sensors for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). VocalZoom's sensors measure the vibrations emitted by industrial machinery to predict and prevent mechanical failures before they occur. Because they can monitor machine health without touching the equipment, VocalZoom says its sensors cover a greater array of equipment and use cases than traditional predictive maintenance solutions, without the factory downtime and deployment costs associated with most sensors.

Vibration sensing is the most accurate way to identify anomalies in a machine's health and detect issues related to its condition and performance. VocalZoom's patented vibration sensors use a SMLD (self-mixing-laser-diode) technology to measure the velocity, distance and vibrations of a machine. The sensors are just 15 mm x 6 mm x 3 mm in size, enabling them to fit practically any configuration and geometry, and they operate at a distance up to 3 m away from the machine they are monitoring.

VocalZoom says that industrial manufacturers using their vibration sensor will see improved performance as laser accuracy is better than mechanical sensors and, unlike audio sensors, immune to any ambient and environmental noise. They also say that VocalZoom sensors deploy in a fraction of the time it takes to integrate traditional solutions, enabling facilities to get back up and running much faster. Because the sensors require no batteries, have fewer moving parts than mechanical devices, have a small form factor, and do not need to be placed in contact with the equipment they monitor, they can be applied to a number of unaddressed industrial use cases.

The rise of IIoT-enabled equipment allows facilities to monitor the health of their equipment and machinery to reduce downtime and prevent mechanical failures, but most sensors rely on micro-electro-mechanical (MEMS), piezoelectric, or acoustic technology that fails to address many of the established equipment found in many industrial settings. VocalZoom's non-contact vibration sensors help industrial manufacturers easily deploy highly accurate sensors on both new and old machinery, even when it is wet, hot, moving, hard-to-reach, or too small to deploy traditional sensors on.

SOURCE: VocalZoom; http://www.vocalzoom.com/

About the Author

Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)

Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.

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