Embedded Diagnostics of Conveyor Belts Actuated by Induction Motors

Abstract

Frequently, companies with conveyor belts face problems to keep them working as expected. Currently, there are many automatic conveyor failure diagnostic techniques but most of them require complex instrumentation schemes or algorithms. This paper presents a fault diagnostic scheme for conveyor belts actuated by an induction motor. The system retrieves information from a current sensor and a voltage sensor located in the input line of the motor to detect irregular behaviors with an algorithm based on statistic indices. The main features of the solution are: non-invasive for a pre-existing conveyor, embedded implementation, simple and effective algorithm, and low cost instrumentation. This proposal is the starting point for a more complex solution that detects irregularities more accurately using more variables of the system in future work.