igus says it has been developing its family of smart plastics with improved ‘isense’ sensors and monitoring modules that add intelligence to energy chains, cables, linear guides and slewing ring bearings. The company claims these will measure wear status and alert the user early enough to plan repair or replacement.
The new modules are equipped with a serial interface and it’s claimed can be integrated into a control cabinet. A data logger allows these values to be stored on an SD card. The company says there are various options for integration into the customer’s own infrastructure including allowing the ‘icom’ to send the data from the sensors to a PC or integrate the data via the computer into the customer’s existing software environment and intranet solution.