AU2018102125A4 - Portable Wireless Measurement System and Method - Google Patents

Abstract

A portable wireless measurement system and method is disclosed. In one embodiment, there is provided a portable wireless measurement system (20) 5 comprising: one or more portable electronic sensors (22) for generating sensor measurement data in response to corresponding sensed parameters; one or more wireless sensor data acquisition modules (24) operatively coupled to the one or more portable electronic sensors (22) for acquiring and 10 transmitting the sensor measurement data from the one or more portable electronic sensors (22); a wireless receiver module (26) for receiving the sensor measurement data from the one or more wireless sensor data acquisition modules (24); and, a controller (28) operatively connected to the receiver module (26) for 15 controlling the operation of the wireless measurement system (20) under the control of electronic program instructions. [Figure 2] Technician In footprint of rnecNne reading manual Indicator 1EE.6 2t Linear Potentiometer andi Transmitter USS Rceive Windows based Laptop or Tablet

Description

PORTABLE WIRELESS MEASUREMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a portable wireless measurement system and method and relates particularly, though not exclusively, to such a system and method for maintenance measurements in hazardous locations such as on large earth-working machines.

Background to the Invention

Any discussion of the background art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such background art is prior art, nor that such background art is widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge in the field in Australia or worldwide.

Maintenance measurements have traditionally been performed with a range of analogue sensor tools such as pressure gauges, dial indicators, and temperature probes, for example, and are often performed by technicians in hazardous locations surrounded by moving parts, high pressure fluids and high temperatures.

Recent advances in wireless technology have begun to allow wireless measurements to take place with the predominant wireless technology being Bluetooth.

Due to the effective range limitations of Bluetooth wireless connections, the equipment being measured is often too large to allow the technicians to retreat to a safe location to perform the required measurements, making these systems ineffective at best.

Further limitations of existing Bluetooth solutions include: having a low useful range (5-10m); having unreliable connection through sheet metal (such as engine houses and guard panels, for example); requiring iPad tablets to access all functions; consistently setting up Bluetooth connections (not easy to use for large work groups); slow internal charging batteries; universal

2018102125 24 May 2018 application unable to be tailored for specific requirements; and having a limited range of sensors/measurement types available.

Wi-Fi sensor data acquisition modules have existed for some time but are normally used on permanently mounted sensors in fixed plant environments.

The present invention was developed with a view to providing a portable wireless measurement system and method that can be operated at a safe distance from equipment or machinery being measured. Whilst the invention will be described primarily in connection with maintenance measurements on large earth-working machines, it will be understood that the system and method of the invention are not limited in this regard and may also have many other applications where it is desirable to be able to conduct measurements from a safe distance without having to install permanent sensors on the equipment or machinery.

It is against this background that the present invention has been developed.

References to prior art documents in this specification are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not to be taken as an admission that such prior art is part of the common general knowledge in Australia or elsewhere.

Summary of the Invention

Embodiments of the present invention seek to overcome, or at least ameliorate, one or more of the deficiencies of the prior art mentioned above, or to provide the consumer with a useful or commercial choice.

Other advantages of embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, preferred embodiments of the present invention are disclosed.

According to a first principal aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable wireless measurement system comprising:

one or more portable electronic sensors for generating sensor measurement data in response to corresponding sensed parameters;

2018102125 24 May 2018 one or more wireless sensor data acquisition modules operatively coupled to the one or more portable electronic sensors for acquiring and transmitting the sensor measurement data from the one or more portable electronic sensors;

a wireless receiver module for receiving the sensor measurement data from the one or more wireless sensor data acquisition modules; and, a controller operatively connected to the receiver module for controlling the operation of the wireless measurement system under the control of electronic program instructions.

Embodiments and implementations of the above described aspect, and those aspects described below, may incorporate one or more of the following optional features.

Preferably all portable electronic sensors and data acquisition modules are provided with a respective removeable mounting. The removeable mountings may comprise magnetically attachable mountings to enable the system to be as portable and universally applicable as possible.

Advantageously each wireless sensor data acquisition module is assigned a unique ID which includes the sensor number and type, and a customer ID.

Preferably an embodiment of the system is provided to a client in kit form.

Preferably each kit is assigned a serial number and all components in the system (data acquisition modules/receiver module) are programmed with this number which restricts signal transmission to the components matching the serial number.

Preferably all portable electronic sensors and data acquisition modules are specified to run on batteries to maintain portability of the system.

Preferably the one or more portable electronic sensors is selected from the group comprising: linear position measurement sensors, hydraulic pressure measurement sensors, shaft speed measurement sensors, and temperature measurement sensors, etc.

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According to a second principal aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable wireless measurement method comprising:

providing one or more portable electronic sensors for generating sensor measurement data in response to corresponding sensed parameters;

acquiring and transmitting the sensor measurement data from the one or more portable electronic sensors using one or more wireless sensor data acquisition modules operatively coupled to the one or more portable electronic sensors;

receiving the sensor measurement data from the one or more wireless sensor data acquisition modules using a wireless receiver module; and, controlling the operation of the wireless measurement system under the control of electronic program instructions stored in a controller operatively connected to the receiver module.

Preferably the method further comprises assigning a unique ID which includes the sensor number and type, and a customer ID, to each wireless sensor data acquisition module.

Throughout the specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word “comprise” or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers. Likewise the word “preferably” or variations such as “preferred”, will be understood to imply that a stated integer or group of integers is desirable but not essential to the working of the invention.

Any one of the terms: “including” or “which includes” or “that includes” as used herein is also an open term that also means including at least the elements/features that follow the term, but not excluding others. Thus, “including” is synonymous with and means “comprising”.

In the claims, as well as in the summary above and the description below, all transitional phrases such as “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,”

2018102125 24 May 2018 “containing,” “involving,” “holding,” “composed of,” and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean “including but not limited to”. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of’ and “consisting essentially of’ alone shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases, respectively.

The term “real-time”, for example, “displaying real-time data,” refers to the display of the data without intentional delay, given the processing limitations of the system and the time required to accurately measure the data.

Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, preferred methods and materials are described. It will be appreciated that the methods, apparatus and systems described herein may be implemented in a variety of ways and for a variety of purposes. The description here is by way of example only.

The various methods or processes outlined herein may be coded as software that is executable on one or more processors that employ any one of a variety of operating systems or platforms. Additionally, such software may be written using any of a number of suitable programming languages and/or programming or scripting tools, and also may be compiled as executable machine language code or intermediate code that is executed on a framework or virtual machine.

In this respect, various inventive concepts may be embodied as a computer readable storage medium (or multiple computer readable storage media) (e.g., a computer memory, one or more floppy discs, compact discs, optical discs, magnetic tapes, flash memories, circuit configurations in Field Programmable Gate Arrays or other semiconductor devices, or other nontransitory medium or tangible computer storage medium) encoded with one or more programs that, when executed on one or more computers or other processors, perform methods that implement the various embodiments of the invention discussed above. The computer readable medium or media can be transportable, such that the program or programs stored thereon can be

2018102125 24 May 2018 loaded onto one or more different computers or other processors to implement various aspects of the present invention as discussed above.

The terms “program” or “software” are used herein in a generic sense to refer to any type of computer code or set of computer-executable instructions that can be employed to program a computer or other processor to implement various aspects of embodiments as discussed above. Additionally, it should be appreciated that according to one aspect, one or more computer programs that when executed perform methods of the present invention need not reside on a single computer or processor, but may be distributed in a modular fashion amongst a number of different computers or processors to implement various aspects of the present invention.

Computer-executable instructions may be in many forms, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

Also, data structures and data-bases may be stored in computer-readable media in any suitable form. For simplicity of illustration, data structures may be shown to have fields that are related through location in the data structure. Such relationships may likewise be achieved by assigning storage for the fields with locations in a computer-readable medium that convey relationship between the fields. However, any suitable mechanism may be used to establish a relationship between information in fields of a data structure, including through the use of pointers, tags or other mechanisms that establish relationship between data elements.

Also, various inventive concepts may be embodied as one or more methods, of which an example has been provided. The acts performed as part of the method may be ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly, embodiments may be constructed in which acts are performed in an order different than

2018102125 24 May 2018 illustrated, which may include performing some acts simultaneously, even though shown as sequential acts in illustrative embodiments.

The phrase “and/or”, as used herein in the specification and in the claims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements so conjoined,

i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some cases and disjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with “and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” of the elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B”, when used in conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer, in one embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (optionally including other elements); etc.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should be understood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. For example, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall be interpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, but also including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and, optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated to the contrary, such as “only one of’ or “exactly one of,” or, when used in the claims, “consisting of” will refer to the inclusion of exactly one element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term “or” as used herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusive alternatives (i.e. “one or the other but not both”) when preceded by terms of exclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or “exactly one of.” “Consisting essentially of,” when used in the claims, shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “at least one”, in reference to a list of one or more elements, should be understood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more of the elements in

2018102125 24 May 2018 the list of elements, but not necessarily including at least one of each and every element specifically listed within the list of elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the list of elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified within the list of elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “at least one of A or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of A and/or B”) can refer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, with no B present (and optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including more than one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc.

For the purpose of this specification, where method steps are described in sequence, the sequence does not necessarily mean that the steps are to be carried out in chronological order in that sequence, unless there is no other logical manner of interpreting the sequence.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The nature of the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of several specific embodiments of the portable wireless measurement system and method, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a prior art method of measuring the extent of wear of an articulation pin on a front end loader;

Figure 2 illustrates one embodiment of a portable wireless measurement system and method according to the present invention for measuring the extent of wear of an articulation pin on a front end loader;

2018102125 24 May 2018

Figure 3 illustrates a prior art method of measuring the cooling fan speed on a front end loader;

Figure 4 illustrates one embodiment of a portable wireless measurement system and method according to the present invention for measuring the cooling fan speed on a front end loader;

Figure 5 illustrates an embodiment of a sensor with associated wireless sensor data acquisition module on a removable mounting, employed in the portable wireless measurement system and method of the invention;

Figure 6 illustrates an embodiment of a wireless receiver module, employed in the portable wireless measurement system and method of the invention;

Figure 7 illustrates a plurality of the sensors with associated wireless sensor data acquisition modules of Figure 5 provided in kit form;

Figure 8 illustrates another plurality of the sensors with associated wireless sensor data acquisition modules employed in the portable wireless measurement system and method of the invention provided in kit form;

Figure 9 illustrates an example of how a 4-digit hexadecimal value is preferably assigned to each sensor to create a module ID matrix in the portable wireless measurement system and method of the invention;

Figure 10 illustrates a table of the values assigned to each sensor to create the 4-digit hexadecimal module ID matrix of Figure 9;

Figure 11 illustrates an end view of an embodiment of a mounting bracket used to mount a sensor with associated wireless sensor data acquisition module, employed in the portable wireless measurement system and method of the invention;

Figure 12 illustrates a side view of the mounting bracket of Figure 11; and,

2018102125 24 May 2018

Figure 13 illustrates a side view of another embodiment of a sensor with removable mounting, employed in the portable wireless measurement system and method of the invention.

Detailed Description of Embodiments

The present invention is not to be limited in scope by the following specific embodiments. This detailed description is intended for the purpose of exemplification only. Functionally equivalent products, compositions and methods are within the scope of the invention as described herein. Consistent with this position, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention described herein is susceptible to variations and modifications other than those specifically described. It is to be understood that the invention includes all such variations and modifications. The invention also includes all of the steps, features, compositions and compounds referred to or indicated in the specification, individually or collectively and any and all combinations or any two or more of the steps or features.

Further features of the present invention are more fully described in the examples herein. It is to be understood, however, that this detailed description is included solely for the purposes of exemplifying the present invention, and should not be understood in any way as a restriction on the broad description of the invention as set out hereinbefore.

The entire disclosures of all publications (including patents, patent applications, journal articles, laboratory manuals, books, or other documents) cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any of the references constitute prior art or are part of the common general knowledge of those working in the field to which this invention relates. Definitions for selected terms used herein may be found within the detailed description of the invention and apply throughout. Unless otherwise defined, all other scientific and technical terms used herein have the same meaning as

2018102125 24 May 2018 commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention belongs.

The invention described herein may include one or more range of values (for example, size, displacement and field strength etc.). A range of values will be understood to include all values within the range, including the values defining the range, and values adjacent to the range that lead to the same or substantially the same outcome as the values immediately adjacent to that value which defines the boundary to the range. For example, a person skilled in the field will understand that a 10% variation in upper or lower limits of a range can be totally appropriate and is encompassed by the invention. More particularly, the variation in upper or lower limits of a range will be 5% or as is commonly recognised in the art, whichever is greater.

Throughout this specification relative language such as the words ‘about’ and ‘approximately’ are used. This language seeks to incorporate at least 10% variability to the specified number or range. That variability may be plus 10% or negative 10% of the particular number specified.

In the drawings, like features have been referenced with like reference numbers.

As shown in Figure 1, according to a prior art method of measuring the extent of wear of an articulation pin (not visible) on a front end loader 10, a first technician 12 would enter the centre pivot (articulation) point of the running front end loader 10. The first technician 12 would install a manual dial indicator gauge 14 in connection with the articulation pin; then a second technician 16 operates the bucket attachment 18 of the front end loader 10 to push into the ground and repeatedly raise the front wheels, loading and unloading the articulation pin. This process would allow the first technician 12 to view the deflection in the joint (providing an indication of the wear of the articulation pin) on the dial indicator gauge 14. This process may be repeated several times with the dial indicator gauge 14 relocated to different locations. The measurements would then be manually recorded.

2018102125 24 May 2018

It will be appreciated that the location of the first technician 12 in such close proximity to the front end loader 10, particularly whilst it is being operated to load and unload the articulation pin, is potentially very dangerous. Therefore it is preferred that such maintenance measurements can be conducted with the first technician located a safe distance from the machine.

Embodiments of the portable wireless measurement system described herein comprise a plurality of components, subsystems and/or modules operably coupled via appropriate circuitry and connections to enable the system to perform the functions and operations herein described.

A first embodiment of a portable wireless measurement system 20 in accordance with the invention, as illustrated in Figure 2, comprises one or more portable electronic sensors 22 for generating sensor measurement data in response to corresponding sensed parameters. Typically the one or more portable electronic sensors 22 is selected from the group comprising: linear position measurement sensors, hydraulic pressure measurement sensors, shaft speed measurement sensors, temperature measurement sensors, etc. Any number and type of portable electronic sensor 22 may be employed for measuring a variety of sensed parameters.

Particular examples of sensors include: 50mm linear potentiometers for linear wear measurement (such as Waycon™ LRW sensors); 5000 PSI hydraulic pressure transducers for hydraulic pressure measurement (such as TE M5200 sensors); laser tachometer sensors for shaft speed measurement (such as Monarch™ ROLS sensors); and IR thermometers for temperature measurement (such as Optris CSmicro LT sensors).

In the illustrated embodiment a portable electronic sensor in the form of a linear position measurement potentiometer 22a is provided, for measuring the deflection at the joint and thus provide an indication of the wear of the articulation pin.

The portable wireless measurement system 20 further comprises one or more wireless sensor data acquisition modules 24 operatively coupled to the one or more portable electronic sensors 22 for acquiring and transmitting the sensor

2018102125 24 May 2018 measurement data from the one or more portable electronic sensors. In the illustrated embodiment wireless sensor data acquisition module 24 is a wireless sensor transmitter module T24-ACMi supplied by Mantracourt™. The T24-ACMi is powered by a pair of alkaline ‘AA’ cells with a battery life of up to 5 years, by ‘powering down’ between transmissions or ‘powering off’ completely. The T24-ACMi has a wireless range up to 800 m (2,600 ft) in an open field site, high speed data transmission (up to 200 updates per second), high resolution up to 1 part in 400,000 (18bit), and can be used with a variety of sensor inputs, including strain, current, voltage, temperature, pulse and potentiometer.

The portable wireless measurement system 20 further comprises a wireless receiver module 26 for receiving the sensor measurement data from the one or more wireless sensor data acquisition modules 24, and a controller 28 operatively connected to the receiver module 26 for controlling the operation of the wireless measurement system 10 under the control of electronic program instructions. In the illustrated embodiment the wireless receiver module 26 is a wireless telemetry USB base station extended range (T24BSue) supplied by Mantracourt™. The T24-BSue has built-in receiver and provides line of sight range of up to 800m for all T24 transmitter modules. In the illustrated embodiment the controller is in the form of a Windows®-based laptop, tablet or desktop PC 28. The T24-BSue provides a USB gateway to the laptop 28 for logging data, and draws power from the USB bus and therefore no further components are required to configure and control remote devices from the laptop 28. The T24-ACMi wireless sensor transmitter module 22 is configured and calibrated (either by applying known inputs or by table entry), using T24 Toolkit software which runs on the laptop 28 connected to the T24-BSue base station 26.

In the embodiment, data is logged via a custom Iog100 software application to suit the wireless module supplied by Mantracourt™.

Custom Iog100 measurement files are made by KIT to suit specific sensor applications.

2018102125 24 May 2018

Electronic instructions or programs for the computing components of the system 20 can be written in any suitable language, as are well known to persons skilled in the art. In embodiments of the invention, the electronic program instructions may be provided as stand-alone application(s), as a set or plurality of applications, via a network, or added as middleware, depending on the requirements of the implementation or embodiment.

In embodiments of the invention, the electronic program instructions may comprise one or more modules, and may be implemented in hardware. In such a case, for example, the modules may be implemented with any one or a combination of the following technologies, which are each well known in the art: a discrete logic circuit(s) having logic gates for implementing logic functions upon data signals, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) having appropriate combinational logic gates, a programmable gate array(s) (PGA), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and the like.

Computing means of the controller can be a system of any suitable type, including: a programmable logic controller (PLC); digital signal processor (DSP); microcontroller; personal, notebook or tablet computer, or dedicated servers or networked servers.

The controller may comprise processing means which may comprise any custom made or commercially available processor, a central processing unit (CPU), a data signal processor (DSP) or an auxiliary processor among several processors associated with the computing means. In embodiments of the invention, the processing means may be a semiconductor based microprocessor (in the form of a microchip) or a macroprocessor, for example.

In embodiments of the invention, the electronic program instructions, and other data and information, may be stored on storage which can include any one or combination of volatile memory elements (e.g., random access memory (RAM) such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM)) and non-volatile memory elements (e.g., read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read only memory

2018102125 24 May 2018 (EPROM), electronically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), programmable read only memory (PROM), tape, compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), etc.). The storage may incorporate electronic, magnetic, optical and/or other types of storage media. Furthermore, the storage can have a distributed architecture, where various components are situated remote from one another, but can be accessed by the processing means. For example, the ROM may store various instructions, programs, software, or applications to be executed by the processing means to control the operation of the system 20 and the RAM may temporarily store variables or results of the operations.

The use and operation of computers using software applications is wellknown to persons skilled in the art and need not be described in any further detail herein except as is relevant to the present invention.

Where the words “store”, “hold” and “save” or similar words are used in the context of the present invention, they are to be understood as including reference to the retaining or holding of data or information both permanently and/or temporarily in the storage means, device or medium for later retrieval, and momentarily or instantaneously, for example as part of a processing operation being performed.

Additionally, where the terms “system”, “device”, and “machine” are used in the context of the present invention, they are to be understood as including reference to any group of functionally related or interacting, interrelated, interdependent or associated components or elements that may be located in proximity to, separate from, integrated with, or discrete from, each other.

Furthermore, in embodiments of the invention, the word “determining” is understood to include receiving or accessing the relevant data or information.

Figure 5 illustrates an embodiment of a linear displacement sensor (position measurement potentiometer) 22a with associated wireless sensor data acquisition module 24, provided with a removable mounting, allowing for attachment to and detachment from a suitable portion or surface of a

2018102125 24 May 2018 machine, for example, in the form of a magnetically attachable mounting 30. Preferably all portable electronic sensors 22 and data acquisition modules 24 are provided with magnetically attachable mountings to enable the system 20 to be as portable and universally applicable as possible. Figure 6 illustrates an embodiment of a wireless receiver module 26 employed in the portable wireless measurement system and method of the invention.

Figures 11 and 12 illustrate a rough prototype of a mounting bracket 34 employed to attach the linear displacement sensor 22a (see Figure 5) to the magnetically attachable mounting 30.

Figure 13 illustrates an embodiment of another linear displacement sensor 36 with removable mounting, which may be employed in the portable wireless measurement system and method of the invention. In this embodiment the removable mounting takes the form of a magnetic yoke mounting 38. A pair of rare earth magnetics 40 are pivotably attached to each end of the yoke mounting 38 by pivot pins 42. The yoke pins 42 are machined to a very high tolerance and are lapped when fitted to provide a near zero clearance with the aim of maximising measurement accuracy. The strong rare earth magnets 40 attached to the yoke, provide a sturdy and reliable attachment point to any magnetic surface, allowing measurements to take place in locations where a normal magnetic sensor base is not suitable (because of, for example, restricted access, high vibration, etc.).

A preferred measurement method using the portable wireless measurement system 20 will now be described with reference to Figure 2. One or more portable electronic sensors 22 are provided for generating sensor measurement data in response to corresponding sensed parameters. In the illustrated embodiment a first technician 12 can install a linear wear measurement potentiometer 22a at the point to be measured with the machine shutdown and disabled. The technician 12 then connects the linear wear measurement potentiometer 22a to the T24-ACMi wireless sensor transmitter module 24. The technician 12 can then retreat to a safe distance before the machine 10 is operated by a second technician 16. Sensor

2018102125 24 May 2018 measurement data from the linear wear measurement potentiometer 22a is acquired and transmitted using the T24-ACMi wireless sensor transmitter module 24, which is operatively coupled to the potentiometer 22a. One or more portable electronic sensors 22 may be employed with one or more wireless sensor data acquisition modules 24 operatively coupled to the one or more portable electronic sensors 22. A plurality of the sensors 22 may be connected to one of the sensor data acquisition modules 24, or each sensor 22 may be provided with its own wireless sensor data acquisition module 24.

The first technician 12, now located at a safe distance from the machine, can then start collecting sensor data received from the T24-ACMi wireless sensor transmitter module 24, to generate a report on the laptop 28 attached to the USB T24-BSue receiver base station 26. Alternatively a single technician can take the laptop 28 into the cab of the front end loader 10, to operate the machine and collect measurement data simultaneously. Measurement reports can be generated by the T24 Toolkit software. The operation of the wireless measurement system 10 is controlled under the control of electronic program instructions stored in the laptop 28.

Advantageously each wireless sensor data acquisition module 24 is assigned a unique ID which includes the sensor number and type, and a customer ID.

Preferably the portable wireless measurement system 20 is provided to a client in kit form. Figures 7 and 8 illustrate a plurality of the electronic sensors 22 with their associated wireless sensor data acquisition modules 24, in a collapsed condition, and supplied in Kit form. Each kit is assigned a serial number and all components in the system (data acquisition modules/receiver modules) are programmed with this number which restricts signal transmission to the components matching the serial number. The modules within the kit are preferably identified using a Client/Module ID matrix which uses a 4-digit hexadecimal value to assign unique ID’s to the modules and to the customer the kit belongs to. The first two digits identifies the sensor number and type, the second two digits identifies the customer ID.

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For large system deployments (as requested) a Custom Deployment Matrix may be used. The Custom Deployment Matrix consists of a 4-digit Hexadecimal value, the first digit identifies the sensor Category, the second digit the sensor Type, digits three and four identify the sensor number. This arrangement facilitates easier expansion to large sensor arrays (more than 256 sensors).

Figures 9 and 10 illustrate how a 4-digit hexadecimal value is preferably assigned to each sensor to create a Custom Deployment module ID matrix in the portable wireless measurement system 10 and method of the invention. Each module ID has the following syntax: the sensor number is assigned a value of 1-99; the sensor type is assigned a value of A, B, C, D, E, etc.; and the sensor category (linear potentiometer, hydraulic pressure sensor, IR thermos sensor, laser photo tachometer, etc.) is assigned a value of 0-9. Therefore, for example, a module ID with value 1A01 identifies the #1 sensor, linear potentiometer, ball tip type. On the other hand, 2A02 identifies #2 sensor, hydraulic pressure sensor, 5000 PSI type.

A significant advantage of the system 20 is that it provides a universal wireless measurement system that can be easily moved from site to site in a kit form. The system of data tag matrixes and serial numbers tie the modules together to allow easy deployment of custom measurement project files to suit the kit. The system module ID matrix creates a fixed relationship with all the sensors in the kit allowing for easy creation and deployment of custom measurement applications, to increase the efficiency and accuracy of maintenance measurement tasks.

Preferably all of the portable electronic sensors 22 and data acquisition modules 24 are specified to run on batteries, such as AA batteries, for example, to maintain portability of the system.

Figure 3 illustrates a prior art method of testing fan 32 or shaft speeds for the engine of the front end loader 10. A first technician 12 would be in the cabin operating the engine at high speed, while a second technician 16 would then enter the engine or cooler house to test the fan speed with a hand-held photo

2018102125 24 May 2018 tachometer. Here again, it will be appreciated that the location of the first technician in such close proximity to the fan 32, particularly whilst the front end loader 10 is being operated, is potentially very dangerous. Therefore it is preferred that such maintenance measurements can be conducted with the first technician located a safe distance from the machine.

Figure 4 illustrates another implementation of the portable wireless measurement system 20 to provide a safe method of performing the same measurement shown in Figure 3. In this implementation, one or more portable electronic sensors 22 are again provided for generating sensor measurement data in response to corresponding sensed parameters. Typically a first technician 12 can install a Photo Tachometer sensor 22b at the point to be measured adjacent to the fan 32, with the machine 10 shutdown and disabled. The first technician 12 can then retreat to a safe distance before the machine is operated by a second technician 16.

Sensor measurement data from the Photo Tachometer sensor 22b is acquired and transmitted using the T24-ACMi wireless sensor transmitter module 24, which is operatively coupled to the Photo Tachometer sensor 22b.

The first technician 12, now located at a safe distance from the machine, can then start collecting sensor data received from the T24-ACMi wireless sensor transmitter module 24, to generate a report on the laptop 28 attached to the USB T24-BSue receiver base station 26. Alternatively a single technician can take the laptop 28 into the cab of the front end loader 10, to operate the machine and collect measurement data simultaneously. Measurement reports can be generated by the T24 Toolkit software. The operation of the wireless measurement system 10 is controlled under the control of electronic program instructions stored in the laptop 28.

Now that a preferred embodiment of the portable wireless measurement system and method has been described in detail, it will be apparent that it provides a number of advantages over the prior art, including the following:

(i) All technicians and other personnel can be located a safe distance from the machine or equipment while it is being operated so that

2018102125 24 May 2018 the potential for injury or death due to unforeseen accidents is minimised.

(ii) The portable wireless measurement system provides an effective method of simultaneously measuring a plurality of sensed parameters, and remotely monitoring and recording the measurement data.

(iii) A universal wireless measurement system that can be easily moved from site to site, with a system of data tag matrixes and serial numbers tying the modules of the system together to allow easy deployment of custom measurement project files to suit the kit.

(iv) The portable wireless measurement system and method assembles a group of suitable sensors, able to be powered by small portable batteries and matching Wi-Fi sensor data acquisition modules to transmit measurement data to a safer remote distance (further than possible with a Bluetooth connection).

(v) The portable wireless measurement system and method module ID matrix creates a fixed relationship with all of the sensors in the system allowing for easy creation and deployment of custom measurement application to increase the efficiency and accuracy of maintenance measurement tasks.

Other advantages provided by embodiments of the invention include the following: long range high speed transmission (in excess of 100m); reliable connection through panels; can be used on any Windows™-based device; automatic Wi-Fi connection between sensors and USB receiver (no setup); uses standard replaceable batteries for quick in field replacement; allows for specific measurement applications to be created; data collected can be stored for later analysis; a large range of sensors can be specified to work with the system; and allows for multiple types of sensors to be sampled simultaneously.

2018102125 24 May 2018

It will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the relevant arts that various modifications and improvements may be made to the foregoing embodiments, in addition to those already described, without departing from the basic inventive concepts of the present invention. For example, in the described 5 embodiment of the portable wireless measurement system and method the wireless sensor data acquisition modules and wireless receiver modules are supplied by Mantracourt™. However it will be appreciated that suitable offthe-shelf components can also be provided by other suppliers. Therefore, it will be appreciated that the scope of the invention is not limited to the specific 10 embodiments described.

Claims (10)

1. The Claims defining the invention are as follows:

   1. A portable wireless measurement system comprising:

   one or more portable electronic sensors for generating sensor measurement data in response to corresponding sensed parameters;

   one or more wireless sensor data acquisition modules operatively coupled to the one or more portable electronic sensors for acquiring and transmitting the sensor measurement data from the one or more portable electronic sensors;

   a wireless receiver module for receiving the sensor measurement data from the one or more wireless sensor data acquisition modules; and, a controller operatively connected to the receiver module for controlling the operation of the wireless measurement system under the control of electronic program instructions.
2. 2. A portable wireless measurement system according to claim 1, wherein all portable electronic sensors and data acquisition modules are provided with a respective removable mounting.
3. 3. A portable wireless measurement system according to claim 2, wherein the removable mountings comprise magnetically attachable mountings to enable the system to be as portable and universally applicable as possible.
4. 4. A portable wireless measurement system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each wireless sensor data acquisition module is assigned a unique ID which includes the sensor number and type, and a customer ID.
5. 5. A portable wireless measurement system according to any one of the preceding claims, provided in kit form.
6. 6. A portable wireless measurement system according to claim 5, wherein each kit is assigned a serial number and all components in the system (data acquisition modules/receiver module) are programmed with this number

   2018102125 24 May 2018 which restricts signal transmission to the components matching the serial number.
7. 7. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein all portable electronic sensors and data acquisition modules are specified to run on batteries to maintain portability of the system.
8. 8. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the one or more portable electronic sensors is selected from the group comprising: linear position measurement sensors, hydraulic pressure measurement sensors, shaft speed measurement sensors, and temperature measurement sensors.
9. 9. A portable wireless measurement method comprising:

   providing one or more portable electronic sensors for generating sensor measurement data in response to corresponding sensed parameters;

   acquiring and transmitting the sensor measurement data from the one or more portable electronic sensors using one or more wireless sensor data acquisition modules operatively coupled to the one or more portable electronic sensors;

   receiving the sensor measurement data from the one or more wireless sensor data acquisition modules using a wireless receiver module; and, controlling the operation of the wireless measurement system under the control of electronic program instructions stored in a controller operatively connected to the receiver module.
10. 10. A portable wireless measurement method according to claim 9, further comprising assigning a unique ID which includes the sensor number and type, and a customer ID, to each wireless sensor data acquisition module.