Wireless Sensor Requirements for Legacy Equipment

In predictive maintenance (IoT implementation) for the old machinery that has been operating for decades to support Japan's manufacturing industry, the so-called "legacy equipment," the most unglamorous and biggest barrier is "securing wiring work and power supply." No matter how excellent the analysis algorithm or cloud system introduced is, if the physical routing to attach sensors to the equipment on-site and connect them to the network cannot be secured, the project will stall at the very first step.

This article summarizes the physical constraints unique to legacy equipment and explains the overwhelming superiority of conanair's fully wireless technology, which can be retrofitted without stopping the equipment at all.

Fatal Issues of Conventional (Wired) Sensors in Legacy Equipment

When trying to introduce general wired vibration sensors to old equipment in operation, the following issues mercilessly stand in the way of on-site operations.

Enormous wiring construction costs and construction period

It is necessary to run communication and power cables for tens to hundreds of meters from the sensor to the control panel or the hub of the internal network. When it involves areas that cross piping or work in high places, massive construction costs that far exceed the price of the sensor itself are incurred.

Occurrence of fatal "line stoppage (downtime)"

When laying cables or drilling and tapping holes to fix the sensor with bolts, equipment that is expected to operate 24 hours a day must be temporarily stopped. This loss of production opportunities becomes a huge invisible cost for the site.

Requirements for "Zero Downtime Implementation" Realized by conanair

Based on a development background that thoroughly understands the field, conanair is designed with "fully wireless and independent power supply" as basic requirements that completely invalidate these physical constraints.

Flexible Network Construction Utilizing Commercially Available Components

In field environments where legacy equipment operates, introducing proprietary communication devices specified by manufacturers can be difficult due to budget constraints or space limitations. Because conanair can use commercially available Wi-Fi routers (including mobile routers) and general-purpose access points without modification, you can build a flexible and cost-effective communication infrastructure tailored to your site's specific network environment.

• There is no need to purchase expensive, manufacturer-specific gateways or receivers.
• Even in buildings with poor signal reception, the communication coverage can be easily expanded simply by adding commercially available Wi-Fi repeaters.
• For temporary measurements or test deployments, bringing in a mobile Wi-Fi router allows you to start collecting data on the very same day.

Conclusion: State-of-the-Art Predictive Maintenance Without Damaging Existing Assets (Equipment)

The true requirement for IoT implementation of legacy equipment is not to impose advanced IT technology on field machinery, but for "the system side to flexibly adapt to the physical constraints of the site."
There is no need to be exhausted by long-term line stoppage coordination or enormous wiring construction estimates to get approval. With conanair, you can realize the life extension and predictive maintenance of legacy equipment with an overwhelming sense of speed, "sticking the sensor on today and starting to monitor raw data tomorrow."

Benefits of "Cloudless Predictive Maintenance" Safe Even for Old Factories Without Internet Environment

Even in factories that cannot connect to the external internet due to security reasons or old buildings where Wi-Fi environments are not established, conanair can proceed with IoT safely and easily. Operating on an internal local network without going through the cloud or building an independent network using commercially available routers brings the following benefits:

• The risk of confidential information and production data leaking to external cloud systems can be reduced to absolute zero.
• Since large-scale installation work for internet lines is not required, initial costs can be significantly suppressed even in old factories.
• You can immediately start predictive maintenance by retrofitting without stopping (downtime) existing legacy equipment.

30-Day Free Trial & Inquiry

Try conanair for free for 30 days. Here is what our users are saying:

• Easy installation for immediate use
• No app required; operate via web browser
• No cloud required for fully automatic measurement
• Affordable, including dedicated software

Try equipment anomaly detection and predictive maintenance for free. Please feel free to contact us.

30-Day Free Trial & Inquiry

Try conanair for free for 30 days. Here is what our users are saying:

• Easy installation for immediate use
• No app required; operate via web browser
• No cloud required for fully automatic measurement
• Affordable, including dedicated software

Try equipment anomaly detection and predictive maintenance for free. Please feel free to contact us.

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