Patent Publication Number: US-2013241734-A1

Title: System and method for detecting improper wiring or configuration in a monitoring system

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a system and method for detecting improper wiring or configuration in a monitoring system. 
     Industrial manufacturing plants employ various types of sensors for monitoring the condition of assets. For example, transducers designed to monitor parameters of an asset (e.g., seismic transducers, proximity transducers, velocity transducers, etc.) can be coupled to the asset and communicate with a monitoring unit. Using information provided by the transducers, the monitoring unit can determine if the asset is experiencing an undesirable condition. 
     In some installations, the transducers communicate with the monitoring unit via input channels on an input/output (IO) module. Each transducer is connected to an input channel of the IO module by wires fastened to wiring terminals on a wiring terminal block for that input channel. Since some wiring terminal blocks for input channels have wiring terminals that can accommodate different types of transducers, typically, the wires from a particular type of transducer must be wired to particular wiring terminals. The monitoring unit is then configured to monitor that particular type of transducer on that input channel. While instructions are typically provided for wiring the different transducer types to different wiring terminals on a wiring terminal block, technicians often improperly connect the wiring from the transducer. For example, the wires from a velocity transducer may be improperly fastened to wiring terminals that were dedicated for a proximity transducer. Since the monitoring unit would be configured to monitor a velocity transducer as intended by the technician, but is instead monitoring a proximity transducer, errors will occur. These improper wiring connections can go undetected for significant periods of time. 
     The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     A system and method for detecting improper wiring or configuration in a monitoring system. The improper wiring or configuration is detected by measuring the value of an electrical property (e.g., voltage or current) of an electrical signal received from a first set of wiring terminals to which a transducer is connected and comparing that value to a predetermined value or range of values of the electrical property based on values that would be expected for the electrical signal if the transducer was the type configured to be monitored by the monitoring unit. An advantage that may be realized in the practice of some embodiments of the described system and method is the increased speed and accuracy of installing a transducer monitoring system by detecting incorrect wiring of transducers early in the installation process. 
     In one embodiment, a detection system for detecting improper wiring or configuration in a monitoring system is disclosed. The detection system comprises a first transducer wired to a first set of wiring terminals of a wiring terminal block of a first input channel of an input/output module, a monitoring unit configured for monitoring the first transducer, wherein the configuration of the monitoring unit comprises the type of transducer to be monitored on the first channel of the input/output module, a wiring detection module for measuring a value of an electrical property of an electrical signal received from the first set of wiring terminals, and a microprocessor for comparing the value of the electrical property of the electrical signal received from the first set of wiring terminals to a predetermined value or range of values of the electrical property, wherein the predetermined value or range of values of the electrical property is based on a value or range of values that would be expected for the electrical signal received from the first set of wiring terminals if the first transducer was the type of transducer configured to be monitored by the monitoring unit on the first channel of the input/output module. 
     In another embodiment, a method for detecting improper wiring or configuration in a monitoring system having a first transducer wired to a first set of wiring terminals of a wiring terminal block of a first input channel of an input/output module is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of configuring a monitoring unit for monitoring the first transducer, wherein the configuration of the monitoring unit comprises the type of transducer to be monitored on the first channel of the input/output module, measuring a value of an electrical property of an electrical signal received from the first set of wiring terminals, and comparing the value of the electrical property of the electrical signal received from the first set of wiring terminals to a predetermined value or range of values of the electrical property, wherein the predetermined value or range of values of the electrical property is based on a value or range of values that would be expected for the electrical signal received from the first set of wiring terminals if the first transducer was the type of transducer configured to be monitored by the monitoring unit on the first channel of the input/output module. 
     This brief description of the invention is intended only to provide a brief overview of subject matter disclosed herein according to one or more illustrative embodiments, and does not serve as a guide to interpreting the claims or to define or limit the scope of the invention, which is defined only by the appended claims. This brief description is provided to introduce an illustrative selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This brief description is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. The claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in the background. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       So that the manner in which the features of the invention can be understood, a detailed description of the invention may be had by reference to certain embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the drawings illustrate only certain embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the scope of the invention encompasses other equally effective embodiments. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis generally being placed upon illustrating the features of certain embodiments of the invention. In the drawings, like numerals are used to indicate like parts throughout the various views. Thus, for further understanding of the invention, reference can be made to the following detailed description, read in connection with the drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an exemplary monitoring system; 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view of the back side of an exemplary input/output module showing the input channel wiring terminal blocks; and 
         FIG. 3  is a flow diagram of an exemplary method for detecting improper wiring or configuration in a monitoring system having a transducer wired to a set of wiring terminals of a wiring terminal block of a first input channel of an input/output module. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an exemplary monitoring system  100  for monitoring an asset  10  (e.g., power generating turbines, industrial pumps, processing equipment, etc.). The monitoring system  100  includes a rack  160  that houses a monitoring unit  110  that communicates with an input/output (IO) module  200  through a backplane  120  via a bus having a first section  140   a  and a second section  140   b  (together referred to as bus  140 ). In one embodiment, the bus  140  is a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) bus. In one embodiment, the bus  140  includes a data input line  142  (e.g., MOSI (Master Out Slave In)), a single device select line  144 , a clock line  146 , and a data output line  148  (e.g., MISO (Master In Slave Out)). 
     The IO module  200  communicates with a plurality of transducers (e.g., first transducer  161 , second transducer  162 , third transducer  163 , and fourth transducer  164 ) coupled to the asset  10  to monitor the operation of the asset  10 . A monitoring unit  110  is configured to provide a user with information regarding the parameters being monitored by the transducers  161 - 164 . The monitoring unit  110  may comprise an illuminated display (e.g., a series of light emitting diodes (LEDs)) and/or may comprise a liquid crystal display or computer screen. The monitoring unit  110  can include a microprocessor  112  for analysis and triggering of alerts when maintenance is deemed necessary. 
     Each of the transducers  161 - 164  are connected to an input channel wiring terminal block (e.g., first input channel wiring terminal block  210 , second input channel wiring terminal block  220 , third input channel wiring terminal block  230 , and fourth input channel wiring terminal block  240 ) on the back of the IO module using wiring (e.g., first transducer wiring  171 , second transducer wiring  172 , third transducer wiring  173 , and fourth transducer wiring  174 ) from each of the transducers  161 - 164 . Different types of transducers  161 - 164  can be used in the monitoring system  100 . For example, proximity transducers can be used to monitor the movement of the asset or a component of the asset by measuring the distance between the transducer and the machine or component. Velocity transducers/accelerometers can be used to sense the speed of machine components. Similarly, seismic transducers can be used to monitor the vibration of a machine by measuring oscillatory motion. In one embodiment, two different seismic transducers types are used. The two seismic transducers types may differ in that one seismic transducer type is barrier-free while the other seismic transducer type has an electrical barrier, such as a zener diode. 
       FIG. 2  is a plan view of the back side of the exemplary IO module  200  showing the input channel wiring terminal blocks  210 ,  220 ,  230 ,  240 . In one embodiment, the input channel wiring terminal blocks  210 ,  220 ,  230 ,  240  have designated terminals for wiring a particular type of transducer. Certain sets of wiring terminals can be designated for wiring to a plurality of transducer types (e.g., a jointly used terminal for multiple types of transducers). For example, the first input channel wiring terminal block  210  has first transducer type wiring terminals  211 , second transducer type wiring terminals  212 , third transducer type wiring terminals  213 , and fourth transducer type wiring terminals  214 . Similarly, the second input channel wiring terminal block  220  has first transducer type wiring terminals  221 , second transducer type wiring terminals  222 , third transducer type wiring terminals  223 , and fourth transducer type wiring terminals  224 . Likewise, the third input channel wiring terminal block  230  has first transducer type wiring terminals  231 , second transducer type wiring terminals  232 , third transducer type wiring terminals  233 , and fourth transducer type wiring terminals  234 . The fourth input channel wiring terminal block  240  has first transducer type wiring terminals  241 , second transducer type wiring terminals  242 , third transducer type wiring terminals  243 , and fourth transducer type wiring terminals  244 . 
     The technician installing the transducers  161 - 164  and the transducer wiring  171 - 174  to the IO module  200  can be provided with instructions identifying the particular wiring terminals for wiring the different types of transducers  161 - 164  to the input channel wiring terminal blocks  210 ,  220 ,  230 ,  240 . For example, if the first transducer  161  is a second transducer type (e.g., a velocity transducer), the instructions can direct a technician to wire the first transducer wiring  171  to the second transducer type wiring terminals  212  of the first input channel wiring terminal block  210 . Similarly, and as shown in  FIG. 2 , the second transducer wiring  172  from the second transducer  162  is wired to the first transducer type (e.g., proximity transducer) wiring terminals  221  of the second input channel wiring terminal block  220 , the third transducer wiring  173  from the third transducer  163  is wired to the fourth transducer type (e.g., seismic transducer-barrier) wiring terminals  234  of the third input channel wiring terminal block  230 , and the fourth transducer wiring  174  from the fourth transducer  164  is wired to the second transducer type (e.g., velocity transducer) wiring terminals  242  of the fourth input channel wiring terminal block  240 . In one embodiment, the remaining terminals on the input channel terminal blocks  210 ,  220 ,  230 ,  240  can be left unconnected. It will be understood that some of the input channel wiring terminal blocks  210 ,  220 ,  230 ,  240  may not be wired to any transducers and that some can be wired to the same type of transducer. 
     The monitoring unit  110  can be configured to monitor the particular types of transducers  161 - 164  wired to the input channel wiring terminal blocks  210 ,  220 ,  230 ,  240 . For example, the microprocessor  112  of the monitoring unit  110  can be configured to monitor the first transducer  161  on the first input channel as a second type of transducer (e.g., a velocity transducer). If the first transducer  161  is in fact a second type of transducer (e.g., a velocity transducer) as the monitor  110  has been configured, and the technician properly wires the first transducer wiring  171  to the second transducer type terminals  212  on the first input channel wiring terminal block  210  as instructed, then the monitoring system  100  should perform properly. If, however, the first transducer  161  is a second type of transducer (e.g., a velocity transducer) as the monitor unit  110  has been configured, but the technician improperly wires the first transducer wiring  171  to the first transducer type terminals  211  on the first input channel wiring terminal block  210  (terminals configured for a first type of transducer (e.g., a proximity transducer)), then the monitoring system  100  will not perform properly. Similarly, if the monitoring unit  110  is improperly configured to monitor the first transducer  161  on the first input channel as a first type of transducer (e.g., a proximity transducer), but the first transducer  161  is actually a second type of transducer (e.g., a velocity transducer), even though the technician properly wires the first transducer wiring  171  of the second type of transducer to the second transducer type terminals  212  on the first input channel wiring terminal block  210 , then the monitoring system  100  will not perform properly. In order to detect any wiring or configuration errors, the exemplary IO module  200  shown in  FIG. 1  comprises a wiring detection module  250 . 
     In one embodiment, one or more of the input channel wiring terminal blocks  210 ,  220 ,  230 ,  240  are connected to a wiring detection circuit  252  of a wiring detection module  250 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the first input channel wiring terminal block  210  is connected to the wiring detection circuit  252 , with a first transducer type circuit  261  connected to the first transducer type wiring terminals  211 , a second transducer type circuit  262  connected to the second transducer type wiring terminals  212 , a third transducer type circuit  263  connected to the third transducer type wiring terminals  213 , and a fourth transducer type circuit  263  connected to the fourth transducer type wiring terminals  213 . The wiring detection sensor  254  of the wiring detection module measures the values of one or more electrical properties (e.g., voltage or current) of the electrical signals received by the wiring detection circuit  252  from the transducer type wiring terminals  211 - 214 . For example, the wiring detection sensor  254  can measure the wiring terminal value (voltage or current) of the electrical signal received by the wiring detection circuit  252  from the wiring terminals  211 - 214  of the first input channel wiring terminal block  210  to which the first transducer wiring  171  of the first transducer  161  is wired as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . These measured wiring terminal values can be transmitted to the microprocessor  112  of the monitoring unit  110  for detecting whether the wiring and configuration for the first input channel is proper. 
     The wiring detection module  250  (including the wiring detection circuit  252  and wiring detection sensor  254 ) may be a single component or be comprised of multiple components. Examples of such components include resistors, analog to digital (AD) converters, complex programmable logic devices (CPLD), storage devices such as volatile and/or non-volatile memory, and sensors for sensing voltage, current, combination of voltage and current, or another electrical property. In one embodiment, the wiring detection circuit  252  can comprise a plurality of resistors in series or parallel (or a combination of both) with the input channel wiring terminals, while the wiring detection sensor  254  can comprise an AD converter for converting the analog measured wiring terminal values to digital form for transmission to the microprocessor  112  of the monitoring unit  110 . 
     The microprocessor  112  of the monitoring unit  110  can compare the measured wiring terminal values to a predetermined wiring terminal value or range of values that would be expected if the transducer wiring and configuration was proper. For example, the microprocessor  112  of the monitoring unit  110  can be configured to monitor the first transducer  161  on the first input channel as a second type of transducer (e.g., a velocity transducer). In this configuration, the microprocessor  112  would expect to receive measured wiring terminal voltage or current values from the first transducer type wiring terminals  211 , the third transducer type wiring terminals  213 , and the fourth transducer type wiring terminals  214  of the first input channel wiring terminal block  210  equal to or within a range of predetermined wiring terminal values expected from unwired terminals, since all of those wiring terminals should not be wired to transducers if properly wired. The microprocessor  112  would expect to receive a measured wiring terminal voltage or current value from the second transducer type wiring terminals  212  of the first input channel wiring terminal block  210  equal to or within a range of predetermined wiring terminal values expected from wiring terminals wired to the second type of transducer if properly wired. The predetermined wiring terminal values can be programmed into and stored in non-volatile memory in the monitoring unit  110  or in the IO module  200 . Although the monitoring system  100  has been described with the microprocessor  112  of the monitoring unit  110  performing the comparison of the measured wiring terminal value with a predetermined value, it will be understood that the operation may be performed on the IO module  200  or in the wiring detection module  250 . 
     If one or more of these conditions are not met when the microprocessor  112  compares the measured wiring terminal values to predetermined wiring terminal values for a particular input channel as configured, the monitoring unit  110  can use its display to display an alarm (e.g., an error message or flashing LED) or use an audible device (e.g., speaker) to generate an alarm to notify the technician of the wiring or configuration error. Alternatively, if each of these conditions are met, the monitoring unit  110  can display a confirmation message to notify the technician that the wiring and configuration is correct. 
       FIG. 3  is a flow diagram of an exemplary method  300  for detecting improper wiring or configuration in a monitoring system  100  having a first transducer  161  wired to a set of wiring terminals  211 - 214  of a wiring terminal block  210  of a first input channel of an input/output module  200 . It will be understood that the steps of the exemplary method  300  can be practiced in a different order than shown in  FIG. 3 . At step  310 , the monitoring unit  110  is configured for monitoring the first transducer, wherein the configuration of the monitoring unit comprises the type of transducer to be monitored on the first channel of the input/output module. Either before or after step  310 , at step  320 , the wiring detection module  250  measures a value of an electrical property of an electrical signal received from the first set of wiring terminals  212 . At step  330 , the microprocessor  112  of the monitoring unit  110  compares the value of the electrical property of the electrical signal received from the first set of wiring terminals  212  to a predetermined value or range of values of the electrical property, wherein the predetermined value or range of values of the electrical property is based on a value or range of values that would be expected for the electrical signal received from the first set of wiring terminals  212  if the first transducer  161  was the type of transducer configured to be monitored by the monitoring unit  110  on the first channel of the input/output module  110 . At step  340 , if the value of the electrical property of the electrical signal received from the first set of wiring terminals  212  is not equal to a predetermined value of the electrical property or outside the range of predetermined values of the electrical property, the monitoring unit  110  generates a visual or audible alarm to notify the technical of the error in wiring or configuration. If the if the value of the electrical property of the electrical signal received from the first set of wiring terminals  212  is equal to a predetermined value of the electrical property or within the range of predetermined values of the electrical property, the monitoring unit  110  generates a wiring confirmation indication (e.g., green LED light) to notify the technician that the wiring and configuration is correct. 
     In view of the foregoing, embodiments of the system and method for detecting improper wiring of a transducer to an input/output module in a monitoring system provide an indication to a technician that a transducer has been improperly wired. The technical effect is to increase the speed and accuracy of installing a transducer monitoring system by detecting incorrect wiring of transducers early in the installation process. 
     As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method, or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.), or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “service,” “circuit,” “circuitry,” “module,” and/or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon. 
     Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
     Program code and/or executable instructions embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing. 
     Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer (device), partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). 
     Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.