Building an unprecedented ecosystem in the industrial 4.0 environment
Mandy Wang, Head of Market Management & Industry Segment Management,
The hardware, software and services of RONDS
Wind power serves as an important renewable energy. The industry has developed vigorously in recent years. However, due to the limitations of wind farm construction, wind turbine equipment is mainly installed in remote and sparsely populated areas such as the Gobi Desert, hilly regions and coastal areas. The locations make daily inspections difficult, impose heavy burdens on service staff, and lead to high maintenance costs. In addition, due to complex factors such as changeable climate and harsh operating environments, wind turbine units are frequently out of action. Specifically, wind turbine equipment comprises complex systems such as hydraulic, mechanical and electrical systems. When key components such as pitch, yaw and generator fail, this will cause significant economic losses and even serious casualties.
Opportunity
- Regular maintenance costs considerable funds and manpower, but is still unable to accurately predict the faults and reduce serious secondary failures.
- If the operation status of the unit is monitored and analysed in real time, the status of the equipment can be accurately predicted. Consequently, wind farm personnel is supported in expediently arranging the maintenance work.
- Naturally, this lowers operation costs. The cost reductions and the expansion of digitalisation make monitoring and fault diagnosis technology of wind turbines very attractive for the wind power industry.
RONDS was established at the right moment
Founded in 2007, RONDS is a high-tech enterprise in the industrial Internet field. As one of the leading enterprises in terms of equipment monitoring and fault diagnosis in China, RONDS is committed to providing professional overall solutions for the intelligent operation and maintenance of industrial equipment.
Predictive application
RONDS’ success lies in combining the existing hardware equipment with the software. RONDS offers the comprehensive technical layout for this, from sensors as core components to wireless sensor networks and intelligent algorithms, enabling comprehensive data collection and diagnostic services. This intelligent maintenance platform represents a mature system. In this context, the independent intellectual property rights are also an important factor.
Customer Value
By way of various sensors installed on the equipment, the on-site environmental data is collected and uploaded to the system server. The system sends the alarm through the intelligent alarm system, and the data is transmitted to the remote diagnosis centre and the site for the first time. The background diagnostic analyst can analyse the first time fault location, fault level and root cause and give maintenance suggestions, so that staff on location are informed in a timely and accurate manner. In this way, the level of maintenance can be increased and the stable and reliable operation of the plant can be ensured.
Upgrade of business model
In the course of further developing the core product, RONDS has built a cloud diagnostic centre with an intelligent algorithm at its core, supported by a Big Data platform. This has significantly improved the quality of remote monitoring and fault diagnosis thereby offering a strong data basis for important customer decisions, such as spare parts reserve, operation and maintenance.
Connectivity is the key
Stable, timely and reliable connectivity always matters when it comes to the cable connection between core components such as sensors and field equipment, or the connection between field data and cloud diagnosis centre, or the service connection between the diagnostic analyst expert team and customers. Quality and innovation underlie the robust connectivity technology, consistent with HARTING’s principle, namely shaping the future with people-oriented technologies.
HARTING provides high-performance connector technology for the RONDS predictive maintenance system such as the har-flex® series for new intelligent sensors. These miniaturised, robust and highly flexible connectors meet the miniaturisation needs of field installed sensors – with transmission rates of up to 3.125 Gb/s. This solution provides a highly reliable connection between communication board and motherboard - even under impact and vibration conditions, thereby reducing failure risk and downtime!
The Han® 3A RJ45 series is used in the electrical cabinet of the data acquisition station as a compact, robust, tool-free Industrial Ethernet connector. Its all-metal shell offers IP65 protection and is easy to handle, reducing the time required for on-site installation, debugging and maintenance.
HARTING also provides fast and efficient professional services from solution communication to product delivery, ensuring that its products and systems are fully operationable at all times. Moreover, HARTING solutions provide stable and reliable data connections for the monitoring and diagnosis of the system under various harsh environments, such as: vibration, high temperature, extreme cold temperature, temperature fluctuations and humidity.
