NORD Drivesystems has introduced Drive Monitor, a modular Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solution designed to support predictive maintenance, reduce unplanned downtime and extend the service life of industrial drive systems.
The platform uses operating data generated by drive technology to provide continuous insight into component condition. By making this information available for condition monitoring, users can identify anomalies and signs of wear at an early stage, enabling maintenance activities to be planned before faults lead to equipment failure.
Drive Monitor continuously supplies dynamically calculated and sensor-derived operating values for analysis, including phase currents, heat sink temperatures and torque. Monitoring these parameters provides visibility of the operating condition of electronic drive systems, helping operators optimise maintenance schedules, improve production continuity and reduce operating costs.
The solution collects condition monitoring data directly from NORD drive systems, with drive electronics transmitting recorded information via a data bus. NORD frequency inverters incorporate programmable logic controllers (PLCs), which can evaluate drive and sensor data, including vibration measurements, against predefined thresholds.
For integration with higher-level systems, Drive Monitor supports established technologies including Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) and TimescaleDB. Data visualisation is provided through Grafana dashboards, allowing users to monitor operating conditions and identify developing issues.
The architecture is modular and scalable, enabling deployment to be adapted to individual system requirements and installation sizes. Supplied in Docker containers, the platform can operate within different IT infrastructures, providing flexibility for manufacturers integrating IIoT capabilities into existing production environments.
By combining drive-level data acquisition with threshold-based evaluation and centralised visualisation, NORD Drive Monitor aims to give operators greater insight into equipment health. The approach supports a shift from reactive maintenance towards condition-based intervention, helping reduce unexpected production interruptions and improve asset availability.
