System and method for vibration severity measurement

A method, comprising:

• receiving, by a general-purpose processor in a sensor device, a measurement request,
• wherein the measurement request is provided from a user device via a wireless communication interface, and
• wherein the sensor device includes an enclosure forming a sealed cavity, an attachment piece to rigidly secure the enclosure to a machine, and an electronics assembly, within the sealed cavity, that includes the general-purpose processor, a vibration sensor, the wireless communication interface, and a disposable battery that powers the electronics assembly;
• configuring, by the general-purpose processor and in response to the measurement request, a working range for the vibration sensor in the sensor device, based on a first data sample, wherein configuring the working range includes calibrating the vibration sensor with a higher resolution for smaller vibration amplitudes or calibrating the vibration sensor with a lower resolution for larger vibration amplitudes;
• receiving, by the general-purpose processor and from the vibration sensor, additional data samples for multiple axes;
• calculating, by the general-purpose processor, a component velocity root mean square (vRMS) value, from the additional data samples, for each of the multiple axes, wherein the calculating minimizes processor cycles of the general-purpose processor, and wherein the calculating comprises:
• identifying a first axis sample from the additional data samples for the multiple axes, wherein the first axis sample includes an acceleration time domain (TD) value,
• converting the acceleration TD value to an acceleration power spectrum density (PSD) value,
• converting the acceleration PSD value to a velocity PSD value, and
• converting the velocity PSD value to one of the component vRMS values,
• combining, by the general-purpose processor, the component vRMS values into a sample vRMS value;
• generating, by the general-purpose processor, an alert signal when the final vRMS value exceeds a threshold;
• and
• sending, by the general-purpose processor, a final vRMS value, based on the sample vRMS value, to the user device via the wireless communication interface.

A system for monitoring rotating machinery, the system comprising:

• a sensor device including:
• an attachment piece to rigidly secure an enclosure to the rotating machinery,
• a vibration sensor,
• a first wireless communications interface for exchanging data with a user device, and
• a first general-purpose processor configured to:
• receive a measurement request from the user device,
• configure a working range for the vibration sensor based on a first data sample and in response to the measurement request, wherein configuring the working range includes calibrating the vibration sensor with a higher resolution for smaller vibration amplitudes or calibrating the vibration sensor with a lower resolution for larger vibration amplitudes,
• receive, from the vibration sensor, additional data samples for multiple axes,
• calculate a component velocity root mean square (vRMS) value, from the additional data samples, for each of the multiple axes, wherein the calculating minimizes processor cycles of the general-purpose processor, and wherein the calculating comprises:
• identifying a first axis sample from the additional data samples for the multiple axes, wherein the first axis sample includes an acceleration time domain (TD) value,
• converting the acceleration TD value to an acceleration power spectrum density (PSD) value,
• converting the acceleration PSD value to a velocity PSD value,
• converting the velocity PSD value to one of the component vRMS values, and
• generating an alert signal when the final vRMS value exceeds a threshold,
• combine the component vRMS values into a sample vRMS value, and
• send a final vRMS value, based on the sample vRMS value, to the user device via the wireless communications interface,
• a disposable battery that powers the vibration sensor, the first wireless communications interface, and the first general-purpose processor, and
• the enclosure, the enclosure forming a sealed cavity over the disposable battery, the first wireless communications interface, and the first general-purpose processor.