Industry 4.0 – LabVIEW Based Industrial IoT Condition Monitoring System

Abstract

As a result of a substantial shift in focus towards a more digital industry, multiple sectors of industry are now realising the potential of Industry 4.0 and Internet of Things (IoT) technology. The manufacturing industry in particular is subject to unexpected machine downtime from component wear over an extended period. With Industrial IoT (IIoT) technology implemented, there is the potential for gathering large quantities of data, which can be used for preventative maintenance. This research article addresses some of the technological requirements for developing an IoT industrial condition monitoring network, whose composition makes use of wireless devices along with conventional wired methods to enable a series of data capture and control operations in amongst a network of nodes. To provide a platform to host these operations, the industry standard fieldbus protocol Modbus TCP was used in conjunction with the LabVIEW development environment, where a bespoke graphical user interface was developed to provide control and a visual representation of the data collected. In addition, one of the nodes acted as the output for hardware displays, which in turn correlated the alarm status of the user interface. By using industry standard communication protocols, it was also possible to enable connectivity between real industry hardware, further extending the capabilities of the system