Cannon’s “Talking head” houses a series of sensors that allow the operator to monitor its life cycle and perform preventive maintenance.
The internet of things has opened up enormous possibilities in the industrial sector. Objects now collect, process, and exchange data with other systems, thus improving monitoring and automation.
In the wake of IoT, Cannon has developed and patented the “Talking Head” concept. The FPL SR high-pressure mixing head has been reconfigured to accommodate more than 30 sensors, which can detect data from:
- The recirculation of reactive components
- The opening of the two chambers, i.e., the mixing chamber and the discharge duct
- The mixing phase
- The closing of the two chambers
- The high and low-pressure recirculation steps that follow the mixing and pouring phase
The collected data is sent to the cloud, analyzed, and processed in real-time by an application. The operator can thus know what is happening inside the head and how it interacts with the dosing machine and hydraulic power unit.
Preventive maintenance
Analyzing the data makes it possible to see if a given effort produces the desired motion, if there is a delay caused by friction, and predict the next evolution of that action.
These data are essential to identify possible anomalies or slow modifications of the components. The system flags critical issues, facilitating the elaboration of a correct diagnosis. It also suggests corrective actions to remove the anomalous behavior or signals the need for preventive maintenance.
Advantages
Cannon’s “Talking Head” ensures more excellent process repeatability and a longer life cycle of the entire plant. Simplified diagnosis and preventive maintenance avoid failures and heavy downtime. Being an open configuration project, it allows equipping specific Cannon high-pressure head models.