Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT
Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT

IMPASA

Intelligent acoustic monitoring platforms and sensor networks for use in industrial applications

The ZIM project IMPASA

In Production 4.0, sensors provide valuable information for monitoring the condition of plants and processes, for quality inspection, and for predictive maintenance. The ZIM project IMPASA aims to further develop an open, intelligent sensor platform for use in industry that relies on acoustic event detection.

The acronym IMPASA stands for »Intelligent acoustic monitoring platforms and sensor networks for use in industrial applications«. IMPASA is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and the Central Innovation Programme for small and medium-sized enterprises (ZIM). »Ears for the machine hall« are being developed in the project. These are intelligent acoustic sensor systems for industrial applications. The sensors are used for machine, plant and process monitoring and are able to indicate acute machine faults, wear or quality defects by analyzing the recorded airborne and structure-borne sound.

The project focuses on the use of distributed sensor technology and its combination to generate additional spatial information. Starting from the sensor system of point omega AG, essential adaptations in software and hardware are to be carried out. These include

  • the improvement of multi-channel microphoning including audio pre-processing,
  • miniaturization and mobile availability of the system
  • as well as the improvement of distributed AI.

Wireless communication channels simplify the scalability of the system and thus address complete technical infrastructures. In a next step, the distributed sensor nodes will be combined into application-dependent sensor networks in a freely configurable graphical user interface to be developed.

Intuitive options for commissioning, operation and maintenance are to be tested. Data-driven business models »as a service« form the industry-open business focus of the project. Data security is ensured by 100% data processing on the sensor unit.

In order to align the developments in the project closely to market needs, selected end users will be integrated into the project at an early stage via pilot applications. This is to ensure that IMPASA produces solutions of high relevance to real challenges.

Tasks of the IDMT-HSA

  • Digital microphoning and microphone arrays as well as increased robustness against environmental influences
  • Development of software modules for signal pre-processing of acoustic signals as part of the recognizer system
  • Application-specific generation of a recognizer module in collaboration with end users and associated partners
  • Extension of the sensor units by wireless communication interfaces and locating functions
  • Sensor network establishment and testbed development

Project goals

Development of a highly integrated, non-application-specific, intelligent acoustic sensor unit for use in industrial applications, adaptable through modular software components via appropriate user interfaces.

Statement of the network management embeteco GmbH

about the successful cooperation along the network phase 1 and 2

»In the course of the increasing demand for specialized platform solutions in the Industrie 4.0 software market, the project consortium of IMPASA has designed a solution for various application scenarios in industry that is economically and ergonomically suitable for medium-sized companies. The project IMPASA aims to develop a scalable and industry-open solution that takes into account both the complexity of human-machine interfaces and data protection in an industrial context. We were able to benefit from the innovative ideas of Fraunhofer IDMT and the industry-specific knowledge of point omega AG in the STRATUS ZIM network - especially in the niche topic: sensor platform. The complex topics, such as acoustic monitoring and scalable sensor platforms, open up new opportunities for innovation in the medium-sized market and offer alternatives to the large platform providers.«

Ray Kodali, Responsible Network Manager in the STRATUS Network

The project IMPASA is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) within the programme »Central Innovation Programme for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)« (16KN076228). Project manager is the VDI/VDE-IT in Berlin.

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