Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2004) 24: 764772 DOI 10.

1007/s00170-003-1753-4

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

J.F. Wang Peter W. Tse L.S. He Ricky W. Yeung

Remote sensing, diagnosis and collaborative maintenance with Web-enabled virtual instruments and mini-servers

Received: 19 November 2002 / Accepted: 06 March 2003 / Published online: 2 June 2004 Springer-Verlag London Limited 2004 Abstract Optimised maintenance can reduce operating costs by demanding less resources and avoiding equipment breakdown, hence ensuring that daily manufacturing and production will not be interrupted. Web-based maintenance is one of the most efcient methods for optimising maintenance. The Web-based maintenance system that we have developed uses virtual instruments, to provide remote sensing, monitoring, and on-line fault diagnosis for equipment, together with a collaborative maintenance platform for international experts to interactively share their experiences in maintenance. Moreover, Web-based maintenance is suitable for multi-tasking and multi-user types of industrial work environments. In this paper, we summarise the methods used for Web-based remote sensing and monitoring, the design and implementation of Web-enabled virtual instruments, the architecture of the collaborative maintenance platform, and the design for the mini-servers. Each mini-server is equipped with a conventional mini-Web-server and a data acquisition (DAQ) server. With the help of Web-based maintenance, local companies can be transformed into global companies providing services to their customers anywhere and at anytime. Keywords Collaborative processing Internet-based manufacturing Machine fault diagnosis Virtual instruments Web-based maintenance Operational failures of equipment may not only lead to a loss of production, but also, in some serious situations, may cause human casualties. Hence, equipment condition monitoring and fault diagnosis are often employed in maintenance to prevent operational failure of services and the fatal breakdown of manufacturing equipment. The technology for equipment fault diagnosis has been developed in response to the demands of modern industry that has been concerned with such aspects as human safety, economic productivity and effectiveness. Machine fault diagnosis refers to the process of identifying a machines operating condition and investigating its possible source of fault [1]. This is usually done in a way that is similar to medical diagnosis. Both of the diagnoses have to observe symptoms by sensing and analysing signals collected either from a human body or a piece of equipment. For machine-based fault diagnosis, the collected signals may be operating force, vibration, temperature, voltage, pressure, etc., any of which could be related to the inherent conditions of the machine [1]. Good diagnostic systems can provide managers and operators with the necessary information to determine the running condition of the equipment. Vibration-based machine condition monitoring is popular in industry, particularly in manufacturing and public utilities. The operating conditions of the machines are monitored continuously so that any anomaly occurring in the monitored machines can be detected. Conventional machine condition monitoring systems always require the use of expensive hardware type instrumentation to perform signal analysis and fault diagnosis. As illustrated in Fig. 1a, each machine, or each group of machines, requires a set of instruments. For a company that has a lot of machines, the cost of acquiring these instruments is large and can, in fact, become unaffordable. With help from PCs, software type virtual instruments (VIs) can be created to perform tasks similar to those undertaken by the expensive hardware type instruments. Obviously, the cost of the VIs is lower than the hardware instruments. They are also more easily modied and are expandable in the future. Therefore, VIs have become popular in modern industries. Even though VIs are cost-effective, the software copy of each type of VI, which is installed in each PC used for monitoring the

1 Introduction
Reliability is crucial to nearly all kinds of equipment, especially for the equipment operating in manufacturing factories, power stations, transportation, building services, chemical plants, etc.
J.F. Wang P.W. Tse (u) R.W. Yeung Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Engineering Management, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Ave., Hong Kong, P.R. China E-mail: meptse@cityu.edu.hk L.S. He Mechanical Engineering and Science College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, P.R. China

765 Fig. 1. Equipment condition monitoring system

machine or a group of machines, must be maintained if a new function or modication is required. Hence, the task of upgrading the software copies installed in all PCs becomes tedious and labour intensive. Thanks to the technology of the Web, by connecting the machine monitoring PCs to the Intranet or the Internet, as shown in Fig. 1b, it is possible to convert localised maintenance to Web-based maintenance. Hence, it is possible to remotely monitor the machine status over the Internet by using a Web browser. Furthermore, if the software of the VI is implemented as a Web browser applet, there is only one copy of each kind of VI installed on the main server. Therefore, the maintenance and modication of one copy of each kind of VI becomes easier and can be performed via the Internet. Our Web-based maintenance also supports collaborative maintenance. International experts can advise on the machines condition as they can access the monitoring information via the Internet. The experts can simultaneously participate in the process of equipment maintenance, inspect the current running condition of the machine, perform on-line fault diagnosis using the VIs provided on the Web, share their valuable experiences with each other, and suggest remedies to the operators if an anomalous condition is occurring in the inspected machine. With help from such a Web-based collaborative platform, machine operators can obtain just-in-time technical support from experts or equipment suppliers located at a distance. Therefore, the travelling costs to bring the expert to the site for equipment inspection and the delay in effecting a remedy can be reduced. In summary, this paper presents a comprehensive Web-based maintenance plan. It consists of a remote sensing and condition monitoring system for the equipment, an on-line machine fault diagnostic system, a main server for storing a variety of Webenabled VIs and a main database, a number of local mini-servers embedded with the functions of data acquisition (DAQ) and Web communication based on the TCP/UDP protocol, and a collaborative maintenance platform for a multi-user type of working environment. Web-based maintenance will denitely enhance

the competitiveness, the productivity and the quality of service of a manufacturing company. The content of the paper is laid out in seven sections with this section as the introduction. Section 2 describes the current technologies available for developing Web-based maintenance. Section 3 presents the considerations for the system design. Section 4 states the methodologies used for the system design. Section 5 demonstrates our implemented Web-based maintenance. Finally, Sect. 6 provides concluding remarks.

2 Current technologies available for Web-based maintenance

The concept of Web-based remote sensing and a collaborative diagnostic system was initially proposed for medical care in 1988. The system was designed to enable doctors or small clinics in rural areas to obtain instantaneous consultations from specialists in urban hospitals [2]. Stefano et al. [3] adopted a similar concept for industry. Lee [4] laid out the framework for remote diagnostics and maintenance for manufacturing equipment. It has become a standard for others to follow. An ideal remote diagnostic system should include video-conferencing and remote measurements delivered as close to real-time as possible. It should also provide on-line fault diagnosis and support a multi-user kind of collaborative consultation. Hence, the system must install an operating system that supports a multi-tasking and multi-user operating environment. An eligible operating system must support distributive computing, cope with common servers and major communication protocols, and be easy to adapt to a variety of popular Web browser applets. The Web allows universal access by having independent connectivity for different kinds of platforms using open standards for publishing (HTML, XML), messaging (HTTP), and networking (TCP/IP) [5]. Internet browser plug-ins should be able to handle new data types and allow different applets to be downloaded and

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run on any browser. A variety of software-based VIs should exist for performing the required signal processing, features extraction, and analysis. These VIs are, preferably, to be compatible with ActiveX standards. Therefore, Web-enabled VIs can be operated as browser applets/ActiveX in a multi-user environment. Since the Web enables multi-media support, both interactivity and extensibility [6], it can seamlessly include new forms of content and media [7]. Therefore, Web-based maintenance should employ multi-media to a large extent. Nowadays, broad bandwidth communication is available in many countries for use by Web-based multi-media. The developments in database and object technologies, such as CORBA, IIOP and component-ware concepts, enable users to connect to back-end databases and legacy applications via user-friendly Web interfaces [8]. All of these features make the development of Web-based maintenance and an interactive type of collaborative maintenance feasible. To ensure future compatibility and allow for expansion of the sensors that will be used on the Internet, the standard for smart transducers, IEEE 1451.2, has been formulated for the design of next generation Web-ready sensors. The future smart transducer will have a built-in Ethernet module and support direct plug-and-play on the Internet without the need for a connection to a PC or having a separate Ethernet card, as is the case with todays systems. Sensor manufacturers, such as Hewlett Packard and Bruel & Kjaer, have already proclaimed that their new directions in designing sensors are based on the standard for smart transducers [9]. With the help of these Web-ready sensors, Webbased maintenance becomes easier to implement, using fewer resources and involving less capital cost. Even though the research on Web-based services and systems is advancing every day, progress in research on Web-based maintenance is lagging behind. As has already been mentioned, the three crucial functions for Web-based maintenance are, remote data sensing with the help of the mini-server, signal processing and fault diagnosis using Web-enabled VIs, and collaborative maintenance platforms for multiple users. Research has been conducted to target one or two of the three functions. However, there is a deciency in developing a Web-based maintenance system that has all three important functions combined together. Therefore, in this paper, we present the essence of the development of such a comprehensive Web-based maintenance system and demonstrate its capabilities for industrial use.

3 Design considerations
The layout of the Web-based maintenance is shown in Fig. 2. It consists of a main Web server, for storing all Web-enabled VIs and the main database, Web browsers, and a number of local miniservers. Each local mini-server is embedded with a mini-Webserver and a DAQ server. Dependent on the request, the browsers or users can link to the main Web server or one of the miniservers. If the user wants to download some VIs or access the main database to retrieve past information collected from the monitored machines, he can link to the main Web server via the Internet. If the user wishes to inspect the current operating condition of a particular machine, he can link directly to the local mini-server that is currently monitoring the machine. Such a separable scheme of communication with links to different servers based on the nature of task, will ease the communication trafc on the Internet and avoid crashing the server due to heavy loading. 3.1 Web-based remote sensing and monitoring A workable Web-based remote sensing and monitoring system must include a mini-Web-server and a DAQ server. These two servers work together in the remote sensing and monitoring system. The mini-Web-server handles all kinds of communication necessary for the Internet and links to the DAQ server. The DAQ server performs the task of data acquisition from the monitored machine and sends the collected data back to the mini-Webserver in preparation for transferring it to the browser. Additionally, the remote sensing and monitoring system should contain physical devices such as sensors, video cameras, microphones, signal ampliers or conditioners, and DAQ cards. The sensors collect the desired signals from the monitored machine and then transmit the signals to the amplier. The amplier conditions the signals into acceptable formats so that the DAQ cards can convert them to digital signals for further analysis or transmission by the mini-Web-server. Moreover, the remote sensing system must allow a universal interface for easy adoption of the different kinds of interface standards commonly used by popular DAQ cards. The system may also utilise multi-media to capture the image/video and sound signals of the running machines for reference, comparison and inspection purposes. Therefore, it is

Fig. 2. The layout of theWeb-based maintenance

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a prime concern to select the proper communication interfaces to be used by the sensors, the multi-media devices, and the drivers of the popular DAQ cards. 3.2 On-line fault diagnosis using Web-enabled virtual instruments All the Web-enabled VIs are stored on the main Web server for ease of maintenance and the upgrading of the functions of the VIs. Once a browser or a machine operator has obtained the collected data from the remote sensing and monitoring system via the Internet, he can call upon a number of Web-enabled VIs to perform the machine fault diagnosis. When the main Web server has received such a request from the browser, the needed VIs will be downloaded from the main Web server to the browsers computer. The browser can use the downloaded VIs to analyse the data and perform the necessary fault diagnosis. After completing the analysis, the VIs will generate the results and show them to the browser. The browser may save the results to his local PC or prepare an HTML page of the results and send it to other browsers. If the designated browser has the authority, he can also save the results to the main database of the main Web server for future comparison and reference. To enhance the capabilities of the Web-enabled VIs, we have developed an on-line intelligent machine fault diagnostic system. It uses a neural networks based expert system to perform the machine fault diagnosis [1]. Moreover, some of the VIs are equipped with wavelet transforms for vibration-based machine fault diagnosis. Wavelet transforms have been proven to be effective in detecting both stationary and non-stationary signals. Therefore, faults, which exhibit both periodic and randomly occurring impulsive signals, are easier to detect by using wavelet transforms [10]. To increase exibility, both the conventional fast Fourier transforms (FFT) and the wavelet transforms are available on the VIs. The browser or machine operator can use whichever of them is required and whenever it is necessary. There are many different types of machine that need to be monitored. Each of them may use different methods for the signal analysis and fault diagnosis. Hence, each kind of VI may have its own library for signal processing, group of controls and functions, facilities for display, and storage and retrieval of data, and its own unique method of analysis. The various VIs can be implemented by programming in Java, C++, BASIC, etc. For our Web-based maintenance, all of the VIs are implemented using Java programming, whilst, the database and the expert system are designed using both C programming and other Web programming tools. C is used because of its popularity, and Java due to its portability and compatibility. Java can be run on all common operating systems, such as Windows, Unix and Linux. Nevertheless, the VIs may also be implemented using commercially available tools, such as Labview from National Instruments. 3.3 Web-based collaborative maintenance platform In the practice of fault diagnosis, the symptoms of some faults may be too complicated to analyse and beyond the ability of

the machine operator. In order to deal with these complex analyses, collective views from experts or machine suppliers may be required. Hence, a platform suitable for Web-based collaborative maintenance is welcome. It is expected that all of the tasks will be run in an on-line or near real-time working environment. Therefore, the collaborative maintenance must be specially implemented to cope with the newest technology of streaming for Web-based broadcasting, and using the widest available bandwidth for communication via the Internet. The collaborative maintenance should support video-conferencing, chatting, le transfer, and program sharing. Video-conferencing lets users communicate via video images and speech on the Internet, chatting allows users to conduct real-time conversation via voice or text, le transfer provides facility for users to send les or receive les, and program sharing facilitates, the sharing of various applications with other users who have the authority to share the application programs. A practical Web-based collaborative maintenance system usually has three levels. They are the global level, the communication level, and the application level. Figure 3 shows the hierarchy of the three levels. The rst level is the application level. It comprises the DAQ server and all necessary hardware devices, such as video devices, various types of sensors, their interfaces and drivers, and DAQ cards. Moreover, the foundation work, such as data acquisition, video monitoring, machine monitoring and fault diagnosis and other accessing functions, are also carried out at this application level. The second level is the communication level. It acts like a mini-Web-server and handles all of the necessary communication between the monitored machines and the Web browsers. Its roles are to receive users commands from the Web browsers and then forward them either to the main Web server or to its embedded DAQ server. The third level is the global level which consists of the platform for collaborative maintenance. If a request of collaborative maintenance is

Fig. 3. Hierarchy of the Web-based collaborative maintenance

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Fig. 4. The framework of Web-based machine remote sensing and monitoring

as the client side, requests a data collection service by visiting the local mini-server. The mini-server will order its embedded DAQ server to collect the necessary data about the monitored machine. The user can also request the support of the multimedia devices to monitor the current running conditions of the monitored machine by using the video camera via the Internet. After completing the process of remote sensing and monitoring, the mini-Web-server will generate a Web page which will contain the collected data or the images/sound and send it back to the user. The user on the client side may also request the main server to download the necessary VIs for data analysis and fault diagnosis. 4.2 Creation of the Web-enabled virtual instruments All of the machine fault diagnoses are performed with the help of the Web-enabled VIs and the intelligent expert system as mentioned previously. Figure 5 shows the functions contained in the mini-server which interact with the Web-enabled VIs for fault diagnosis. The mini-Web-server supports all the interfaces and communication functions when using the Web-enabled VIs, including waveform display, feature extracting, signal analysis, and DAQ parameter conguration. Besides performing the task of data acquisition, the DAQ server also supports the functions which control the DAQ card and the connection board. Authorised users can congure all these functions and parameters, such as channel selection, rate of sample frequency, conguration of cut-off frequency, sensitivities of the sensors, the amplication scale for the collected signals, etc., via the Internet. Similarly, all of the functions embedded in the Web-enabled VIs can also be adjusted over the Internet. If any malfunction occurs in the monitored machine, the related Web-enabled VI will send an alarm message to the clients and the local server so that both the local operator and the remote user (engineer) can be alerted and prepare the remedy. All the Web-enabled VIs have been implemented as Java applets. A Java applet can be run on any Java-enabled operating environment, such as Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer.

received, the global level will be executed along with control all the respective functions. It will call the necessary functions from the application level to perform the task requested by the international expert. The results will then be transferred back to the communication level for Web broadcasting to other participants involved in the process of collaborative maintenance.

4 Implementation of Web-based maintenance

4.1 Equipment remote sensing and mini-servers The equipment sensing, sound and video monitoring are the foundations of the Web-based remote sensing and monitoring system. The layout of the system is shown in the previous Fig. 2. The mini-server has a multi-channel data acquisition board to which a number of sensors and microphones used to acquire various signals and sound generated by the monitored machine, are connected. It also has a video card to capture the video/images via the video camera. Our mini-server is no more than a normal PC with a Windows 2000 operating system and a built-in Ethernet card for connection to the Internet. Figure 4 shows the framework of the system. It describes the information ow and the network for the system. The user, who is represented
Fig. 5. The functions that are contained in the mini-server to interact with the Web-enabled VIs for fault diagnosis

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When a user is visiting a Java-enabled Web page, by using one of the above Web browsers, and requests a particular kind of VI, the related Java applet and a copy of the Java interpreter will be downloaded to the users computer. The Java interpreter will interpret and run the Java applet, hence, its embedded VI will be opened for the user to use. After the user has completed his task and then closing the browser, in that moment, the downloaded Java applet is also deleted automatically [11]. 4.3 Development of the collaborative maintenance platform The success of a collaborative maintenance platform depends on having a multi-tasking and multi-user operating environment, and a fast and easy-to-manage database for international experts to use to retrieve or store their aggregated knowledge and experiences. To establish such a sophisticated database, we have employed the active server page (ASP) and active data objects (ADO). ASP allows expanded access by having server-side scripting and provides an open type object model. Moreover, ASP supports Web type plug-and-play and provides high-speed access with low memory overhead and a small disk footprint. All these are essential for developing a fast-to-access and Web-based database. When an enquiry for data is received, ASP will format an SQL query to the underlying database. Relevant records will be extracted from the database. Then an HTML page will be dynamically created to hold the information and send it back to the user. Modifying and adding new content to the database are also feasible. Using the ASP, the expanded access to the database is placed on the server-side and can be executed without compiling. Hence, the created database is simple and fast-to-access. By using ADO, it is possible connect to several databases simultaneously. It can create the Web pages of database information, and allows users to handle queries to, insertions in, updates to, and deletions from the database by implementing the SQL instructions, which are embedded in the Web pages. With help from
Fig. 6. The architecture of the Web-based collaborative diagnosis platform

both ASP and ADO, international experts can use the database to store their opinions on or results of analyses and diagnoses. If permission is given, they can also renew the rules or algorithms stored in the expert system to enhance the capability of the expert system for robust machine fault diagnosis. To establish a multi-user type of collaborative platform, the ITU-T H.120 and H.323 standards for Active X devices have been used to design the Web platform for Net-meeting, discussion and information sharing. Based on the standards, a collaborative model has been developed for the token control and management of information ow. If the client is an authorised user, then he will obtain access to the collaborative platform. A collaborative session will then be opened. There will be a session organiser, who has the highest priority to manage the collaborative session and control the order of using the platform. He will prepare all of the necessary information from the database and the required VIs, and then share with the other participants joining that session. Other participants may also retrieve data from the database or request other kinds of VIs according to their desires as long as they are in the order that is assigned by the session organiser. All of the participants can analyse the data, extract the features, and reason the results on their own PCs. However, the order of broadcasting their results for sharing with other participants must be controlled by the session organiser. With the help of the multi-user based operating system, the Active X devices and standards, and the management of the session organiser, the collaborative platform has been developed. Figure 6 shows the architecture of the Web-based collaborative platform and the relationship between the client and the server on the Internet. The block on the left-hand-side of Fig. 6 lists the foundations of the platform, which include the Web server, the DAQ server, the Java applets and the ActiveX compatible devices. These foundations are inter-connected to the database, which is shown in the middle block of Fig. 6. The purpose of the database is for storing and managing the diagnostic results given

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by various experts. The database contains the conguration parameters of the database, the stored sensing data related to each kind of fault that has occurred in the monitored equipment, the event history for the operating conditions of the monitored equipment, and the equipment ID and its conguration. The Webbased diagnostic platform is shown in the right-hand-side block of Fig. 6. The platform contains the required Web-enabled VIs downloaded from the main server. They include the functions for automatically identifying the monitored equipment, the downloaded history of events that are related to the identied equipment for reference and comparison purposes, various methods of data analysis and feature extraction, the generated results and the output methods, and other miscellaneous functions for running the collaborative platform. These miscellaneous functions include Net-meeting, video-conferencing, real-time chat room, le transfer, Web broadcasting, etc.

5 Demonstration of workable Web-based maintenance

One of the interfaces of the Web-based remote sensing and monitoring system is shown in Fig. 7. The system was developed as a Java applet by using Java programming. The monitoring system can simultaneously display measurements collected from two channels. The rate of sampling, the number of data points collected, and the time frame for displaying the signal are adjustable by the user. Although the system can only display two measurements at a time, it can simultaneously collect 16 signals if 16 sensors are connected to the DAQ board. Additional DAQ boards can be cascaded by using a multiplexer. Currently, we are employing DAQ boards manufactured by National Instruments. Besides remotely collecting signals from sensors, the system provides remote monitoring of the inspected machine via video/audio means as shown in the right-hand side of Fig. 7. With all these functions, users and experts can inspect the current running conditions of the machine. If any anomalous condition is suspected, the user can use the Web-enabled VIs to further
Fig. 7. Web-camera and recorder for equipment remote sensing and monitoring

analyse the machine condition. The remote sensing and monitoring system has been tested live on the Internet using 3COM 10/100 MB Ethernet cards. Multiple users can simultaneously access the system either acquiring video images of the running machine or sensing vibration signals collected from the machine. Further tests, which involve increasing the loading to the system, are in progress. Figure 8 shows a sample of a virtual vibration analyser used for vibration-based machine fault diagnosis. The virtual analyser was also implemented by Java programming. The current commercially available hardware type of vibration analyser is only equipped with the method of fast Fourier transforms (FFT) for machine fault diagnosis. It is worth noting here that our virtual vibration analyser is equipped with both FFT and wavelet transforms to enhance the ability of the system in machine fault diagnosis. As mentioned in Sect. 3.2, wavelet transforms have been proven to be effective in detecting faults which exhibit both periodic and randomly occurring impulsive signals [10]. Figure 8a shows a sinusoidal waveform and random noise being measured by the virtual analyser and displayed in the rst and third rows of the display window. By applying the method of FFT to the signals, their corresponding vibration power spectra are shown in the second and forth rows of the display window, for the sinusoidal waveform and random noise, respectively. The virtual analyser is also capable of converting the existing power spectra to averaging spectra, zooming spectra, and even the 3D waterfall spectra. Since the virtual analyser can display the measurements collected by two channels simultaneously, it can perform spectrum comparison, phase measurements, and orbit calculations. Figure 8b shows a squared-tooth waveform (rst row) being analysed by the method of wavelet transforms. The transient characteristics of the waveform can be easily detected by the wavelet transforms as shown in the second and third rows. Besides the analyses of FFT and wavelet transforms, the virtual analyser can also perform different kinds of statistical analyses for fault diagnosis, such as obtaining the RMS value, form factor, crest factor, kurtosis, etc. These functions can be performed by selecting the buttons located at the right-

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bands were found around the fundamental rotational frequency of a defective component. The diagnostic result is shown in the lower portion of Fig. 9a. It suggested that either a bearing or a gearbox was defective depending on the fundamental rotational frequency of the bearing or the gearbox. The essential tools used for communications during the process of collaborative maintenance are shown in Fig. 9b and c. They include the chat room, via text or voice as in Fig. 9b, and program sharing and le transfer as illustrated in Fig. 9c. With the help of the expert system for fault diagnosis, the Web-enabled VIs, the communication tools, the fast-to-access and easy-to-manage database, and the multi-user operating environment, the Webbased collaborative maintenance platform has been functioning properly. The Web-based maintenance has been tested successfully on a site of having six monitoring points (industrial machines) located at six different places. It is continuously being tested by increasing the number of monitoring points. Companies, who are the industrial members of our Smart Asset Management laboratory, have been contacted to support the test of the Web-based maintenance. Once the companies have completed the approval procedures, the Web-based maintenance will be tested on their industrial sites.

6 Conclusions
This paper outlines the design and implementation of a Web based maintenance system. It consists of a remote sensing and multi-media based monitoring system, local mini-servers, each of which is embedded with a mini-Web server and a DAQ server, a main server for storing a number of Web-enabled VIs for equipment fault diagnosis, and a collaborative maintenance platform suitable for a multi-user working environment. The Web-based maintenance is built on the Windows 2000 operating system and primarily implemented with Java programming. The system is capable of remotely sensing the operating conditions of equipment and monitoring its performance using both collected data and multi-media. If any anomalous condition is detected in the equipment, then an alarm will be automatically triggered. By using Web-enabled and software-based VIs, expensive hardware type of instrumentation can be eliminated. Thus, substantial savings can be obtained by minimising the purchase of hardware instruments. Since only one copy of each kind of VI is installed on the main server, it is simple to maintain the VIs and future expansion is feasible. Hence, the labour and time intensive work required for upgrading the VIs can be minimised. Moreover, by using the separate schemes of having a main server for storing all VIs and local mini-servers for equipment monitoring and fault diagnosis, delayed communication on the Internet and the crashing of the server due to heavy loading can be avoided. The Web-based maintenance, coupled with the collaborative platform, enables international experts to share their experiences and provide instantaneous advice to equipment operators. The substantial travelling costs that can be incurred by on-site inspection and delays in remedying faults can be re-

Fig. 8. Virtual analyzer for vibration-based fault diagnosis. a The virtual analyser performs FFT on the collected signals and displays the resulting frequency spectra. b The virtual analyzer performs wavelet transforms on the collected signal for detecting both periodic and randomly occurring impulses

hand side of the displays illustrated in Fig. 8a and b. The virtual analyser has been tested many times and it is capable of capturing the vibro-acoustic signals generated from a monitored machine in near real-time, analysing the running condition of the machine, and identifying faults that may occur in the machine. Based on these successful experiments, other types of expensive and hardware-based instrumentation can be replaced by Web-enabled VIs using similar concepts for designing the virtual analyser. The functions that are used for the Web-based collaborative maintenance are shown in Fig. 9. As mentioned in Sect. 4.3, the collaborative platform is equipped with a Web database and essential tools for collaborative maintenance, such as Net-meeting, video-conferencing, real-time chat room, le transfer and Web broadcasting. Figure 9a shows an example of the built-in intelligent expert system for automatic fault classication. The symptoms are selected automatically from the analysed signals and conrmed by the operator as shown in the upper portion of Fig. 9a. The example here shows that the RMS value of the measured signal had exceeded the alarm level, there was a periodic shock existing in the signals waveform, and obvious side-

772 Fig. 9. Web-based collaborative maintenance and its essential tools

duced. With the help of Web-based maintenance, the reliability of equipment and the qualities of service and manufacturing can be signicantly enhanced. Equipped with Web-based maintenance, any local company can transform into a global company that provides services to her customers anywhere and at anytime.
Acknowledgement The work described in this paper was fully supported by a grant from the City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, P.R.C., (project no. 7001195).

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