Condition monitoring is synonymous with i.Sense at igus

Richard Habering | 31. March 2021

Why was the name i.Sense chosen?

The flood of information on the Internet is enormous and there are countless names or designations for many technologies. Unfortunately, we at igus cannot absolve ourselves of this issue either and contribute to the dilemma with our wordsmithing. In this particular case, I will focus on the concept of condition monitoring. This technology at igus is called i.Sense and is derived from sensing/feeling. We found the name quite appropriate, as condition monitoring has exactly this function: the sensing of malfunctions. The i. Sense detects malfunctions of a plain bearing, a cable or an energy chain and reports this error. Optionally, the part of the machine with the igus i.Sense product can also be stopped directly in the event of a fault to prevent serious consequential damage.

What does i.Sense mean at igus?

As already mentioned in the first paragraph, the meaning of i.Sense is derived from English and means “I sense”. A person as the operator of a system naturally feels through his senses. Quite normal, standard or stock products from igus, unfortunately, do not have any senses as standard and therefore do not feel any wear or change if it is present. The i.Sense gives the igus products a limited but sufficient amount of senses to develop “feelings”. Sounds a bit like science fiction, but it is not. In this case, the machine is supposed to take over the sensing of a simple error. The fastest way to give an igus injection-moulded part a perception is through sensors. These are attached to the product or are already integrated. In the case of the energy chain, these condition monitoring sensors detect for example push or pull forces on the moving end of the e-chain. The next section shows which technologies are currently available in the i.Sense area.

i.Sense and its products

The function and use of the product can be recognised directly from the product name. The EC stands for energy chain and CF refers to the product Chainflex®.

The letters in the 2nd position of the product name are explained as follows:

P = Pull force (tensile force)

B = Break detection

Q = Quality

• EC.P: Push/pull force measurement on the energy chain
• EC.B: Break detection on the energy chain
• CF.P: Tensile force measurement on the cables in the energy chain
• CF.Q: Functional measurement of the cable quality

For more information on condition monitoring, or as we call it i.Sense, the igus homepage is always the best source of information as the i.Sense product range is constantly growing.