39 www.drivesncontrols.com February 2026 SENSORS AND ENCODERS n Test rig puts conveyors through their paces Tracoinsa, the Widnes-based materials-handling specialist, has implemented a novel conveyor evaluation system that is designed to compare the performance of multiple types of conveyors when handling different products. The system comprises short sections of roller, chain, belt and other types of conveyor, arranged as two parallel side-byside tracks. At one end of the track is a pneumatically-operated cross transfer; at the other end, a chain-driven pusher transfers material between the tracks. Essentially, the system forms a closed loop, so that any product placed on it will continue to circulate indefinitely until it is removed. This allows the performance of the conveyors to be evaluated over many hours, or even days. The system is equipped with a variety of sensors to monitor various aspects of its performance. The results from this monitoring not only indicate the current performance of the various conveyor segments, but also provide insights into maintenance requirements, enabling Tracoinsa to generate accurate, data-driven advice on how to maintain systems in peak condition throughout their operating lives. For example, to determine how well the drive system for each of the conveyor sections is performing, they are equipped with VVB306 three-axis vibration sensors from ifm electronic. These sensors, designed for condition-based analysis of imbalance and rolling element bearing damage, provide RMS velocity, RMS acceleration and peak acceleration data simultaneously. They also have a built-in temperature sensor. In the Tracoinsa application, the velocity data provides an indication of fatigue in the drive system, while the acceleration data relates to friction and impact. The temperature data is a useful additional indicator of drive performance. The pneumatic cylinders on the cross transfer system that moves products between the parallel tracks are also being monitored, this time using ifm’s PQC812 pressure sensors, which offer accurate monitoring of system pressure in pneumatic and compressed air systems. Tracoinsa is using data from these sensors to identify any leaks or issues with the compressor. All of the sensors are connected via IOLink, which supports real-time transmission of data from each device. This data is passed, via an IO-Link master, to a laptop computer running ifm’s moneo software, which incorporates functions for monitoring machine health. The software analyses the data from the sensors and displays the results in a dashboard. The software also stores data from the sensors for reporting and for further analysis, should this be needed. Tracoinsa reports that it is already finding the conveyor evaluation system to be a valuable asset. It is helping the company’s engineers to optimise their designs to suit specific requirements. “The ifm sensors are very easy to work with,” says Tracoinsa project engineer, James Baker. “They’re robust devices that are simple to configure and they deliver accurate and dependable results. IO-Link greatly simplifies field wiring, and the ifm moneo software is both versatile and easy to use. We had one day of training from ifm, and after that we were able to quickly develop dashboards, using drag-and-drop techniques, which exactly match our requirements and show the important results clearly.” n A UK company has assembled a novel conveyor-testing system that compares the performance of different types of conveyor handling different products. The test rig is being monitored by an array of sensors. Tracoinsa’s conveyor evaluation facility has two parallel side-by-side tracks containing different conveyor technologies, whose performance can be compared Sensors on the conveyor drives monitor how they are performing
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