Omron launches colour sensor for industrial monitoring

The new sensor helps customers to remotely monitor equipment deterioration in real-time, leading to the visualisation of the equipment and the reduction of person-hours required for inspection and maintenance. It offers solutions to the problems faced by the industrial machinery and hydraulic equipment industries through highly efficient and systematic maintenance.

At manufacturing sites, oil contamination is frequently a cause of failure of industrial machinery and hydraulic equipment. Maintenance personnel are relied upon to conduct a visual check for such contamination, often by performing periodic inspection and part replacement based on their intuition, tricks, and experience. Often production stoppage losses due to sudden equipment breakdown are incurred by inconsistent judgment from each person in charge.

In addition, delays in inspection timing have been a longstanding issue. There is also the increasing need for higher efficiency in maintenance and remote monitoring due to a severe shortage of labour and limited accessibility due to the COVID pandemic. Until recently, size and cost of additional components have stood in the way of solving the problem.