Rotation speed assessment for idlers in belt conveyors using image analysis

Abstract

Abstract Monitoring and diagnostics of elements of the belt conveyor is a challenging task. One of the hardest aspects is dealing with objects such as rolling idlers that support the belt. They are distributed along the entire length of a conveyor, and their amount can easily reach thousands. In the ideal case, every idler should undergo in-situ monitoring, however, this is impractical. Hence, it is proposed to use remote sensing to acquire knowledge about some aspects of their condition. In particular, the authors propose to measure the rotational speed of the idler based on short video recordings. This data could be captured by mobile inspection robots, such as UAVs or UGVs, or even manually. Detecting the fact that the idler rotates with improper speed (lower than nominal), could indicate a developing fault of the internal bearing. An idler that rotates slower than it should also create additional friction between itself and the belt. This friction can increase the overall operational resistances, and even cause fire due to increased temperature. In this paper, the authors present a simple method for establishing the rotational speed of the idler based on video data analysis.