"Intelligent bearing" a new sensor for agricultural engineering applications

The "intelligent bearing" is a new active sensor system, partly integrated in the bearing, to measure bearing parameters like revolution, radial and axial Ioad, radial Ioad angle, unbalance and temperature on-line. A first study regarding agricultural engineering application showed quite linear steady state characteristics but also settling times from 6 to 40 seconds for system response on a step function stimulus. Even when raw signal measurements revealed potential resolution in the millisecend range the "intelligent bearing" is not available as a series product yet and faces some technological and commercial challenges.