Case Studies
BACKGROUND
Komatsu is a global manufacturer and distributor of earthmoving machines, and they were seeking the ability to continually monitor equipment from remote locations. This need was imperative from both an operations and safety perspective.
A solution was required to retrieve this valuable data on a regular basis without the need to physically visit the machine to extract the data or drive the machine out to a location where connectivity could be obtained.
CHALLENGE
The major challenge Komatsu were facing was gaining access to valuable telemetric and sensor data on board mining equipment that was unable to communicate reliably to the manufacturer. For example, an excavator permanently located at the bottom of a mine where data captured on the equipment could not be sent via traditional methods due to poor or no connectivity.
SOLUTION
CDM’s proposed solution was to retain the data on a locally fitted NOMAD IoT device until another Komatsu machine (also fitted with a NOMAD IoT device) came within range. The NOMAD IoT platform provided a Wi-Fi network to connect the NOMAD devices, which allowed the stored data to transfer from the non-communicating NOMAD IoT device to one or more NOMAD IoT devices that come within range and connect. Upon gaining connectivity, the data was successfully uploaded to the cloud.
This 2019 IoT Hub award–winning revolutionary solution to solve the connectivity issues was aptly named “Store and Forward”.
The Store and Forward capability on the NOMAD IoT platform provided many benefits to Komatsu customers. Among them was the ability to view valuable data in a more “real-time” basis without the need to physically visit the equipment to extract the data.
Having this valuable data more readily available provided the customer with means to monitor machine conditions, thus helping them achieve maximum productivity, maximum utilisation and perform preventative maintenance at an earlier stage.
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