Video processing of vibration measurements

Mechanical Solutions, Inc., a provider of solutions for complex or urgent vibration, dynamics, or performance related problems in critical rotating machinery and systems, has launched VibVue, a tool to help engineers and technicians identify and solve critical vibration issues. VibVue obtains vibration measurements and associated analysis using a high-speed camera and novel software solution for faster, easier, and less error-prone diagnosis of vibration and system dynamics problems.

Until now, reliability and maintenance engineers have struggled with cumbersome, less-sensitive, commercially available tools that help visualize machinery vibration. There are shortcomings in the underlying video processing technology, which produces the vibration measurements. As a result, engineers ultimately settle on missed measurements due to limited frequency span or low displacement amplitude, and spend significant time working through data to get an analysis result.

Now, with VibVue technology, engineers and technicians can maximize a commercially available video processing tool to get accurate vibration measurements at low displacement levels and high frequencies, and intuitively analyze the resulting data to quickly identify and solve vibration issues.

VibVue combines Motion Magnification technology – a proven solution licensed from a major university – with streamlined, intuitive software to help engineers precisely and easily acquire and analyze the data needed to quickly pinpoint root causes of vibration problems. Using VibVue will result in lower maintenance costs, reduced problem resolution time, and decreased machine or plant downtime.

MSI designed VibVue for accuracy and simplicity, with extremely low levels of displacement detection, greater frequency range, and faster analysis time. The solution magnifies motion up to 1,000x – twenty times more powerful than advertised by other commercially available solutions.

VibVue system support includes a review of customer videos by MSI's own rotating machinery troubleshooting professionals. If identified problems require more time or expertise than customers have access to, MSI can deploy teams with deep experience solving vibration or system dynamics problems to diagnose the issue and propose effective fix options.