Passive Wireless Telemetry Sensor for Bearing Cage Temperature Monitoring

Boston Applied Technologies proposes to develop a novel passive wireless telemetry sensor for bearing cage temperature monitoring in harsh environment. The sensor will employ Multilayer Ceramic Integrated Circuit (MCIC) Technology to ensure its operation in harsh environment at temperature up to 450 °C. A high-temperature capacitive sensing technology and wireless data telemetry scheme will be developed that can easily be integrated into a bearing cage for monitoring its temperature and vibration. The bearing temperature signal is frequency-encoded that is wirelessly monitored by a receiver. Energy for the sensor operation is also fed wirelessly. Thus, no wires or batteries are attached to the sensor unit. Since the proposed system does not use any active elements in the sensor side, there is no bandwidth limitation caused by power limitation. Frequency tracking method will be also developed to make the system more robust to noise, thereby increasing the accuracy. The proposed sensor will be fabricated using MCIC technology and integrated on bearing during fabrication. The device will have small size, light weight, low power consumption, and very low cost. It should fit on the top surface of bearing cage well with less than 0.5 mm in height and less than 10 grams in weight.