The e.Life subproject “in‑Situ Monitoring System with Tribo‑Sensor” was carried out by Kompass GmbH under the leadership of Olaf Mollenhauer. The project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant 16ME0106), ran from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2023, with the reporting period covering 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022. It is part of the larger Lube.Life consortium, which aims to develop sensor‑based electronic systems for sustainable use of lubricants in industrial plants, and is embedded in the framework “Microelectronics from Germany – Innovation Driver of Digitalisation”.
Technically, the project delivered a fully functional mini‑tribometer that can be operated in situ. The team first defined the functional structure and technical principle, then selected drives and sensor components. Microelectronic circuit design was completed, and control components were implemented, built, and tested. Software for drive control was realized, and a mechanical design was produced using in‑house 3D printing, enabling rapid prototyping of mechanical parts. System integration followed, culminating in the commissioning of the mini‑tribometer and the acquisition of first measurement parameters. The control architecture was revised to incorporate a distributed intelligence concept (ACB23), and the updated control was tested and deployed. Parallel investigations explored the integration of impedance‑measuring sensors for oil analysis, and a product development and marketing concept was drafted.
The hardware stack includes CAN modules with USB/Ethernet interfaces, actuators such as stepper motors, voice‑coil and DC motors, and heating elements. Sensor suites comprise strain‑gauge force sensors, optical encoders with 250 nm resolution, and a newly developed oil‑state sensor. The oil‑state sensor was developed in‑house rather than subcontracted, preserving technical know‑how and better meeting the project’s requirements. The project also performed spectrometric and spectrophotometric pre‑investigations for a sedimentation sensor, and evaluated an I²C bus system integrated with the CAN bus. The final system design incorporates two torque sensors for friction torque measurement and a force sensor for normal force, replacing the initially planned UWB‑impedance sensor.
The project followed an iterative development cycle based on VDI/VDE 2206, completing three iterations of control technology. Although the oil‑state sensor development added 11.10 man‑months of effort, the overall schedule remained within the original plan, with only a two‑month delay for the tribo‑sensor milestone. No changes to the project’s objectives, scientific or economic prospects, or to the product development concept were required. No third‑party research results influenced the work, and no new patents were reported during the reporting period.
Collaboration within the consortium was coordinated by Kompass GmbH, with the Federal Ministry of Education and Research providing financial support. The project’s milestones—system design, operational tribo‑sensor, and operational mini‑tribometer—were all achieved, demonstrating the feasibility of in‑situ tribological monitoring for industrial lubricant management.