The TOP 13 Advantages of Automated Monitoring
The plusses of electronic crack monitoring
Advantages of Automated Monitoring
The advantages of automated electronic crack monitoring over traditional static analog gauges are numerous
and, in the end, economically superior. This paper covers the great benefits of electronic devices and for a full
explanation of the cost savings potential, Please see our article on the economic benefit of automatic crack
monitoring:
The TOP THIRTEEN Advantages Are:
The benefit of regular hourly readings provides a rich, robust set of data that captures the full range of daily movement that a crack experiences, but it ensures that there are no gaps in coverage. Where manual gauges are read in person once per month. Autonomous remote devices capture 720 measurements per month and are not subject to mis-reads due to time of day, temperature, or weather.
Automatic measurements uses technology for real time reporting which means a user no longer has to keep track of measuring devices on a weekly or monthly schedule. There is little to no risk of missing a reading. Furthermore, you are not vulnerable to readings from different techs or the invariable “flexibility” that occurs when you bring a new trainee on board.
Weather occurs on an unscheduled basis. Cold, heat, and heavy rain happen at all times year round. The hourly remote readings of autonomous devices can be easily correlated to rainfall, temperature, and other events that have known impact on cracks.
The download feature of databased web access allows for all data elements to be downloaded into an EXCEL spreadsheet or other direct data base protocol software for easy custom handling and presentation.
The regular timing of the feature and its high volume of data means that readings are no longer tethered to misaligned and timed site visits. Smooth regular curves result from frequent and evenly timed recording (every hour).
Multiple engineers and technicians introduce varied ways of reading data from manual gauges. Not only are many locations challenging to access, the angle, precision mindset, and site familiarity often impacts quality and sometimes the actual validity of data. A consistent read every time, every hour puts this concern to rest.
The fidelity of manual analogue measurement gauges is 0.5mm (and as reported elsewhere dependent on the eyeballs doing the reading. Autonomous gauges are micro process aligned to read at 0.21mm precision. They read the same all the time, every time and are over twice as precise.
The computer data base structure enables thresholds of interest and alarms to be set and notifications to be sent. Most any item of interest that can be recorded can have a notification set to email or text interested users that a condition of concern has been met. These include movement thresholds, on/off line notifications, battery strength alarms and rapidness of movement parameters to name few.
The ability to track and record movement over years is reported further in our article: Automated Electronic crack monitoring – When long term monitoring makes sense. Devices have been in place consistently reading and recording non-stop for over 5 years with phenomenal results and reliability and establishing surprisingly clear picture of building crack performance.
The cost savings with autonomous remote electronic crack measurement cannot be over stated. Not only is there peace of mind because you know great data is coming amassing without effort and it is immediately accessible, but you can charge premium prices for the quality while expending significantly less to obtain it. The installation effort is essentially the same; however, there are no site visits or access issues. Safety and productivity are noticeably improved. One technician can manage 3 – 5 times the number of sites with much better result. Your clients will love it.
The “Richness” (quality and depth) of the data has been referred to throughout this document. But the value of this characteristic cannot be fully appreciated until seen in action. The alignment of temperature, rainfall, horizontal movement, with vertical movement on an hourly increment creates a tremendous data base that is easily accessed and manipulated to understand building performance any time day or night 24/7/365.
A special feature of the electronic process is a catchup feature that stores the last 96 readings and looks to fill in any readings that may have been lost to poor transmission, Power outage, Wifi outage, etc. While this doesn’t happen often, the “Catch-Up” feature protects data from being lost and provides technicians ample time to get a system back on line if an off-line alarm is received. See our “Catchup is Good” article for a more in depth explanation
Coming soon. Under development is our next generation of direct to cellular transceiver. No longer will Wifi connectivity be the only way to link a site back to the data base. The added flexibility to connect directly via cell wherever cell access exists will increase flexibility and application coverage options. Stay tuned for more on this and other connection options..
Bottom Line:
While there are many advantages that come with electronic crack monitoring, we always come back to a bedrock principle:
Robust, accurate data that provides confidence and peace of mind in understanding what is moving