ExpertViewer FAQs and HowTos: Data Analysis

Yes. The Notifications tab shows the same alarm notifications that appear in the OPTIME dashboard and as push messages in the OPTIME app. Clicking a notification makes the plant tree jump to the affected asset so you can check the data.

To acknowledge: select one or more notifications, click the check mark (Confirm selected notifications), optionally enter a reason for the acknowledgement and confirm with OK. The acknowledgement is written back to the OPTIME system, i.e. the notification also disappears from the dashboard and the backend. You can also right-click a measuring point and select Show machine notifications to acknowledge all notifications of one machine at once.

Please keep in mind: acknowledging is a documentation step, not a corrective action. If the characteristic values remain above the alarm threshold, the alarm will be raised again after the next measurements that exceed the threshold.

Yes. In the bearing database window, open the Own bearings section and click on add bearing. You can enter:

• Manufacturer and designation (also internal designations or order numbers)
• The kinematic frequencies, if you already know them - the software performs a plausibility check whether the entered values can be real bearing kinematic frequencies
• Alternatively the geometry data, from which the frequencies are derived

Your own bearings are stored online in the bearing database, but as private entries of your account / subscription. Other companies or users who log in with a different subscription cannot see them. Only users within your own OPTIME subscription have access - so it is safe to use internal designations.

Not yet. The ExpertViewer currently displays the alarm thresholds (including the initial thresholds and the result of the OPTIME learning mode) in the trend viewer, and you can acknowledge alarm notifications - but changing the thresholds is currently only possible in the OPTIME dashboard. We are working on this function and plan to make threshold adjustment available directly in the ExpertViewer in an upcoming release.

Until then, the fastest way (two mouse clicks): right-click the sensor in the plant tree, select View in OPTIME Dashboard - the browser opens directly at the sensor - then open Settings in the dashboard and adjust the alarm thresholds there.

Yes. In the time signal viewer, click the headphone symbol to play back the currently selected signal as audio. This converts the structure-borne vibration into an audible sound - hearing a knocking, clattering or grinding often adds valuable intuition to the visual spectrum analysis, similar to walking through the plant and listening to the machines.

Two practical hints:

• Start with a low volume, especially when wearing a headset.
• The playback always uses the signal that is currently selected. Envelope signals strongly amplify transients and can sound very unpleasant - the raw signal is usually the better choice for listening.

You can also export the audio as a normal WAV file and send it to colleagues or customers, e.g. as part of your analysis documentation.

There are two ways to load several data sets:

• Via the time signal list (lower left): select several entries exactly like files in the Windows Explorer - click the first one, hold SHIFT and click the last one for a range, or hold CTRL and click individual entries. All selected signals are loaded into the viewers.
• Via pinning: pin individual signals with the small pin symbol in the diagram title bar, then double-click another data set to load it in addition.

For the display you can then choose different diagram views from the toolbar:

• Overlapping: all signals of the same unit in one coordinate system
• Stack: each signal in its own coordinate system, stacked
• Matrix: each signal in its own coordinate system, arranged in columns
• Wireframe / Waterfall / 2D spectrogram / 3D spectrogram (spectrum viewer only): 3D views that can be rotated with the camera controls - ideal to visualise the development of a spectrum over time

Note: the 3D views require that only one signal type (e.g. only raw signal spectra or only envelope spectra) is loaded.

Setting the speed: the ExpertViewer takes the speed (RPM) that was configured for the measuring point in OPTIME by default. You can also enter a speed manually in the speed field of the time signal / spectrum viewer. If you have identified the true rotational frequency as a peak in the spectrum, place the cursor on it, open the speed context menu and select Apply cursor value - the selected frequency is then taken over as the speed and all speed-based calculations (orders, bearing frequencies) are updated.

Order display: you can either set the frequency axis unit to orders/RPM in the settings, or convert an individual spectrum via the Calculate order spectrum function in the spectrum viewer toolbar. With a correctly set speed, all multiples of the running speed then line up at integer orders (1x, 2x, 3x …), which makes pattern recognition much easier.

Please note: this is not a true order analysis. OPTIME data does not include a parallel, synchronously sampled speed measurement, so speed fluctuations during the 3-second measurement cannot be compensated. The frequency axis is simply re-scaled based on the entered speed.

Use the Expert Feedback function (the small person symbol; the editor opens in a separate window, ideally on a second monitor):

1. Mark the analysed time range in the trend with the base and measure cursor.
2. Choose Damage assessment - the start and end date are taken over automatically.
3. Select the finding from the dropdown (e.g. bearing BPFO/BPFI, imbalance, no detection), set the severity and your degree of confidence, and optionally add a comment.
4. Confirm with OK - a coloured label is shown in the trend.

Everyone who opens this measuring point later immediately sees that the data has already been analysed, what was found, by whom and when. Existing labels can be extended with a right-click (Add successor expert opinion) when a finding is still present at the next check.

Our recommended best practice: label every data set that has been reviewed - even when nothing was found. This avoids duplicate work in teams and builds up a complete, gap-free analysis history over time.

Units are configured via the unit profiles:

1. Open the Settings menu (or right-click in any viewer and select Settings).
2. Go to Unit profiles.
3. Select one of the profiles:
   • EU profile: metric units (g, mm/s, um, Hz, degrees C) - default
   • US profile: imperial units (in/s2, in/s, mil, Fahrenheit)
   • Own profile: define your preferred unit per unit type yourself

About auto-scaling: if Autoscale is enabled, the software automatically picks the unit prefix that fits the current values best (e.g. it switches to micro-g for very small values). Most analysts disable autoscale for their preferred units, so that e.g. velocity is always shown in mm/s, even for very small values.

Note: after changing the unit settings, click OK and load a new data set - the currently displayed data is not converted retroactively.

There are several export options for every viewer:

• Quick screenshot to clipboard: click the camera symbol in the viewer - the diagram is copied to the clipboard and can be pasted directly into Word, PowerPoint or an email.
• Export as image (PNG): right-click in the viewer, then Export > Save diagram (image) or Copy diagram (image).
• Export as CSV: exports all X/Y (and Z) coordinates as a table that can be opened in Excel, e.g. for own plots or further processing.
• Export as RTF: exports the diagram together with measurement details, signal comments and optional additional text - ready to be pasted into Office documents / reports.

For all file exports you can define the image size and save your settings as default, so recurring report exports only take a few clicks.

The ExpertViewer includes access to the online Schaeffler bearing database:

1. In the spectrum viewer, click on the bearing database symbol. A separate window opens (tip: place it on a second monitor).
2. Search for your bearing designation, e.g. “6205”. You will find Schaeffler, FAG and INA catalogue bearings and the most relevant competitor bearing types.
3. The kinematic frequencies of the selected bearing are displayed, and based on the stored speed the actual damage frequencies (BPFO, BPFI, BSF, FTF) are calculated automatically.
4. Hover the mouse over a frequency to preview the corresponding frequency bands directly in the spectrum; click the checkbox to keep them displayed and compare them with your peak pattern.
5. With Add to measuring point you can permanently assign the bearing to the measuring point - next time it is directly available in the Measuring points tab without searching.

The database is connected online to the Schaeffler engineering database, so newly added bearing types automatically become available.

Use the time signal markers in the trend viewer:

1. Click the time signal marker button in the trend toolbar. Small white boxes appear in the trend - each box represents a stored raw data set (OPTIME stores one raw time signal per sensor per day).
2. Hover the mouse over a box to see a preview of the time signal and spectrum without loading it. This way you can, for example, skip measurements taken during machine standstill.
3. Double-click the box you are interested in - the ExpertViewer loads exactly this data set into the time signal and spectrum viewer.

This is usually much faster than searching for the right date in the time signal list, especially when you want to compare the data before and after a jump in the trend.

The envelope signals and the velocity / displacement spectra are calculated live by the ExpertViewer from the raw time signal.

Background: the OPTIME sensor records the raw acceleration signal, calculates its KPIs (including the demodulation KPI) directly on the device and then discards the intermediate spectra to save battery power and storage. Only the raw time signal is sent to the cloud once per day. The OPTIME database therefore contains no envelope spectra - they are a mathematical function of the raw data and can be recomputed at any time, which is exactly what the ExpertViewer does on the fly for the analysis views (envelope time signal and spectrum, velocity spectrum, displacement spectrum, plus optional further integration).