OneWatt, an industrial technology developer backed-by InnoEnergy, Europe’s sustainable energy innovation engine, has launched a unique motor monitoring system for the onshore and offshore wind, hydropower and industrial sectors.
Embedded Acoustic Recognition Sensors (EARS) is a universal, non-intrusive system that uses acoustic data 
Source: InnoEnergy to predict equipment motor faults, enabling companies to reduce downtime and costs and increase efficiency. The technology’s machine learning algorithms offer wind and hydropower companies the ability to understand not only when a fault will occur but how and where — optimizing maintenance schedules and reducing the energy consumption of equipment.
OneWatt joined InnoEnergy’s Highway in 2018 to accelerate the commercialization of its technology. The Highway program supports early-stage start-ups in their go-to market phase. InnoEnergy is providing OneWatt with financial assistance, alongside technical product development, target market definition and access to its network of more than 385 project partners.
Paolo Samontanez, CTO of OneWatt, said: “EARS literally listens to motors to prevent equipment failure. Not only does this reduce downtime but it helps companies optimize their maintenance schedules — decreasing costs. This technology has the potential to make a real difference to how the renewables sector operates and we’re currently piloting the system with a number of key clients.”
Jacob Ruiter, CEO of InnoEnergy Benelux, adds: “By predicting maintenance EARS enables wind and hydro-power turbines to run more efficiently. And there’s an added benefit here — it actually reduces the energy consumption of equipment, contributing to Europe’s goal of lowering carbon dioxide emissions. Imagine if every industrial plant in Europe installed these sensors, those cumulative efforts could have a huge environmental impact.”
