Escalator Condition Monitoring System
SmartStep®
Escalator Health Analysis
Usage Monitoring
Battery Powered
Wireless System
Cloud Connected
SmartStep® is an escalator condition monitoring system designed to help operators detect developing faults before they become disruptive failures. By continuously monitoring escalator health during normal operation, SmartStep® provides actionable data on mechanical condition, helping maintenance teams identify problems earlier, reduce downtime and improve asset reliability.
Designed for demanding environments including rail stations, metro systems and airports, SmartStep® enables condition-based and predictive maintenance without interrupting normal escalator operation.
Why Escalator Condition Monitoring Matters
SmartStep®: Revolutionising Escalator Condition Monitoring and Safety.
Clients using our system include:
Tube Lines, "The Smart Step has been a crucial tool in our escalator monitoring for years, helping us pin-point and swiftly address numerous issues."
Comprehensive Monitoring
Keep track of escalator's entire operation parameters, including stress levels, step misalignment, smoothness of operation, track issues, and many other crucial aspects.
Advanced Tech Integration
Equipped with strain gauges, tri-axial accelerometers, and a 3-axis gyroscope, ensuring data precision.
Key Features
Dual Modes of Operation
Opt between a routine predictive maintenance mode and an alarm mode for instantaneous updates based on your needs.
Wireless Connectivity
Enables uninterrupted communication between the SmartStep® and internet-enabled receiver.
Benefits of using SmartStep® Escalator Condition Monitoring
Reassurance
Consistent behaviour mapping confirms no need for concern.
Predictive Maintenance
Makes maintenance proactive rather than reactive by identifying issues like drive chain imbalance, uneven chain wear, and other abnormalities.
Operational Insights
Collects additional data related to passenger behaviour, aiding in predictive loading and escalator health analysis.
Efficiency in Maintenance
Provides key data for validating the effectiveness of maintenance work.
Automated Instant Alerts
Immediate notifications via email or SMS during rapid escalator deterioration alerts, impacts, and outages to ensure rapid response.
FAQs
Escalator condition monitoring is the continuous assessment of an escalator’s mechanical health to identify changes in performance, wear or behaviour before they develop into failures. By collecting and analysing data from sensors, condition monitoring systems help operators move from reactive maintenance towards predictive, condition-based maintenance.
Escalator condition monitoring is important because unexpected failures can disrupt passenger flow, reduce accessibility and increase maintenance costs. Continuous monitoring gives operators greater visibility of asset health, helping them prioritise maintenance, investigate issues more efficiently and improve escalator availability.
SmartStep® is an escalator condition monitoring and diagnostics system installed on a standard escalator step. It uses strain gauges, a tri-axial accelerometer and a gyroscope to capture mechanical data as the step travels through the escalator.
The collected data is analysed to identify changes from the escalator’s normal operating behaviour, providing maintenance teams with insight into asset condition and helping them pinpoint areas requiring further investigation.
SmartStep® monitors key escalator operating parameters to identify changes in mechanical behaviour, including:
- Drive chain imbalance
- Uneven chain wear
- Excessive dynamic loads
- Step misalignment
- Stick-slip motion
- Smoothness of operation
- Upper/lower D section misalignment
- Track issues and discontinuities
This data helps maintenance teams understand the nature and location of developing issues, enabling more targeted investigation and maintenance.
SmartStep® helps reduce escalator downtime by identifying developing issues earlier and providing data that helps engineers pinpoint the location and nature of potential faults. Instead of relying solely on manual inspection to identify the source of a problem, maintenance teams can use condition monitoring data to target investigations and plan interventions more effectively, minimising unexpected failures and getting escalators back into service sooner.
Yes. SmartStep® is designed as a retrofit solution and can be installed on existing escalators. The system is installed on an escalator step, allowing operators to collect condition data from assets already in service without replacing the existing escalator.
Industries that Benefit from Escalator Condition Monitoring
Transport Networks
In railway stations, metro systems and airports, escalators are critical to maintaining passenger flow and accessibility. High levels of usage mean that unexpected failures can quickly lead to congestion and disruption.
SmartStep® helps transport operators continuously monitor escalator condition during normal operation, providing data that can support earlier fault detection, targeted maintenance and improved asset reliability.
Shopping Centres
In shopping centres and other commercial environments, escalators are an important part of the customer journey. Maintaining their availability helps ensure smooth movement between floors while supporting accessibility and a positive customer experience.
SmartStep® can provide insight into escalator performance and emerging mechanical issues, helping maintenance teams identify problems earlier and reduce unnecessary downtime.
OEMs
For escalator manufacturers and OEMs, understanding how equipment performs in real-world conditions can provide valuable insight beyond controlled testing environments.
SmartStep® can be used for in-service testing and data collection, providing detailed information on escalator behaviour, mechanical performance and operating conditions to support product development, validation and performance analysis.
Behind the Scenes
Baseline Deviations
This enables rapid identification of irregularities, streamlining the troubleshooting process and minimising downtime.
Threshold Alerts
Employing an intricate alert system, we proactively identify deviations from established thresholds.
Spectral Analysis
This sophisticated technique uncovers nuanced patterns that can hold crucial information about system behaviour and anomalies.
Data Trending
This perspective offers invaluable insights into long-term behaviour patterns and potential trajectories.
Fleet Analysis
This comprehensive view empowers strategic decision-making by providing insights into fleet-wide performance, trends, and optimisation opportunities.
Usage Monitoring
This scrutiny allows us to identify wear and usage-related trends, facilitating predictive maintenance strategies.
Transmission Dynamics understands the uniqueness of each escalator, and hence the SmartStep® is tailored to develop a distinct “fingerprint” for individual escalators, capturing even the gradual changes in their operations.
Accurately positioned strain gauges detect structural loading.
The system’s Rainflow Counting algorithms enable the evaluation of useful remaining life.
Advanced algorithms enable automatic detection and reporting of problematic locations.
The SmartStep® system enables evaluation of passenger throughput.
SmartStep® automatically detects and reports changes in operational conditions.
Escalator Health Analysis Data Outputs and User Interface
SMS & E-Mail Alerts
Offers automated SMS and e-mail alerts for rapid escalator deterioration alerts.
Escalator Health Analysis
The system provides comprehensive escalator health analysis, including stress levels, step alignment, smoothness of operation, and track issues.
Condition at a Glance
With a quick glance at the intuitive user interface, users can assess the escalator's condition and identify any potential issues.
SmartStep® simplifies complex analytics with its intuitive graphical user interface (GUI). Users receive actionable insights at a glance, thanks to a traffic light colour system: green for optimal operation, amber for caution, and red for required action. Automated SMS and email alerts ensure timely updates, making advanced data management both efficient and user-friendly.
Click on the image above to view our video on SmartStep® and how it plays a key role in passenger transportation systems.
Want to know more about the Smart Step® experience?
Fill in the form and we will get back to you as soon as we can. SmartStep®: Elevate safety with Escalator Condition Monitoring, Health Analysis & Deterioration Alerts for proactive maintenance. Optimise performance effortlessly.