LeTourneau Motor Analyzer senior design project

Faulty electric motors can cause many problems for a company, including increased maintenance cost, shortened motor lifespan, and serious accidents. Some companies have produced motor analysis devices to predict and prevent these harmful events from occurring. However, these devices are expensive and require an in depth understanding of electric circuits and motors. When a motor is suspect, the company must call in experts to analyze the motor. This is very expensive and time consuming. With the advancement of processing power in microcontrollers and the development of integral systems on chips, it is possible to produce a small unit that will be able to perform the functions of the more expensive analysis devices. The device would be a handheld tester can diagnose the health of the motor by using resistance, inductance and high voltage “megger” testing, giving a user-friendly pass/fail result, allowing non-skilled personal to conduct tests on motors. It utilizes modern circuitry and micro-controllers to perform the tests, resulting in an affordable accurate tester. The increase in motor testing availability, affordability, and frequency will decrease the chances of catastrophic accidents that can cost time, money, and lives.