Smart monitoring platform uses physics-informed Ai.

Say goodbye to unplanned downtime: how continuous condition monitoring is transforming data centre reliability

Hottinger Brüel & Kjær (HBK) has launched an advanced AI-enabled smart monitoring platform: HBK Monitor360. It provides real-time, structural health insights for critical infrastructure and industrial operations

This physics-informed solution transforms high-fidelity sensor data into actionable intelligence, enabling owners and operators of data centres, plus other Ai infrastructure, including semiconductor manufacturing facilities, to maximise uptime, optimise predictive maintenance strategies, and enhance safety. It also supports critical infrastructure, such as power generation facilities, bridges and rail networks.

As Ai infrastructure scales and operational demands intensify, traditional periodic inspections are no longer sufficient to ensure operational continuity and efficiency. For data centres and semiconductor manufacturing environments in particular, unplanned disruption can have significant financial and operational consequences.

HBK Monitor360 addresses this challenge by moving beyond mere data visualisation to offer continuous condition monitoring and predictive maintenance, leveraging advanced sensor technology, edge computing, and AI-supported analytics. The platform provides real-time dashboards with historical context, allowing live signals to be compared against long-term operational baselines for early anomaly detection. This proactive approach supports condition-based and predictive maintenance, which reduces costly downtime and improves operational efficiency across Ai infrastructure – and assets such as bridges and rail infrastructure.

A key differentiator for HBK Monitor360 is its physics-informed Ai approach, which draws on HBK’s long-standing experience in engineering and sensor technology. This methodology ensures that valuable insights are grounded in robust engineering principles rather than solely relying on black-box learning. The platform integrates multi-sensor data, including strain, vibration, temperature and displacement, with AI-driven analytics to learn normal machine behaviour and identify subtle anomalies.

"The real value in Structural Health Monitoring doesn't just come from visualising huge volumes of data," said Guga Gugaratshan, Director, Software/Digital Growth at HBK. "It comes from traceable, physics-informed workflows that convert imperfect field data into reliable, reviewable, and actionable engineering evidence, ultimately empowering asset managers to make data-driven decisions that extend asset life and reduce operational risk."

Designed for seamless integration into existing monitoring ecosystems, HBK Monitor360 complements current operational technology (OT) and asset management systems, avoiding vendor lock-in and supporting scalable digital transformation at the user's pace.

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 @HBMmeasurement @BruelKjaerUK @HBMPrenscia #PAuto #Ai

Handheld indicator.

"Precision on the move: one handheld device, infinite applications."

The DA110 Handheld Indicator supports engineers working within demanding industrial and metrological environments. This instrument from HBK is a portable device which simplifies complex set ups and helps maintain measurement accuracy across diverse systems.

The tool has been designed to address these challenges by providing a complete, versatile and configurable measurement chain. Engineered to seamlessly integrate with a wide variety of strain gauge sensors (full bridge, 4- or 6-wire, 80 to 5000 Ω) and transducers - including high-precision force, torque and weighing sensors – it transforms how mobile calibration, material testing, and asset monitoring are performed. Built-in Transducer Electronic Data Sheet (TEDS) enables immediate sensor recognition, allowing technicians to switch between distinct measurement tasks instantly.

By bringing laboratory-grade precision directly to the field, the indicator offers several operational advantages, starting with standards-compliant traceability. The system can be calibrated by the German Accreditation Body (DAkkS) to operate as a fully traceable reference instrument within an organisation's existing calibration chain, ensuring audit-ready documentation, suitable for high-end reference and service use.

Traceability is also supported by exceptional technical capability - with an accuracy class of up to 0.01% of full scale at a 4.8 kHz sample rate, as well as high-speed sampling up to 19.2 kHz with 0.1% accuracy to capture rapid, dynamic force profiles reliably.

D110 simplifies the calibration of industrial machinery and complex weighing systems, enabling field technicians to perform precise, repeatable verification directly on stamping and forming presses, hydraulic workshop presses, press brakes, assembly machines and torque verification systems, without the need for expensive, time-consuming stationary lab setups.

When paired with industrial load cells, the device serves as a mobile reference system to verify weighing installations in silos, tanks and filling stations. This allows users to test individual load cells, verify summed signals and detect mechanical drift or settling, ensuring billing compliance and improving material balance control, without interrupting standard plant workflows.

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@HBMmeasurement @BruelKjaerUK @HBMPrenscia #PAuto

Five-nines uptime!

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (Ai) training workloads is reshaping the operational and reliability requirements of modern data centres, according to a new white paper from HBK.

Entitled “Ensuring Five-Nines Uptime in the Age of AI,” the paper examines how increasing compute intensity, power variability, and extended training cycles are driving a renewed focus on reliability as a critical factor in sustaining continuous data centre operations.

Traditional data centre architectures were largely designed to handle stable, predictable workloads. However, Ai training introduces dynamic operating conditions, including multi-megawatt power fluctuations within seconds and compute processes that can run continuously for weeks or months.

Under these conditions, even short disruptions can have significant consequences. A single power interruption or cooling failure may require entire training processes to restart, resulting in substantial losses of time and compute resources.

At the same time, financial exposure to downtime is increasing. Service level agreements (SLAs) tied to ultra-high availability frequently impose penalties when uptime falls below 99.999%, while industry data indicates that a notable share of outages exceed $1 million in total cost.

The white paper highlights a shift in how uptime is viewed across the sector. No longer purely an operational metric, availability is increasingly linked to financial performance and asset value. As data centre demand grows, operators that can combine strong operational availability with the ability to overcome constraints such as power access, permitting, and infrastructure limitations are positioned to achieve more resilient and higher-quality returns.

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@HBMmeasurement @BruelKjaerUK @HBMPrenscia #PAuto #Datacentres

Virtual physics conference.

HBK has launched the countdown to its virtual Product Physics Conference, taking place from 13th to 15th October 2020.

The HBK Product Physics Conference is to bring together interested parties, from an international community of users and partners, to learn more about how leaders of the global test and measurement community overcome their challenges.

A wide range of topics, suitable for different types of engineers will be covered, including industrial electronics and measurement chains set ups, improving the durability and reliability of products, data insight, automating analytics for huge quantities of sensor data, electric power testing, strain measurement, dynamic weighing, sound and vibration analysis, electroacoustics and more.

Presented over three days, this free, user-centric online event will demonstrate how HBK’s customers have implemented its tools to address engineering challenges and innovate in their industries. Attendees can also join interactive discussion panels, dedicated networking areas and presentations.

The HBK Product Physics Conference is a good opportunity to share experiences and learn best practices, while expanding personal networks.

@HBMmeasurement @BruelKjaerUK @HBMPrenscia #PAuto 

Merger to provide sensors, data acquisition, preparation, evaluation & engineering services.

HBM is to merge its activities with BKSV (Brüel and Kær Sound and Vibration) from 1 January 2019. Both owned by the British entity Spectris Plc, the new company will be named HBK (Hottinger, Brüel and Kjær).

“Brüel and Kjær and HBM are both premium hardware providers in measurement with a strong focus on software. By combining their activities, the two companies can deliver an integrated offering, combining sensors, data acquisition, preparation, evaluation and engineering services into one solution for its customers” says Eoghan Ó Lionaird, Business Group Director responsible for the Test and Measurement segment.

They are global leaders in their respective disciplines and have complementary expertise across the measurement chain. By leveraging their respective strengths, the aim is to create a business with the capabilities, breadth and scale to deliver differentiated customer value, for example, in the domains of propulsion, durability, safety and noise, vibration and harshness.

“This merger losely with the Spectris strategy of focusing on the provision of complete solutions combining hardware, software and related services and will enable us to provide a broader service with increased value to BKSV and HBM customers,” according to Ó Lionard.

In preparation of the merge, a new management team has been selected, drawing on the strengths and expertise from both HBM and BKSV. Merger preparation activities will be undertaken from now through to the end of 2018, and during this phase, both companies will operate in existing structures. All existing HBM agreements, points of contact, procedures, partnerships etc. will continue as normal.

@HBMmeasurement #PAuto #TandM @bruelandkjaer