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How Do You Measure Machine Runtime on Old Machines Without Sensors or a PLC?
You can measure runtime on machines of different makes and ages from the tower light on top of them. If a camera in the factory can see the light, you can read from the footage when each machine was running and when it stopped. Nothing has to be fitted to the machine, wired in or connected to its PLC. KAYA Vision AI does this measurement with the cameras your factory already has.
Why old machines are hard to get data from
A twenty-year-old lathe can stand next to a machining centre bought last year. One controller will give you data, the other has no port for it at all. Collecting runtime by connecting to each machine becomes a separate job for every make. Sensors mean their own hardware, cabling and electrical work on each machine.
What the machine already shows: the tower light
Whatever the make or age, the machine already shows its state on its tower light. If a camera can see the light, the measurement needs nothing else.
KAYA reads the light from the camera footage and builds daily, monthly and per-shift hours for each machine. The machine isn't opened or reconfigured, production doesn't stop, and warranties stay as they are. If you stop using KAYA, there is nothing to remove from the machines.
A machine without a tower light can't be measured this way. Once a light is added, KAYA can measure it too.
Will your existing cameras do?
If the lights are clear in the picture from your security cameras, you don't need new cameras, and one camera can measure several machines. If a light sits behind a column or a rack, or shows up as a tiny dot, the camera may need a different angle, or you may need one more camera.
To find out, open a few camera views on your recorder and see whether you can make out the lights.
How amber time is counted
Green time counts as running. Amber time is split in two. With someone at the machine, amber usually means setup, measuring or a part change. KAYA keeps that time inside runtime, on a line of its own. If nobody is there, the machine is waiting for someone, and that time is reported on its own and left out of runtime.
KAYA doesn't identify anyone to do this. It only checks whether someone is in the area next to the machine.
What happens when the camera can't see
If a camera goes down, a forklift blocks the light or the picture is unclear, KAYA doesn't assign that time a state. It shows up in the report as a gap, marked "no evidence". That way time when the machine didn't run is never mixed up with time nobody could measure.
What this method can't measure
The camera sees the outside of the machine. Spindle load, feed rates, G-code, alarm codes and anything else inside the controller are out of its reach; for those you have to connect to the machine itself. For runtime, stops and the time a machine spent waiting for someone, seeing the light is enough.
Where it doesn't work is spelled out on the KAYA page; for setup, see the FAQ.
Common mistakes
Deciding before looking at the cameras
The camera picture shows whether a machine can be measured this way. Look at the footage before you decide which machines to start with; a machine whose light sits behind a column can't be measured until the light shows in the picture.
Using the first figures without checking them
Pick a few hours from the first week and open the camera frames behind them. Seeing for yourself that KAYA read the light correctly is the quickest way to trust the figures.
Trying KAYA
Start with a few machines whose lights the cameras see clearly, not the whole shop. If your recorder still keeps footage from past days, you can put the measured hours next to the hours on your operators' forms for the same days. That shows you how close the hours you decide on today really are.
Setup is done remotely and takes about an hour; nobody needs to visit your factory. The first 30 days are free.
Does your equipment have tower lights, and can a camera see them? Write to info@glotech.io and we'll check that with you first.