Rotentra

Notice the change.
Plan what comes next.

Rotentra is a condition-monitoring system for electric motors and rotating machinery. It combines electrical, vibration, temperature and speed measurements, learns how each machine normally behaves, and flags meaningful change early enough to plan a response, without needing an internet connection.

See how it works Get in touch

In development · Currently at the detailed design stage

Noticing a change in a machine’s behaviourIllustration of four measurement traces from one motor: current, vibration, temperature and speed. Each runs inside a shaded normal range. Partway along, vibration and temperature begin to move outside their normal range.CurrentVibrationTemperatureSpeed
Learned normal range Change from normal

Small changes matter when a whole process depends on a machine.

Motors can run for years with little visibility into how their electrical, mechanical and thermal behaviour is changing. When one stops unexpectedly, maintenance teams have less room to plan and more pressure to restore service.

A single reading rarely tells the whole story. A rise in vibration might be mechanical, electrical, or simply a change in load. Rotentra is designed to read several kinds of measurement together, in the context of each machine’s own history.

Four kinds of signal. One record for each machine.

Concept: where Rotentra observes a motorSide view of an electric motor driving a load through a coupling. Four sensing points are marked: a current and voltage sensor on the supply cable, a three-axis vibration sensor on the front bearing housing, a temperature sensor on the frame, and a speed sensor beside the shaft. Each one is wired to a monitoring module.TO LOADROTENTRA1234
  1. Current and voltageHow the motor draws power from its supply.
  2. Vibration, three axesMechanical behaviour at the bearing housing.
  3. TemperatureHeat measured in contact with the motor frame.
  4. Rotation speedShaft speed, where the installation supports it.
Concept illustration. Not to scale; hardware design is in progress.
  1. 01

    Measure

    Electrical, vibration, temperature and speed signals are captured together, on one shared timeline.

  2. 02

    Learn the normal

    Rotentra builds a reference for each machine across its operating states, from start-up to full load.

  3. 03

    Detect change

    Present behaviour is compared with that reference. Meaningful deviations are recorded with the data around them.

  4. 04

    Show the evidence

    Operators see a clear status. Maintenance and engineering staff can look into trends, events and likely causes.

What a clearer view of machine condition makes possible.

01

Earlier warning

Spot developing changes in condition before they become breakdowns, with time to plan instead of react.

02

Maintenance on real condition

Schedule work around how a machine is actually behaving, not only around fixed intervals.

03

Longer equipment life

Catching problems such as misalignment or bearing wear early helps protect the machine and the investment behind it.

04

Works offline

Monitoring, storage and alerts run locally, so sites with poor or restricted internet access are not left out.

05

A history for every machine

Repairs, remounting and recalibration are recorded, so a change in setup is not mistaken for a fault.

06

Clear about confidence

Measurements, likely causes and uncertainty are kept separate. “Not enough evidence” is a valid answer.

These are design goals. Results will be published once Rotentra has been tested on real machines.

The people who keep machines running.

  • Operators

    A clear view of machine state and what to do next.

  • Maintenance technicians

    Supporting evidence, inspection guidance and each machine’s maintenance history.

  • Reliability engineers

    Trends, comparisons and detailed event data for deeper analysis.

Equipment in scope

  • Brushed DC motors
  • Selected brushless motors
  • 230–240 V single-phase AC motors
  • 400 V-class three-phase motors
  • Fans and pumps
  • Shafts, couplings and bearings

Designed for low-voltage machines in ordinary industrial and laboratory settings.

What Rotentra is, and what it isn’t.

Monitoring, not control

Rotentra observes and informs. It does not start, stop or control motors, and it does not replace breakers, overload relays or emergency stops.

Offline first

Core monitoring and alerts never depend on the cloud. Online services may extend it later, but they stay optional.

Evidence before certainty

A likely cause is only shown when the evidence supports it, together with how confident the system is.

Built carefully.
Reported honestly.

Rotentra is being developed in stages. Requirements and analysis come before hardware, and each stage is checked before the next one begins. Progress is shared here as it happens.

Last updated October 2026

  1. Requirements and system architectureComplete
  2. Detailed design and circuit simulationIn progress
  3. First prototype circuit designNext
  4. Prototype build and bench testingPlanned
  5. Tested demonstrator on real machinesPlanned
  6. Focused AC and DC product versionsPlanned

An independent project.

Rotentra is an independent project by Kevin Amisom Nchorbuno, an Electrical and Electronic Engineering student at the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa, Ghana.

It started from a simple belief: the people who keep motors running deserve clearer, more honest information about the machines they are responsible for. Rotentra is being built step by step, with requirements, analysis and simulation coming before hardware, so that every claim it eventually makes can be backed by testing.

LinkedIn GitHub

Help shape Rotentra.

This is an early stage, and the best time to hear from people who work with motors. I would especially like to hear from:

  • Maintenance and reliability engineers who would test early ideas against real practice
  • Sites or workshops with motors that could support testing later on
  • Mentors and engineers willing to review the design
[email protected]