We designed and built a full mechatronic test bench, supporting research into gearbox health monitoring and predictive maintenance through Electrical Signature Analysis (ESA). The bench enables detection of gear wear by analysing how mechanical disturbances propagate into motor current signals — without requiring additional vibration sensors.

The drivetrain has a U-shaped configuration. Both motors are rigidly coupled to their gearbox, with a torque sensor connecting the two gearboxes in the middle. The drive motor is a WEG induction motor, controlled by an Infineon inverter. This inverter was selected for its research-grade controllability and direct accessibility of switching parameters, making it ideal for studying how inverter-induced current modulations interact with gear-mesh signatures in ESA measurements.

The load motor is a WEG permanent-magnet synchronous motor, controlled via a WEG CFW inverter. A Beckhoff active front end (AFE) is coupled to the load side, enabling four-quadrant operation and regenerative braking — recovered energy is fed directly back to the mains grid, significantly reducing energy consumption during long-duration wear testing. Both motors are connected to their respective gearbox via rigid shaft couplings, ensuring full transmission of torsional and vibrational content into the electrical domain — a critical requirement for high-fidelity ESA.

A National Instruments CompactRIO (CRIO) serves as the central data acquisition and control platform. It synchronises encoder signals, motor currents, torque measurements, and optional vibration and temperature sensors in real time, providing the high-speed, deterministic data capture needed for angle-domain analysis and machine learning-based condition monitoring.