Industrial IoT Wireless Smart Vibration Sensor Gen4

01Overview

The NCD Industrial IoT Wireless Smart Vibration Sensor Gen4 is a battery-powered, 3-axis vibration and temperature monitor built for predictive maintenance on rotating equipment — motors, pumps, fans, compressors, and gearboxes. It samples acceleration on all three axes, performs FFT analysis on-board, and transmits processed vibration metrics (RMS acceleration, velocity, displacement, peak frequencies), temperature, and RPM over a long-range wireless mesh network to an Atrium IIoT Gateway. In Smart Mode the sensor is always listening: it continuously monitors vibration and transmits when RMS acceleration crosses a configurable threshold, sending a periodic keep-alive in between so the gateway knows it is online — conserving battery. (See how Smart Mode transmission works.)

The sensor ships with one of three wireless communication modules. Choose the frequency band that matches your gateway and region — the sensor core, firmware, and Atrium integration are identical across all three. The 900 MHz and 868 MHz options run on NCD’s sub-GHz wireless mesh network, which cuts through industrial noise and interference for secure, long-range communication.

What’s in the Box

• Industrial IoT Wireless Smart Vibration Sensor Gen4 with pre-installed D-cell (LR20) battery and integrated supercapacitor
• Wireless communication module per your selection (900 MHz, 868 MHz, or 2.4 GHz)
• Internal antenna — no external antenna to attach

02Specifications

Full technical specifications for the Smart Vibration Sensor Gen4 (SKU PR63-3A). Values are drawn from the product datasheet and user manual; where sources differ, both figures are noted.

03Prerequisites

Before installing this sensor, make sure you have the following in place.

Hardware Required

• NCD Atrium IIoT Gateway — powered on and connected to your local network
• Smart Vibration Sensor Gen4 (this unit) with the wireless module installed (internal antenna — nothing to attach)
• A clean, flat mounting point on the monitored asset — magnetic surface or a tapped 1/4″–28 UNF hole for stud mounting

Software / Network

• A current version of Atrium running on your gateway
• A computer or mobile device on the same local network as the gateway
• A modern web browser (Chrome recommended)

04Mounting & Installation

Mounting quality directly affects vibration data quality. The sensor must be rigidly coupled to the asset so that machine vibration transfers faithfully to the accelerometer. Loose, padded, or indirect mounting attenuates high-frequency content and degrades FFT accuracy.

Powering On

1. 1
   Confirm power

   The Gen4 ships battery-installed and powered on in Run Mode. To verify power without opening the enclosure, activate the magnetic CFG switch with a magnet — the TEST LED illuminates while a magnet is present, confirming the battery is connected and the unit is live.
2. 2
   Power cycle if needed

   If the unit needs a restart (for example after long storage), trigger the magnetic RESET switch with a magnet, then remove the magnet. The sensor reboots into Run Mode and resumes sampling.

Mounting the Sensor

• Magnetic mount: The base is a strong magnet that attaches directly to any flat, clean ferrous surface (motor housing, pump body, equipment frame). Remove by rotating the sensor counterclockwise by hand — do not pry. Best for surveys and temporary monitoring.
• Threaded stud mount: For permanent installation, mount to a tapped 1/4″–28 UNF hole using a threaded stud. This gives the most rigid coupling and the best high-frequency response.

05Pairing with Atrium

Once powered on, the sensor transmits over its long-range wireless mesh and the gateway begins hearing it. New sensors are held pending (blacklisted) until you whitelist them through the Sensor Details wizard — data is not logged until a sensor is whitelisted. The wizard walks you through naming and whitelisting each detected sensor.

1. 1
   Power on and mount the sensor

   Confirm the sensor is powered (TEST LED on CFG activation) and mounted. Within one sampling interval, the gateway will begin receiving its transmissions.
2. 2
   Open Atrium and go to Sensors

   Navigate to your gateway’s local address (e.g. http://ncd-[last-4-of-MAC].local) and click Sensors in the top navigation. A banner shows “X sensors need setup” with detected sensors grouped by type. Your unit appears under the Vibration sensor type.
3. 3
   Open the Sensor Details wizard

   Click the sensor in the banner (or in the Sensors table) to open the Sensor Details wizard. New sensors start pending (blacklisted) — completing the wizard whitelists the sensor so Atrium begins logging its data.
4. 4
   Enter details and save

   Give the sensor a Sensor Name, Asset, and Location (see Section 6). Use Save to whitelist and finish, Save & Next to move to the next pending sensor, or Skip to leave a sensor pending for now.
5. 5
   Confirm it is reporting

   The whitelisted sensor now appears in the Sensors table with a recent Last Heard timestamp. Open its Dashboard to confirm live vibration and temperature data.

06Sensor Meta

The Sensor Meta tab controls how Atrium identifies and tracks this sensor. Access it via Sensors → [your sensor] → Configure → Sensor Meta.

07Metric Configuration

The Metrics tab lets you configure conversion formulas, units, custom labels, and dashboard visibility for each data channel. Access it via Configure → Metrics. The Gen4 reports a rich set of vibration metrics on each of the three axes, plus environmental and packet-metadata channels.

Vibration Metrics (per X / Y / Z axis)

Environmental & Operational Metrics

Custom Conversion Formulas

Each metric supports a custom conversion formula using value as the variable name. Leave the formula as value or blank to display raw data. Examples:

value * 25.4          // Convert displacement mm to mils (thousandths of an inch)
value / 9.80665       // Convert acceleration in m/s² to g
value * 60            // Convert a per-second rate to per-minute

Custom Labels & Visibility

Each metric can be assigned a Custom Label that replaces the default metric name throughout Atrium. Unchecking Visible on Dashboard hides that metric’s card and chart without deleting data — useful for focusing a vibration dashboard on the few axes and channels that matter for a given asset.

08Hardware Settings

Hardware settings control the sensor’s on-board configuration — operating mode, sampling, filtering, thresholds, and network addressing. Changes are staged in Atrium and pushed to the sensor on its next configuration check-in. Access via Configure → Sensor Configuration.

Operating Mode

The Gen4 supports four operating modes. Choose the mode that matches your monitoring goal and battery budget:

Key Configuration Parameters

Adjusting the Sampling Interval

1. 1
   Go to Sensor Configuration

   Navigate to Sensors → [your sensor] → Configure → Sensor Configuration.
2. 2
   Update the interval and mode

   Set your desired sampling interval and operating mode. Shorter intervals and higher ODR give more data at the cost of battery life.
3. 3
   Click Save Hardware Settings

   The new values are staged and pushed to the sensor on its next FLY (configuration check-in) window — up to one FLY interval (default 60 minutes).
4. 4
   Update the Report Interval in Sensor Meta

   Update the Report Interval on the Sensor Meta tab to match your new transmission cadence so offline detection stays accurate.

Battery Life

The sensor delivers up to 5 years of battery life. Actual life depends on your configuration — sample rate (ODR), transmission interval, and operating mode all affect it. Higher ODR and shorter intervals draw more power; Smart Mode extends life on assets that are frequently idle, since it transmits only on threshold events plus keep-alives. To estimate battery life for your exact settings, use NCD’s battery life calculator. For continuous high-rate monitoring, run the sensor on external power.

09Temperature Units

The Gen4 reports base temperature alongside its vibration metrics. Atrium provides a global temperature display unit setting that controls how temperature readings appear across the entire interface — all sensors, dashboards, alerts, and reports.

1. 1
   Open Gateway Settings

   Click Settings in the top navigation to open Gateway Configuration.
2. 2
   Select Temperature Display Unit

   Under Temperature Display Unit, toggle between °C and °F. This applies immediately to all temperature readings across Atrium.
3. 3
   Save Configuration

   Click Save Configuration at the bottom of the page to apply the change.

10Sensor Dashboard

The Sensor Dashboard provides a real-time and historical view of all data from this sensor. Access it by clicking the sensor in the Sensors list and selecting Dashboard.

Live Metrics

Time Range & Charts

Use the time range selector to view historical data for the last hour, 6 hours, 24 hours, 7 days, or 30 days. A custom date/time range is also available. Each metric has its own interactive chart — drag to zoom into a time window, double-click to reset. Trend RMS velocity over weeks to catch developing faults early.

Mesh Route Map

Click View Map in the Mesh Route Map panel to visualize how this sensor’s data routes through the wireless mesh to reach the gateway. Useful for diagnosing signal path issues in multi-sensor deployments.

Interactive Preview

The panel below simulates the Atrium Sensor Dashboard for this Vibration / Temperature sensor. Data updates every 5 seconds to demonstrate the live monitoring experience.

11Setting Alerts

Atrium uses a Triggers & Actions model for alerting. A Trigger defines the threshold condition on a metric. An Action defines what happens when all assigned triggers fire. Navigate to Alerts in the top navigation (the page is titled Alerts & Actions) to configure.

Creating a Trigger

1. 1
   Go to Alerts → Triggers

   Click + New Trigger to open the Create Trigger form.
2. 2
   Configure the trigger

   Select the Device, Metric (e.g. RMS velocity, peak acceleration, or temperature), Condition (Above or Below), and Threshold value. The Reset At column sets the value the metric must return to before the trigger can fire again — this hysteresis prevents repeated firing when the value oscillates near the threshold. Click Create Trigger.

Creating an Action

1. 1
   Go to Alerts → Actions

   Click + New Action. Actions link one or more triggers to a response — when all assigned triggers fire simultaneously, the action executes.
2. 2
   Assign triggers and configure the response

   Select the trigger(s) to watch and configure the response. Atrium supports email notifications and relay output actions (to drive an external relay, e.g. shut down or signal equipment). Email must be configured in Settings → Gateway Configuration for email actions to work.

12Exporting Data

All sensor data can be exported to CSV directly from the Sensor Dashboard for use in spreadsheets, reporting tools, or vibration-analysis software.

1. 1
   Open the Sensor Dashboard

   Navigate to the sensor and click Dashboard.
2. 2
   Select a time range

   Choose the time range you want to export using the selector at the top of the dashboard.
3. 3
   Click “CSV” on the desired metric

   Each metric chart has a CSV download button. Click it to download a timestamped CSV of that metric’s data for the selected time range. Export velocity and acceleration channels for offline trend analysis.

13Product Notes

Reference information for ordering and accessories.

Buy Now on store.ncd.io →

14Troubleshooting

Common issues and their solutions.

Sensor not appearing in Atrium

• Confirm the sensor is powered — activate the magnetic CFG switch and check that the TEST LED illuminates.
• Verify the sensor’s wireless frequency (900/868 MHz or 2.4 GHz) matches the gateway’s radio.
• Verify the sensor’s Network ID matches the gateway’s Network ID. (Note: while in Configuration mode the sensor temporarily uses Network ID 7BCD.)
• Move the sensor closer to the gateway to rule out range issues — test within 10 feet first.
• Check that the Atrium gateway is powered on and connected to your network.

Sensor showing as Offline in Atrium

• Verify the Report Interval in Sensor Meta matches the sensor’s transmission interval in Hardware Settings. In Smart Mode, allow for the keep-alive cadence so quiet periods aren’t read as an outage.
• Check the battery_pct on the last received reading — replace the battery if low. Note battery_v drops off quickly once it falls below ~2.6 V.
• Check the RSSI value — remember higher numbers mean a weaker signal. Readings consistently above 75 dBm indicate marginal signal; reposition the sensor or gateway, or add a repeater node.

Vibration or RPM reading looks wrong

• RPM reads 0: expected when acceleration is below 30 mg (machine idle or very low vibration), or if the asset isn’t rotating. Confirm RPM Calculation is enabled in Hardware Settings.
• Readings unexpectedly low / zero: check mounting — a loose magnet, painted surface, or padded mount attenuates vibration. Re-seat the sensor on bare, flat metal. Confirm the Acceleration Dead Band isn’t masking the real signal.
• High-frequency faults missing: raise the Output Data Rate (ODR) so the band of interest is within range, and verify the full-scale range isn’t clipping high-amplitude events.
• Allow the machine to reach normal operating conditions before trusting trend comparisons.

Hardware settings not updating on sensor

• Settings are staged and applied on the sensor’s next configuration check-in (FLY window) — wait up to one FLY interval (default 60 minutes) after saving.
• To apply changes immediately, power-cycle the sensor with the magnetic RESET switch, which opens a configuration window on boot.
• Confirm the sensor is actively transmitting by checking the Last Heard timestamp on the dashboard.

15Factory Reset

A factory reset restores the sensor’s wireless module to default settings. This is useful if the sensor is not being detected by a gateway, or if you are redeploying it to a new network. The magnetic switch method is recommended — no disassembly required. Reset behavior is governed by how long the CFG switch is held after a RESET.

Option A — Magnetic Switches (no disassembly)

1. 1
   Trigger the RESET switch

   Hold a magnet near the RESET magnetic switch, then move it away.
2. 2
   Wait 1 second

   Allow approximately 1 second before proceeding.
3. 3
   Hold the CFG switch for ~20 seconds

   Hold the magnet near the CFG magnetic switch for approximately 20 seconds, then move it away. The hold must exceed 15 seconds to trigger a factory reset — a shorter hold only enters Configuration Mode.
4. 4
   Wait 3–5 seconds

   Allow 3–5 seconds for the reset to complete.
5. 5
   Trigger the RESET switch again

   Hold the magnet near the RESET switch once more, then move it away. This returns the sensor to normal Run Mode.

Option B — Physical Buttons (requires opening enclosure)

1. 1
   Open the enclosure

   Open the sensor enclosure to expose the PCB (use the optional spanner wrench if required).
2. 2
   Press and release the RESET button

   Press and release the RESET button on the PCB.
3. 3
   Wait 1 second, then hold CFG for ~20 seconds

   Wait approximately 1 second, then press and hold the CFG button for approximately 20 seconds. The hold must exceed 15 seconds to trigger a factory reset. Release the button when done.
4. 4
   Wait 3–5 seconds

   Allow 3–5 seconds for the reset to complete.
5. 5
   Press RESET, then close the enclosure

   Press and release the RESET button to return the sensor to normal operation. Re-seal the enclosure.