One Sensor. Two Modes. Predictive Maintenance and Forensic Evidence from a Single Platform.
Fault Ledger is a rugged, wireless bearing sensor platform that runs both predictive maintenance and forensic evidence capture firmware — switchable over the air. AI-powered edge processing on the gateway. Battery-powered and portable. No cloud dependency. Made in the USA.
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Bearing Monitoring Across Three Critical Industries
Purpose-built sensor systems for the environments where bearings matter most — and where standard monitoring equipment can't survive.
Marine Bearing Monitoring
Propulsion shaft bearings, stern tube bearings, and auxiliary machinery in saltwater environments where corrosion and vibration destroy conventional sensors. Our marine-grade enclosure and wireless BLE connectivity deliver real-time bearing condition data without cable runs through wet spaces.
- Real-time RMS, Peak-to-Peak, and FFT vibration analysis
- Corrosion-resistant 316L stainless steel housing
- Wireless Bluetooth Low Energy data transmission
Railway Bearing Monitoring
Axle bearings, traction motor bearings, and gearbox bearings on rolling stock exposed to extreme temperature swings, constant vibration, and remote operation. BLE Mesh networking with LTE gateway connectivity delivers bearing health data from track-side or on-vehicle installations.
- Bearing defect detection: BPFO, BPFI, BSF, and FTF frequencies
- BLE Mesh + cellular LTE gateway to cloud
- Automated health scoring and windowed sampling
Industrial Bearing Monitoring
Compressors, turbines, gearboxes, pumps, and rotating machinery in process plants, power generation, and heavy manufacturing. Our FCC-certified LoRa sensor nodes cover entire facilities with long-range wireless connectivity and years of battery life.
- FCC-certified custom PCB design (RAK4631 + nRF52840)
- LoRa 902–928 MHz long-range wireless connectivity
- Multi-year battery operation, zero cable infrastructure
Two Modes, One Platform
The same sensor hardware runs two distinct firmware modes — switchable over the air. Deploy for predictive maintenance today. Have forensic-grade evidence ready when failure strikes.
Predictive Maintenance
Continuous vibration trending, health scoring, and early warning alerts. The gateway runs AI-powered anomaly detection and bearing defect classification locally — no cloud required. Identify developing faults before they become failures.
- Continuous RMS, Peak-to-Peak, and FFT trending
- AI anomaly detection on the gateway
- Bearing defect classification (BPFO, BPFI, BSF, FTF)
- Health scoring with configurable alert thresholds
- Historical trend data for maintenance planning
Forensic Evidence Capture
Event-triggered, high-frequency data capture with tamper-evident sealing. When a bearing fails catastrophically, the system preserves the physical evidence that would otherwise be lost — enabling forensic analysis for warranty disputes, insurance claims, and legal proceedings.
- Pre-event and post-event high-frequency capture
- Cryptographic sealing at moment of capture
- Multi-party key control — no single party can suppress evidence
- Chain-of-custody metadata for legal defensibility
- Tamper-evident — any alteration invalidates the record
Change Firmware Over the Air
Switch any sensor between predictive maintenance and forensic evidence mode remotely. No hardware swap. No truck roll. No physical access required. Adapt your monitoring strategy as needs change — or run a mixed fleet with some sensors in each mode.
- Wireless firmware updates via BLE, LoRa, or LTE
- No physical access to the sensor required
- Mixed-mode deployments across a facility
- Start with predictive, switch to forensic when disputes arise
What Makes Fault Ledger Different
The bearing condition monitoring market is crowded with single-purpose sensors. Three things set Fault Ledger apart.
Dual-Use Architecture
Most bearing sensors do one thing: predictive maintenance or data logging. Fault Ledger does both from the same hardware. One sensor platform runs predictive maintenance firmware for day-to-day monitoring and forensic evidence firmware for failure capture — switchable over the air.
- Predictive maintenance mode — continuous trending, AI anomaly detection, health scoring, and early warning alerts
- Forensic evidence mode — event-triggered capture with tamper-evident sealing and chain-of-custody
- OTA firmware switching — change any sensor's mission remotely, no hardware swap required
- Mixed-mode fleets — run some sensors in predictive mode and others in forensic mode across the same facility
AI Edge Processing
The Fault Ledger gateway runs anomaly detection, bearing defect classification, and health scoring locally — no cloud dependency. Data is processed where it's generated, eliminating latency, bandwidth costs, and connectivity requirements.
- On-gateway anomaly detection — identifies abnormal vibration patterns in real time without internet connectivity
- Bearing defect classification — AI models trained on BPFO, BPFI, BSF, and FTF spectral signatures
- No cloud dependency — works in air-gapped facilities, remote marine installations, and environments with no internet
- Data sovereignty — sensitive vibration data never leaves your facility unless you choose to export it
Built to Survive Where Other Sensors Fail
Most vibration sensors are designed for controlled environments. Ours are engineered for the worst conditions on Earth — and they're portable enough to move between machines.
- 316L stainless steel enclosure — corrosion-resistant in marine saltwater, chemical process plants, and outdoor railway installations
- Magnetic mounting with direct vibration coupling — no signal attenuation, orientation-independent, installs in seconds
- Battery-powered and portable — move sensors between machines for walk-around diagnostics or redeploy across facilities
- Fully wireless — no cable runs, no facility power dependency, no single point of wiring failure
How Fault Ledger Works
From deployment to predictive monitoring to forensic evidence capture — on a single platform.
Deploy & Connect
Mount the sensor magnetically on any ferromagnetic bearing housing. Direct vibration coupling through the metal shell ensures high-fidelity signal capture. The sensor connects wirelessly via BLE, LoRa, or LTE — no cables, no facility infrastructure required. Battery-powered with multi-year life.
Predictive Mode: Monitor & Alert
In predictive maintenance mode, the sensor continuously captures vibration data. The gateway runs AI-powered anomaly detection and bearing defect classification locally — identifying developing BPFO, BPFI, BSF, and FTF signatures before they become critical. Health scores and alerts keep maintenance teams informed.
Forensic Mode: Capture & Seal
In forensic evidence mode, the sensor maintains a continuous rolling buffer of high-frequency vibration data. When a terminal bearing failure is detected, the system freezes the pre-event buffer, captures post-event data, and cryptographically seals the complete evidence package on-device — creating a tamper-evident record with chain-of-custody metadata.
Switch Modes Over the Air
Change any sensor's firmware remotely via OTA update. Start with predictive maintenance to justify the deployment and build baseline data. Switch to forensic mode when a dispute arises or when an asset enters a warranty-critical period. Run mixed fleets with sensors in different modes across the same facility.
Sensor Hardware Built for Real-World Bearing Monitoring
Every design decision prioritizes signal fidelity and environmental survivability.
316L Stainless Steel Construction
CNC-machined from marine-grade 316L stainless steel. 70mm diameter cylindrical design with M60x1.5mm precision threading. Resists saltwater corrosion, chemical exposure, and mechanical impact in the harshest operating environments.
Direct Vibration Coupling
Magnetic base mounting transmits vibration directly through the metal shell into the sensor — no vibration isolation, no signal attenuation. Orientation-independent and portable: move sensors between machines in seconds for walk-around diagnostics or permanent deployment.
Multi-Protocol Wireless
BLE for close-range marine deployments. BLE Mesh with LTE gateway for railway installations. LoRa 902–928 MHz for industrial facilities requiring long-range coverage. Every protocol is wireless — zero cable infrastructure required.
AI Edge Processing
The gateway runs anomaly detection, bearing defect classification, and health scoring locally using trained AI models. No cloud latency. No data egress. No internet dependency. Sensitive vibration data stays on-premises unless you choose to export it.
Battery-Powered & Portable
Every sensor operates on battery power, independent of facility infrastructure. Magnetic mounting enables rapid redeployment between machines — from walk-around diagnostic routes to permanent installations. Multi-year battery life, zero cabling.
Designed and Made in the USA
Custom PCB design. FCC-certified electronics. Patented enclosure. Every Fault Ledger bearing monitoring sensor is designed and manufactured in the United States with full hardware traceability.
Beyond Monitoring: Forensic-Grade Bearing Failure Evidence
Most bearing monitoring sensors tell you a bearing is degrading. Fault Ledger also preserves exactly what happened when it failed — creating a defensible, tamper-evident record for disputes, insurance claims, and root cause analysis.
Tamper-Evident Data Sealing
Bearing failure data is cryptographically hashed and sealed on-device the moment capture concludes. Any alteration attempt invalidates the record. Integrity is provable, not promised.
Multi-Party Key Control
Evidence decryption requires multiple independent keys. No single party — operator, OEM, insurer, or vendor — can access or suppress the bearing failure record alone. Neutrality is architectural.
Pre-Event and Post-Event Capture
The rolling buffer preserves high-frequency bearing vibration data from before the failure event. Combined with post-event capture, the sealed record shows the complete physical story of the failure.
Chain-of-Custody Metadata
Every evidence package includes full chain-of-custody metadata for use in warranty disputes, insurance claims, litigation, and root cause investigations.
When bearings fail, the data speaks for itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the Fault Ledger bearing sensor platform.
Can one sensor do both predictive maintenance and forensic evidence capture?
Yes. The same Fault Ledger sensor hardware runs two distinct firmware modes: predictive maintenance (continuous trending, health scoring, AI anomaly detection) and forensic evidence capture (event-triggered, tamper-evident, chain-of-custody). You can switch between modes over the air — no hardware swap, no physical access required. You can also run a mixed fleet with some sensors in each mode.
What AI processing does the system include?
The Fault Ledger gateway runs AI-powered anomaly detection and bearing defect classification locally. Trained models identify abnormal vibration patterns and classify bearing defect signatures (BPFO, BPFI, BSF, FTF) in real time — without sending data to the cloud. This edge processing approach eliminates latency, bandwidth costs, and internet dependency, and keeps sensitive equipment data on-premises.
Can I move sensors between machines?
Yes. Every Fault Ledger sensor is battery-powered with magnetic mounting — it installs in seconds and requires no cables, drilling, or facility infrastructure. You can use sensors for walk-around diagnostic routes across multiple machines, trial monitoring before committing to a permanent deployment, or rapid redeployment between facilities. The same portability makes them ideal for monitoring rental, leased, or seasonal equipment.
What bearing defect frequencies does the system detect?
Fault Ledger sensors perform on-device FFT spectral analysis to identify the four primary bearing defect characteristic frequencies: Ball Pass Frequency Outer Race (BPFO), Ball Pass Frequency Inner Race (BPFI), Ball Spin Frequency (BSF), and Fundamental Train Frequency (FTF). These frequencies are calculated from bearing geometry and shaft speed, allowing early detection of outer race, inner race, rolling element, and cage defects.
How do Fault Ledger sensors survive marine and offshore environments?
Every sensor is housed in a CNC-machined 316L stainless steel enclosure — the same marine-grade alloy used in marine hardware and chemical processing. The fully wireless, battery-powered design eliminates cable penetrations. Magnetic mounting requires no drilling or welding. The patented tamper-proof design resists environmental ingress, corrosion, and mechanical impact.
What makes these sensors different from standard predictive maintenance vibration sensors?
Three things. First, dual-use: the same sensor runs both predictive maintenance and forensic evidence firmware, switchable over the air. Second, edge AI: the gateway processes anomaly detection and defect classification locally with no cloud dependency. Third, forensic-grade capture: when a bearing fails, the system seals the high-frequency data from before, during, and after the event in a tamper-evident, cryptographically sealed record. Standard sensors report averages. Fault Ledger preserves the raw physics.
What wireless connectivity options are available?
Fault Ledger offers three wireless protocols matched to deployment environments: Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for close-range marine installations, BLE Mesh with cellular LTE gateway for railway and remote asset monitoring, and LoRa (902–928 MHz) for industrial facilities requiring long-range coverage across entire plants. All protocols are fully wireless with zero cable infrastructure.
How does the forensic failure capture work?
The sensor continuously maintains a rolling buffer of high-frequency vibration data. When a terminal bearing failure is detected — via shock threshold, spectral discontinuity, thermal excursion, or acoustic transient — the system freezes the pre-event buffer, continues post-event capture for a fixed window, then cryptographically seals the complete evidence package on-device. The result is a tamper-evident record of exactly what occurred physically during the failure.
Can the bearing failure data be used in legal proceedings or insurance claims?
Yes. The sealed evidence package includes full chain-of-custody metadata. Decryption requires multiple independent keys — no single party can unilaterally access, alter, or suppress the record. The cryptographic seal is verifiable: any attempt to alter the data invalidates it. This architecture is designed specifically for use in warranty disputes, insurance claims, litigation, and multi-party failure investigations.
Discuss Your Bearing Monitoring Needs
Whether you need predictive maintenance monitoring, forensic evidence capture, or both — tell us about your environment and we'll discuss whether Fault Ledger is the right fit.
Or email us directly: erik@faultledger.com