Optimisation of Node Placement Using Wireless Mesh for Machinery Monitoring: A Case Study in Industrial Facilities

This study investigates the effect of sensor node placement and optimises it within a wireless mesh network for Condition-Based Monitoring (CBM) of industrial machinery. It evaluates network performance across baseline, standalone, and optimised topologies with a particular focus on total latency. Results demonstrated significant improvements in network performance, especially reducing total latency for Node 4 from 13.5 minutes to as low as 7 minutes through strategic node placement. Detailed analysis using the wireless mesh evaluation (Ev) kit showed a correlation between the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) and latency results. These findings conclude that strategic node placement can effectively minimise latency and ensure stable connectivity. This is important in order to get reliable data transmission, especially in challenging environments for wireless networks.