Hybrid Edge–Cloud Models for Bearing Failure Detection in a Fleet of Machines

Real-time condition monitoring of machinery is increasingly being adopted to minimize costs and enhance operational efficiency. By leveraging large-scale data acquisition and intelligent algorithms, failures can be detected and predicted, thereby reducing machine downtime. In this paper, we present a novel hybrid edge–cloud system for detecting rotational bearing failures using accelerometer data. We evaluate both supervised and unsupervised neural network approaches, highlighting their respective strengths and limitations. Supervised models demonstrate high accuracy but require labeled datasets representative of the failures of interesting data that are challenging to acquire due to the rarity of anomalies. Conversely, unsupervised models rely on data from normal operational conditions, which is more readily available. However, these models classify all deviations from normalcy as anomalies, including those unrelated to failure, leading to costly false positives. To address these challenges, we propose a distributed system that integrates supervised and unsupervised learning. A compact unsupervised model is deployed on edge devices near the machines to compress sensor data, which are then transmitted to a centralized cloud-based system. Over time, these data are automatically labeled and used to train a supervised model, improving the accuracy of failure predictions. Our approach enables efficient, scalable failure detection across a fleet of machines while balancing the trade-offs between supervised and unsupervised learning.