Amazon Monitron FAQs

General

Amazon Monitron is an end-to-end system that detects abnormal behavior in industrial machinery, so you can implement predictive maintenance and reduce unplanned downtime. Amazon Monitron captures vibration and temperature data from your equipment via wireless sensors, which can be set up in minutes using the Amazon Monitron mobile app with no ML experience or development work required. The Amazon Monitron gateway device securely transfers data to AWS, and the service automatically analyzes your data for abnormal machine conditions using machine learning. You can start monitoring equipment health in minutes through the Amazon Monitron mobile and web apps, and enable predictive maintenance with the same technology used to monitor equipment in Amazon Fulfillment Centers.

To get started with Amazon Monitron, purchase sensors and gateways on amazon.com (US , CanadaUK , Germany , Spain , FranceItaly , Australia and Japan ) or Amazon Business. You can create a project by visiting the AWS console, and then using the Amazon Monitron mobile app, you can commission Amazon Monitron Gateways, register the equipment that you would like to monitor, and pair Amazon Monitron Sensors to one or more positions on the equipment. No special training is required. Once the sensors and gateways are set up, the sensors automatically connect to AWS via the gateway, and Amazon Monitron starts monitoring the equipment. You’ll receive push notifications when Amazon Monitron detects potential failures, and can visualize sensor measurements inside the app. Amazon Monitron offers a Starter Kit including five Sensors and one Gateway so that you can get started in an easy and cost-effective way.

Amazon Monitron is built on AWS Internet-of-Things (IOT) and machine learning (ML) technologies. No development or integration effort is required to use Amazon Monitron. Behind the scenes, Amazon Monitron uses multiple AWS services such as Lambda, S3, and DynamoDB.

Amazon Monitron service is available in US East (N. Virginia), Europe (Ireland) and Asia Pacific (Sydney), and will be available in additional regions soon. 

You can buy Amazon Monitron Starter Kits, Sensors and Gateways on amazon.com and Amazon Business.

Amazon Monitron devices are certified for use in US, Canada, Australia, Japan, UK and EU. 

No, there are no restrictions on the number of sites or sensors. Like every AWS service, Amazon Monitron has limits. Learn more in the Amazon Monitron Quotas documentation .

Amazon Monitron may store and use data processed by the service solely to provide and maintain the service and to improve and develop the quality of Amazon Monitron and other Amazon machine-learning/artificial-intelligence technologies. Use of your content is important for continuous improvement of your Amazon Monitron customer experience, including the development and training of related technologies. We do not use any personally identifiable information that may be contained in your content to target products, services, or marketing to you or your end users. Your trust, privacy, and the security of your content are our highest priority, and we implement appropriate and sophisticated technical and physical controls, including encryption at rest and in transit, designed to prevent unauthorized access to, or disclosure of, your content and ensure that our use complies with our commitments to you. Please see our data privacy FAQs  for more information. You may opt out of having your content used to improve and develop the quality of Amazon Monitron and other Amazon machine-learning/artificial intelligence technologies by contacting AWS Support and following the process provided to you.

Any content processed by Amazon Monitron is encrypted and stored at rest in the AWS region where you are using the service. Some portion of content processed by Amazon Monitron may be stored in another AWS region solely in connection with the continuous improvement and development of your Amazon Monitron customer experience, and that of other Amazon machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies. If you opt out of AWS using your content to improve the quality of Amazon Monitron and other Amazon machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies by contacting AWS Support, your content will not be stored in another AWS region. Contact AWS Support to request deletion of any associated account data processed by Amazon Monitron. Your trust, privacy, and data security are our highest priority. We implement appropriate and sophisticated technical and physical controls, including encryption at rest and in transit, designed to prevent unauthorized access to, or disclosure of, your content and ensure that our use complies with our commitments to you.  Please see our data privacy FAQ  for more information.

You can use Amazon Monitron out of the box to monitor the condition of an equipment. No development work is required. 

No. Amazon Monitron automatically analyzes sensor data using ML to detect potential failures in industrial equipment. It also automatically improves ML model performance based on the technician feedback provided in the Monitron mobile and web apps. No ML knowledge is required to use Amazon Monitron.

Once the sensor is installed and connected to equipment, Amazon Monitron captures temperature and vibration data and sends it to AWS. Amazon Monitron analyzes the data, assesses normal or healthy patterns, and trains a model specific to that equipment. Over time, the model continually improves based on technician feedback.

No. At this time, Amazon Monitron does not support third party sensors. If you have data from existing machinery sensors, Amazon Lookout for Equipment can help you quickly and easily unlock critical insights and enable predictive maintenance using the equipment data you already collect. Learn more »

Amazon Monitron can be used to monitor a variety of rotating machinery in production lines and warehouses. Gearboxes, motors, pumps, compressors and fans are common examples of equipment, or machine parts, that Amazon Monitron supports. 

Amazon Monitron is designed for industrial equipment. We do not recommend using Amazon Monitron to monitor consumer appliances. We recommend referencing technical specifications to make sure Monitron is a good fit for the intended environment and connectivity configurations. 

Yes. Amazon Monitron uses AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) to authenticate users to the Amazon Monitron app. Your organization must enable it inside AWS IAM Identity Center (successor to AWS SSO) in the same region where you want to use Amazon Monitron. If you don’t have AWS IAM Identity Center (successor to AWS SSO) set up, Amazon Monitron will automatically set it up for you during service onboarding.

Devices

To get started with Amazon Monitron, purchase sensors and gateways on amazon.com (US , CanadaUK , Germany , Spain , FranceItaly ,  Australia and Japan ) or Amazon Business.

The typical battery life of an Amazon Monitron sensor is at least 5 years at the default measurement frequency of one reading per hour. The battery is not rechargeable or replaceable. Customers will have to buy a new sensor once the battery is depleted.

The sensor automatically takes vibration and temperature measurements once an hour and you cannot adjust this frequency. However, customers can take a manual, out-of-cycle measurement easily by tapping their smartphone on the sensor device and utilizing near field communication (NFC) technology.

The vibration sensor is a 3-axis MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) accelerometer with a range of +/-16g, frequency response of up to 6kHz, and is sampled at 26.7kHz. Learn more in the full technical specifications.

The sensors connect with the gateway using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).

Amazon Monitron Gateway supports Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connectivity to the sensors and Wi-Fi or ethernet connectivity to the internet. 

Amazon Monitron Gateway uses the TCP port 8883. 

Allow connections to TCP port 8883 for amazonaws.com subdomains in order to provide firewall access to Amazon Monitron Gateway. 

The Amazon Monitron Gateway (Ethernet) supports Static IPs. They can be configured during gateway commissioning. The Amazon Monitron Gateway (Wi-Fi) does not support static IPs right now. It only supports Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). However, you can configure your network to always assign the same IP address to the same device.

Amazon Monitron does not require high bandwidth. Typically, it will exchange about 100 KB of data per sensor per hour at the default measurement frequency of once an hour.

Installation

You can attach Amazon Monitron Sensors to equipment using adhesive, which must be purchased separately. We suggest you check the surface before selecting the adhesive. For surfaces up to 5mm roughness/gaps, you can buy an adhesive that fills the gap, for example, LOCTITE® 3090. For flat surfaces (<0.1mm roughness), you can buy a more generic adhesive, for example, LOCTITE® 454. Always check and follow the processing guidelines outlined by the adhesive vendor.

Amazon Monitron sensors connect with Amazon Monitron gateway over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). Practically, the number of sensors that can connect with one gateway will be mainly determined by the range of BLE. The expected BLE range is 20-30 meters. Based on our experience, 10-20 sensors on average can connect with one gateway in an industrial setup. This is the same for both Wi-Fi and ethernet gateways.

Amazon Monitron Starter Kits, Sensors, and Gateways are certified for use in US, Canada, Australia, Japan, UK and EU. You can use Amazon Monitron devices in these geographies together with the supported cloud region of US East (N. Virginia), Asia Pacific (Sydney) and Europe (Ireland). We do not deliver Amazon Monitron devices outside of US, Canada, Australia, Japan, UK and EU. 

Amazon Monitron Sensors and Gateways, and their use with the Amazon Monitron service, rely on connectivity over internet to the AWS Region. Amazon Monitron Sensors and Gateways are not designed for disconnected operations or environments with no connectivity. We recommend that customers have highly available internet connectivity.

No, Amazon Monitron can only be run on AWS. Amazon Monitron leverages AWS-designed infrastructure, and is only supported on AWS-designed hardware, which is optimized for security, high-performance, and reliable operations. 

No, Amazon Monitron Service, including the app, can only be used with Amazon Monitron Sensors and Gateways.

Your site must support the basic power, networking, and space requirements to install Amazon Monitron Sensors and Gateways. If you’re using the Amazon Monitron Gateway (Wi-Fi), Amazon Monitron requires reliable Wi-Fi internet connectivity. You should plan for a public secure Wi-Fi internet connection. If you’re using the Amazon Monitron Gateway (Ethernet), Amazon Monitron requires reliable ethernet-based internet connectivity. You should plan for a secure ethernet connection. The Amazon Monitron Gateway (Ethernet) draws power from the ethernet network. You do not need a separate power source to use it.

Security and compliance

Yes. Amazon Monitron encrypts data at rest and in transit. Encrypted content is rendered useless without the applicable decryption keys. 

Customers are responsible for the physical security and access controls around Amazon Monitron Sensors and Gateways as part of the shared responsibility model .

When your facility’s internet connection goes down, Amazon Monitron Gateways will lose connection with AWS. Amazon Monitron Sensors won’t be able to send the data they captured in that period to AWS and, if that period extends, that data will not be persisted. End users trying to access Amazon Monitron app using the facility’s internet will also be not able to access the app during that period.