Wear sensor

Abstract

The invention relates to a wear sensor. A sensor device for sensing a wear condition of a body includes a passive transponder device configured to receive an input signal to power the sensor device and to transmit a response signal indicative of the wear condition from the sensor device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a wear sensor configured for sensing the wear condition of a body, such as a wear resistant lining provided on equipment used in the mining and mineral processing industries.

[0002] The invention also relates to a sensor arrangement comprising a plurality of wear sensors, to a wear sensor comprising an RFID device and / or to a passively powered wear sensor.

[0003] The invention also relates to a processing system and method for indicating a wear condition of a body, and to a modeling system for displaying a model of the wear condition of a body. Background Art

[0004] The reference in this specification to any prior disclosure (or information derived therefrom), or any known matter, is not and should not be considered as a confirmation or acknowledgement or any form of implication that the prior disclosure (or information derived therefrom) or known matter constitutes part of the common knowledge in the field to which this specification relates.

[0005] Wear resistant lining materials are commonly used in mining equipment and mineral processing plants, including mining dump truck pallets, transfer chutes, gyratory crusher concave liners, grinding mill liners, slurry pump liners, hydrocyclone liners and slurry conveying pipelines.

[0006] It is important to monitor the condition (length / thickness) of these liners to ensure safe and efficient operation of these assets.

[0007] Many techniques have been utilized to monitor the wear condition of these liners, including manual ultrasonic measurement, laser scanning, online ultrasonic measurement, and online intrusive measurement.

[0008] Manual ultrasonic measurement methods have inherent safety hazards and risks, thus often requiring plant downtime and inhibiting personnel from entering the interior spaces of the operating plant, thereby reducing production efficiency when performing the wear monitoring process.

[0009] Laser scanning similarly requires manual operation of the scanner and plant downtime.

[0010] The online ultrasonic measurement method uses an ultrasonic sensor mounted on the back of the wear lining material to measure the current thickness, which can be performed without manual entry or plant shutdown. However, ultrasonic waves need to be calibrated for each different alloy material, and it is not suitable for non-metallic or composite materials.

[0011] The online intrusive measurement method inserts the wear sensor into the wear lining and is able to measure non-metallic and composite materials. However, the online measurement technology has significant disadvantages because it requires active power from a battery to the sensor to produce a reading. Depending on the level of energy consumption and the complexity of the microelectronics, the service life of the battery varies and is generally less than the life of the wear material. This results in the need for manual battery replacement or recharging during service of the system. In some cases, such as in a grinder, the battery cannot be replaced after the sensor is installed, which results in the system being unable to reliably measure the length / thickness condition of the wear material. Summary of the invention

[0012] The present invention seeks to overcome at least some of the disadvantages and / or deficiencies of prior art devices and / or methods of monitoring the wear condition of a wear resistant lining of an equipment body.

[0013] The present invention also seeks to provide a wear sensor, a sensor arrangement, a sensing device, and / or a system for indicating and / or modeling a wear condition of a body.

[0014] In one broad form, the present invention provides a sensor device for sensing a wear condition of a body, the sensor device comprising a passive transponder device configured to receive an input signal to power the sensor device and to transmit a response signal from the sensor device indicative of the wear condition.

[0015] In an exemplary embodiment, the sensor device further includes a conductive element configured to become an open circuit and thereby indicate a wear condition of the body.

[0016] In a second exemplary embodiment, the sensor device is at least partially formed from a wear resistant material, wherein the sensor device comprises:

[0017] A conductive element is disposed within the body of wear resistant material whereby, in use, as the wear resistant material is worn, the conductive element forms an open circuit to thereby indicate a wear condition of the body.

[0018] Preferably, the conductive element is configured in the form of a wire loop embedded in the body and extends towards a wear surface thereof so that, in use, the wire loop becomes discontinuous when the body and the wire loop embedded therein become worn.

[0019] Preferably, the sensor device comprises a transponder.

[0020] Preferably, the transponder comprises an RFID transponder.

[0021] Preferably, the transponder operates in the UHF range.

[0022] In a further broad form, the present invention provides a sensor arrangement comprising a plurality of sensor devices as described above, wherein each of the sensor devices is arranged at a different position within the body, so that in use, each sensor device indicates the wear condition at a corresponding position of the body.

[0023] Preferably, the sensor arrangement comprises a transponder.

[0024] Preferably, the transponder comprises an RFID transponder.

[0025] Preferably, the transponder operates in the UHF range.

[0026] Preferably, each sensor device is configured to extend to a different depth within the body to thereby sense the degree of wear / depth of the body.

[0027] In a further broad form the invention relates to a wear sensor device comprising an RFID device configured to identify the location of a wear condition of a subject.

[0028] In a further broad form, the invention provides a system for indicating a wear condition of a body, comprising:

[0029] at least one wear sensor configured to provide sensed data indicative of a wear condition of the body; and

[0030] A processor is configured to provide output data representative of wear of the body based on the raw body data and the sensed data.

[0031] Preferably, the system further comprises:

[0032] A display is configured to display a model of the subject based on the output data.

[0033] Preferably, the system comprises a plurality of wear sensors, wherein the processor receives the sensor data from each of the wear sensors, each of the wear sensors being arranged at a different position within the body to indicate a wear condition at a corresponding position of the body.

[0034] Preferably, the system comprises:

[0035] at least one wear sensor configured to provide sensed data indicative of a wear condition of the body; and

[0036] A processor is configured to reconstruct a model of the subject based on raw subject data representing the subject and the sensed data.

[0037] In a further broad form, the invention provides a system for modeling a wear condition of a body, wherein a processor uses any one or a combination of:

[0038] Machine learning algorithms;

[0039] Discrete element modeling; and

[0040] Other learning / predictive modeling standards. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] The present invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of preferred but non-limiting embodiments thereof described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0042] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a wear sensing system and its associated components according to the present invention;

[0043] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary wear sensor arrangement including a plurality of substantially evenly spaced wear sensors embodied as circuit loops;

[0044] Figure 3 Typical example layouts of various UH-RFID wear sensor embodiments are shown;

[0045] Figure 4 An exemplary embodiment of a wear sensor arrangement mounted in a wear plate using a bonding process is shown;

[0046] Figure 5 An alternative exemplary embodiment of a "quick lock" mounting mechanism is shown;

[0047] Figure 6 An alternative exemplary embodiment of a wear sensing arrangement using unevenly spaced wear sensor current loops is shown;

[0048] Figure 7 An exemplary embodiment of a UH-RFID writer layout configured to match an associated UH-RFID sensor is shown;

[0049] Figure 8 Details of an exemplary embodiment of supplying power to an electronic device to operate the system and read the condition of a conductive element or circuit loop are shown;

[0050] Fig. 9 An exemplary PCB layout of a circuit loop used in a sensor of the present invention is shown;

[0051] Figures 10 to 12 A flow chart of an exemplary wear prediction and reconstruction process is illustrated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0052] Throughout the drawings, similar reference numerals will be used to identify similar features unless explicitly stated otherwise.

[0053] exist Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an exemplary wear sensor 1 including a plurality of current loops 11 is shown in a. Also shown is a microelectronic circuit 13 in the base portion of the wear sensor 1, which can power the wear sensor 1 and read sensor data about the wear condition of the current loops and, therefore, the wear-resistant material into which the sensor 1 is arranged. A sensor writer 17 associated with the circuit 13 is also depicted, the operation of which will be described below.

[0054] exist Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an overall wear sensing system, designated generally at 10, is shown in b, illustrating some of its key component features.

[0055] like Figure 1 As shown in b, ( Figure 1 The wear sensor 1 is configured to be generally disposed within the wear-resistant material 2. Figure 1 Various associated components are shown in b which together process the data received from the wear sensor 1 to provide an indication of the condition of the wear resistant material 2 and which constitute the overall wear sensing system 10 .

[0056] exist Figure 2 A more detailed depiction of an exemplary embodiment of a wear sensor 1 that may be embedded or otherwise mounted within a wear resistant material 2 is illustrated in FIG.

[0057] The wear sensor 1 comprises a plurality of conductive elements or circuit loops 11, each of which extends from a base 12. In the illustrated embodiment, each conductive element or circuit loop 11 is shown extending from a base portion 12. Each of the conductive elements 11 may be formed from a wire or the like.

[0058] Each conductive element or circuit loop 11 may be spaced substantially equidistant from each adjacent conductive element or circuit loop 11 , or may be disposed at any other desired spacing, as will be explained below.

[0059] exist Figure 2 In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , it can be seen that the conductive elements 11b, 11c, 11d, 11e, 11f, 11g, 11h, 11i and 11j are substantially equidistantly spaced from each other, whereas the first and last conductive elements 11a and 11k, respectively, are spaced shorter than the other conductive elements.

[0060] An alternative example spacing of each of the conductive elements 11 is between Figure 6, where conductive elements 21a, 21b and 21c are substantially equidistantly spaced from one another, and conductive elements 21d, 21e and 21f are also substantially equidistantly spaced from one another, but at a significantly greater spacing than conductive elements 21a, 21b and 21c.

[0061] The wear sensor 1 may be embedded or otherwise disposed or mounted within the wear resistant material 2 so that as the wear resistant material 2 gradually becomes worn, the outer conductive element 11 is also gradually worn away.

[0062] When current is supplied into each conductive element 11, each conductive element 11 then becomes discontinuous and effectively forms an open circuit as each conductive element 11 is gradually worn away as the wear resistant material adjacent thereto is worn away.

[0063] The base portion 12 of the wear sensor 1 is configured to act as a transponder arrangement, incorporating an antenna 14 to transmit and / or receive power and / or data information between the sensor 1 and other components of the wear sensing system 10; and incorporating a microelectronic assembly 13 to supply current to each conductive element 11, such as Figure 1 As shown in the figure.

[0064] The base portion 12 and / or the antenna 14 may be embodied in a variety of configurations and shapes, such as Figure 3 For example, in Figure 3 In a, the base portion 12 may be generally circular in shape, divided into eight segments. Each segment 15 may contain a transmit-receive antenna 14, a microelectronic circuit 13, and a memory device 16 that may be used to identify a particular transponder segment 15.

[0065] exist Figure 3 b. Figure 3 c and Figure 3 d illustrates some exemplary alternative configurations and shapes of the base portion 12 and / or antenna 14, showing overall rectangular, square and semicircular configurations, each of which can be segmented in a variety of ways, as shown. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other alternative configurations and shapes can be implemented.

[0066] As in Figure 1 As shown in FIG. 1 , the wear sensing system 10 preferably further incorporates a wear sensor writer 17, which may be complementary in shape or otherwise compatible with the antenna configuration. An exemplary embodiment of the writer 17 is shown in FIG. Figure 7 Medium picture.

[0067] In use, when the sensor device 1 is installed within the wearable material 2 and the reader device 18 is within the range of sending signals to / receiving signals from the writer 17, data can be transferred between the reader device 18 and the writer device 17 to transmit sensed information about the condition of the wearable material 2.

[0068] This information may then be processed in any of a number of ways as desired in processor 19, as described below.

[0069] The wear sensor 1 may be embedded or otherwise disposed in a variety of ways within the wear resistant material 2. In some exemplary embodiments, the wear resistant material may be manufactured with the wear sensor embedded therein, or in other exemplary embodiments, the wear sensor 1 may be installed after the wear resistant material is manufactured, and installation may be provided, for example, using an adhesive or a locking mechanism.

[0070] exist Figure 5 An exemplary embodiment of a locking mechanism is shown in , which shows a quick lock mechanism 31 mounted on the wear sensor 1 , and a compatible mating surface 32 provided on the body of the wear-resistant material 2 .

[0071] The sensor device of the present invention may optionally include a radio frequency identification device (RFID), such as to enable identification of the location of a specific sensor device 1 within a body of wear resistant material 2. In a preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the RFID transponder may operate in the ultra-high frequency (UHF) range, as this frequency range may have preferred characteristics taking into account the nature, environment and use of the component.

[0072] In some exemplary embodiments, a single wear sensor 1 may be mounted in an equipment body incorporating wear-resistant material; in other exemplary embodiments, it may be desirable to incorporate multiple wear sensors 1 throughout the wear-resistant material of the equipment so that data may be obtained regarding potentially different wear characteristics of the wear-resistant material throughout the equipment body.

[0073] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the use of an RFID transponder arrangement enables the use of a passively powered sensor device without the need to provide power, including battery power, or otherwise.

[0074] In operation, when the sensor 1 is mounted in a wearable material, in use, the sensor wears at the same rate as the liner / wearable material 2 of the subject / asset / equipment. The actual quantification of the wear is determined from the various circuit loops 11 designed into the sensor 1 PCB board.

[0075] For example, refer to Fig. 9, when the circuit loop indicated as "45mm" has been worn away, the circuit loop is then open. Under dry conditions, such as when both the body and bulk material are dry, this would typically result in 0 amps being measured across the loop, indicating an open circuit condition. Alternatively, under wet slurry operating conditions, whereby the abrasive medium may typically be slightly conductive, this may still result in small amp levels being measured across the loop as the circuit loop indicated as "45mm" becomes worn away and the circuit loop is then open. Such a small amp change may be detected as being below a preset threshold selected based on the conditions, such that this is still effectively determined to be an open circuit condition indicating that the circuit loop has been worn away. In addition, for the otherwise intact circuits, a certain level of amps is measured at each loop and is above a preset threshold determined based on the wet / dry or other conditions, indicating that they have not been worn away.

[0076] The excitation current method is similar to that used in other applications where conventional RFID chips are used. Figure 8 As shown in , when the sensor reader 18 sends an electromagnetic signal to the wear sensor 1, the micro-capacitor embedded in the RFID chip is charged and then reflects back another reply electromagnetic signal. This process is called electromagnetic wave reflection coupling. The RFID chip can have an additional I / O pin (Tamper In / Out) that is directly connected to both ends of the circuit loop 11 from the wear sensor 1. During the electromagnetic wave reply phase, the current open circuit state of the circuit loop 11 from the wear sensor 1 is also sent back to the sensor reader 18. Therefore, the wear of the material can be measured.

[0077] The wear sensor 1 of the present invention may be embodied in a variety of configurations, which utilize any one or a combination of one or more conductive elements, passive transponders, and RFID devices to identify the location of the wear condition of the subject.

[0078] The present invention further provides an overall system for measuring and / or modeling the wear condition of a subject. The system preferably comprises: at least one wear sensor 1, which is configured to provide sensed data indicating the wear condition of the subject; and a processor, which is configured to provide output data representing the wear condition of the subject based on the raw subject data and the sensed data.

[0079] Such output data may be displayed or provided to a user in a variety of formats. The output data may simply provide feedback to the user in a simple form to indicate that the wearable material has worn sufficiently to be replaced. Additionally or alternatively, the output data may provide a quantitative indication of the extent of wear based on information provided from a plurality of conductive elements provided within a particular wear sensor and / or within a combination of a plurality of wear sensors distributed throughout the body of wearable material.

[0080] In an alternative exemplary embodiment, the system may include a processor configured to reconstruct a model of the body, which may, for example, incorporate data representing the original state of the body, and data indicating the current state of the wear-resistant material of the body. Such a model may be visually displayed to a user.

[0081] In a preferred but non-limiting exemplary embodiment, it should be understood that the present invention can be implemented as a composite passive (no battery required) wear material tracking and wear monitoring sensor and system. In this exemplary embodiment, the sensor / system is able to track and measure the real-time length / thickness of the wear lining material without the need for active power. It is able to predict and reconstruct the global wear of assets with large amounts of wear lining material. Therefore, the present invention provides a smart but reliable solution for wear monitoring solutions.

[0082] In this exemplary but non-limiting embodiment of a composite wear monitoring system, the system 10 may generally include the following components:

[0083] - At least one passive wear sensor 1 based on UH-RFID: UH-RFID integrates multiple radio frequency identification modules with wear detection microelectronic devices, including: antenna 14, logic control microelectronic device 13, on-board memory 16 and circuit loop 11. When the passive wear sensor 1 based on UH-RFID receives a communication signal, it can generate an excitation current of a suitable level to power the logic control electronic device. The logic control microelectronic device checks the current state of the circuit loop 11 and generates a wear length signal therefrom. Subsequently, the logic control microelectronic device combines the sensor identifier from the on-board memory with the circuit loop state and sends a reply signal;

[0084] - At least one UH-RFID based passive wear sensor writer 17: using the UH-RFID based passive wear sensor writer 17 and its software, the system 10 is able to customize and write identifier data to the onboard memory of the UH-RFID based passive wear sensor 1. It is also used to initialize the wear length and resolution of the wear sensor 1;

[0085] - At least one long-range reader 18: after the passive wear sensor 1 based on UH-RFID receives a communication signal from the long-range reader 18, an excitation current is generated and the wear sensor 1 is powered. The sensor identifier and the current state of the wear circuit loop 11 are sent back to the long-range reader 18;

[0086] - At least one wear reconstruction system 19: The remote reader 18 sends the sensor identifier and the wear status to the wear reconstruction system 19 for wear interpretation. The sensor identifier also contains data for tracking and cross-referencing the wear sensor mounting location on the wearable material. The wear reconstruction system further integrates the wear interpretation results, mounting location, mounting geometry, discrete element modeling code suite with LightGBM-based machine learning algorithms to predict and reconstruct the global wear distribution on the selected wearable material.

[0087] In an exemplary embodiment, the passive wear sensor 1 based on UH-RFID may include a plurality of RFID modules coupled with a circuit loop 11 for wear detection. The resolution of the passive wear sensor 1 based on UH-RFID may be determined by the actual number of RFID modules and corresponding circuit loops 11. Within each RFID module, a radio frequency transmit-receive antenna 14, a logic control microelectronic device 13, an on-board memory 16, and a circuit loop 11 for wear detection may be provided. When the radio frequency transmit-receive antenna 14 receives a communication signal, the logic control microelectronic device may generate an excitation current, and this powers the logic control microelectronic device 13 and checks the voltage level of the circuit loop 11 for wear detection. If the voltage is higher than a preset threshold, it indicates that the circuit loop 11 has been worn away. On the contrary, the circuit loop 11 is intact. After circulating through all RFID modules and circuit loops 11, a combined signal containing identifier data and circuit loop status is sent back to the remote reader 18 via the radio frequency transmit-receive antenna 14.

[0088] The passive wear sensor 1 based on UH-RFID can be mounted into the wear-resistant material using an adhesive material such as epoxy. For pressurized conditions, a quick-lock mechanical system 31, 32 can be used, which can be designed to ensure that the sensor is fastened and sealed to the wear-resistant material mating surface.

[0089] The total number of circuit loops 11 and their spacing determine the overall length and resolution of the UH-RFID based passive wear sensor 1. The circuit loops 11 can be arranged with equal spacing or unequal spacing. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that unequal spacing and / or smaller spacing can lead to higher resolution and facilitate the detection of wear of materials at the end of their life.

[0090] Regarding the radio frequency transmitting-receiving antenna 14, multiple RFID modules can be flexibly designed to suit the surface morphology of the wear-resistant material. This includes the selection of the shape and orientation of multiple RFID modules. The shape of multiple RFID modules can be, for example, circular, rectangular, square or semicircular, or any other desired shape.

[0091] The logic control microelectronics 13 checks the corresponding respective wear detection circuit loop 11 and, once the circuit loop 11 has worn away, may change the identifier data stored in the on-board memory 16. The new identifier data is converted into wear data in the wear reconstruction system.

[0092] The UH-RFID based passive wear sensor writer 17 is preferably designed to write to multiple RFID modules within one wear sensor simultaneously. The RFID writer module 17 also typically has multiple writer assemblies (21), and its layout should preferably match the RFID module from the wear sensor to be initialized.

[0093] The long-range reader 18 sends communication signals to the wearable material on which the plurality of UH-RFID passive wear sensors 1 are mounted and subsequently receives the sensor outputs. The long-range reader 18 then transmits all sensor outputs to the wear reconstruction system 19 via a wired (eg Ethernet) connection or via a wireless communication protocol.

[0094] The wear reconstruction system 19 receives the wear sensor output from the long-range reader 18, and the built-in algorithm can typically decode the sensor output and convert the information to identify the specific sensor 11 and the current wear length / thickness condition. The sensor identifier data can then be cross-referenced in the wear reconstruction system to determine the specific sensor installation location within the wear-resistant material 2 installed on the equipment / body / asset. The wear length / thickness data is then assigned to that installation location. The wear sensor 1 location and length / thickness data can then be input into the discrete element modeling suite program and the LightGBM machine learning algorithm to also predict any wear in the equipment / body areas where no sensors are installed, and then reconstruct the overall / global wear distribution on the wear-resistant material 2 of the equipment / body / asset.

[0095] The discrete element modeling suite of programs can calculate the shear and impact forces induced from the bulk material onto the wear material and convert the force results into dimensionless wear intensity values. Thus, an overall / global distribution result based on qualitative wear intensity on the wear material can be obtained.

[0096] The LightGBM machine learning algorithm can be used to couple the wear sensor installation location, wear length / thickness, and overall / global wear intensity distribution data to predict the actual wear on areas where no sensors are installed.

[0097] The present invention therefore provides, in an exemplary embodiment, a passive wear sensor based on passive ultra-high radio frequency identification (UH-RFID) and a wear reconstruction system. The system includes: at least one passive wear sensor based on UH-RFID, which works as a product identifier and wear monitoring device; at least one wear sensor writer, which is designed to write a sensor identifier and initialize wear sensor measurements; and at least one long-distance sensor reader, which sends a communication signal to an area with a wear sensor. After the wear sensor receives the communication signal, an excitation current is generated, and a logic control module within the sensor sends the current wear sensor state back to the long-distance sensor reader. The long-distance sensor reader then sends the wear sensor state to the wear reconstruction system via an Ethernet connection or a wireless communication method. The wear reconstruction system integrates the mechanical design of the wear-resistant material, sensor wear results, discrete element modeling, and the LightGBM machine learning algorithm to predict the wear distribution on the wear-resistant material. Visualization of the reconstructed wear results can also be achieved through the wear reconstruction system.

[0098] exist Figures 10 to 12 An exemplary wear prediction and reconstruction process is shown in FIG. Fig.10 In the discrete element modeling software suite, dimensionless wear intensity 5103 results for the selected wear material geometry are generated by integrating plant operating conditions 53 and wear media (ore) properties 54. Plant operating conditions 53 include throughput, mass loading and mechanical motion details (if any). Wear media (ore) properties 54 include particle density, size distribution and moisture content of the bulk material being processed.

[0099] Afterwards, if Fig.11 As shown in , normal contact stress 5101 and tangential contact stress 5102 components are generated from the discrete element modeling suite 51. Both components are then converted into a dimensionless wear intensity 5103 for the selected wear resistant material geometry.

[0100] from Fig.12 , the local dimensionless wear intensity, local wear material geometry, sensor location identifier and local wear state are then input into the LightGBM algorithm 52, where the program builds a data-based correlation between the wear intensity results 5103 obtained from discrete element modeling and the actual wear measurements of the locations where the sensors are installed. This data-based correlation is a trained LightGBM prediction model 5201, which is used to generate a global wear prediction result by integrating the global dimensionless wear intensity.

[0101] The present invention can track wear-resistant materials during manufacturing and transportation, as well as track the real-time wear status of materials without active power supply. In addition, coupling localized point-based wear data, discrete element modeling results and LightGBM machine learning algorithm enables reconstruction of the composite wear condition distribution within the wear-resistant material. Such a solution provides a wear monitoring system that does not require constant power supply to the sensor. It is more economical and reliable for industrial wear monitoring applications.

[0102] The embodiments of the present disclosure can be variously modified and changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure should not be limited to the exemplary embodiments described below, but should be controlled by the limitations set forth in the claims and any equivalents thereof.

[0103] Throughout this specification and the appended claims, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise" and variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.

Claims

1. A sensor device for sensing a wear condition of a body, the sensor device comprising a passive transponder device configured to receive an input signal to power the sensor device and to transmit a response signal from the sensor device indicating the wear condition. 2 . The sensor device of claim 1 , further comprising a conductive element configured to become an open circuit and thereby indicate a wear condition of the body.

3. The sensor device of claim 1, formed at least in part from a wear-resistant material, wherein: The sensor device comprises: A conductive element is disposed within the body of wear resistant material whereby, in use, as the wear resistant material is worn, the conductive element forms an open circuit to thereby indicate a wear condition of the body.

4. The sensor device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The conductive element is configured in the form of a wire loop embedded in the body and extends towards a wear surface thereof such that, in use, the wire loop becomes discontinuous when the body and the wire loop embedded therein become worn.

5. The sensor device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The sensor device comprises a transponder.

6. The sensor device according to claim 5, wherein: The transponder comprises an RFID transponder.

7. The sensor device according to claim 5 or 6, wherein: The transponder operates in the UHF range.

8. A sensor arrangement comprising a plurality of sensor devices according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein: Each of the sensor devices is arranged at a different location within the body such that, in use, each sensor device indicates a wear condition at a corresponding location of the body.

9. The sensor arrangement according to claim 8, wherein: The sensor arrangement comprises a transponder.

10. The sensor arrangement according to claim 9, wherein: The transponder comprises an RFID transponder.

11. The sensor arrangement according to claim 9 or 10, wherein: The transponder operates in the UHF range.

12. The sensor arrangement according to any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein: Each sensor device is configured to extend to a different depth within the body to thereby sense the degree of wear / depth of the body.

13. A wear sensor device comprising an RFID device configured to identify the location of a wear condition of a subject.

14. A system for indicating a wear condition of a subject, comprising: at least one wear sensor configured to provide sensed data indicative of a wear condition of the body; as well as A processor is configured to provide output data representative of wear of the body based on raw body data and the sensed data.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising: A display is configured to display a model of the subject based on the output data.

16. A system according to claim 14 or 15, comprising a plurality of wear sensors, wherein: The processor receives the sensor data from each of the wear sensors, each of the wear sensors being arranged at a different location within the body to indicate a wear condition at a corresponding location of the body.

17. A system for modeling a wear condition of a subject, comprising: at least one wear sensor configured to provide sensed data indicative of a wear condition of the body; and A processor is configured to reconstruct a model of the subject based on raw subject data representing the subject and the sensed data.

18. A system for modeling the wear condition of a subject, wherein: The processor uses any or a combination of the following: Machine learning algorithms; Discrete element modeling; and Other learning / predictive modeling standards.

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