Festo AX Motion Insights: Preventing Downtime Through AI-Powered Monitoring

"We're taking 100 years of experience we have in hardware, specifically pneumatics and electromechanical, and we are applying a layer of software onto that hardware," explained Peter Rasmussen, global product manager for electric actuators at Festo, when asked to describe the origins of Festo’s AX Motion Insights platform. This fusion of mechanical knowledge with artificial intelligence software is being applied to create a predictive maintenance app that helps manufacturers avoid the disruption and expense of unexpected equipment failures.

Festo’s AX Motion Insights platform consists of two applications: AX Motion Insights Electric for monitoring electric axes and servo drives, and AX Motion Insights Pneumatic for tracking pneumatic cylinders. 

The company explained that these apps can be deployed on-premises using standard hardware and container technology like Docker. Containerization allows the apps to be deployed flexibly on various computing environments, including industrial PCs, virtual machines, servers and edge devices. 

At the heart of AX Motion Insights is a straightforward machine learning approach. When the system is installed, it creates a baseline model by learning the normal operating parameters of each monitored component. Once operational, the software continuously analyzes raw data from the machine, comparing real-time performance against this established baseline.

"It will look for trends that can identify when components are not operating at 100%," Rasmussen noted. "We call these anomaly scores."  Each component begins with a 100% health score displayed on the dashboard. As the system detects deviations from normal operation, the health score decreases, providing maintenance teams with clear, actionable insights about component condition.

This approach enables proactive maintenance planning. Rather than waiting for a catastrophic failure that could halt an entire production line, operators can schedule maintenance during planned downtime, order replacement parts just-in-time and address issues before they escalate. 

Real-world impact of AX Motion Insights

The value of predictive maintenance becomes most apparent in actual production environments. 

Rasmussen shared a compelling example: "A large customer of Festo’s that uses AX Motion Insights Pneumatic prevented a failover from happening because the software kept spotting a key trend and notified users of it. They were able to fix the issue before the machine failed and caused downtime."

He added that, while return on investment from AX Motion Insights will vary depending on each facility's current downtime rates, the technology's true value lies in its ability to access new levels of machine intelligence. 

"It allows you to unlock the next level of intelligence into your machine so you're more prepared for the future," Rasmussen emphasized.

Data sourcing and compatibility

AX Motion Insights Electric draws data directly from Festo servo and stepper drives, feeding information into an industrial PC or edge device. This approach eliminates the need for additional sensors or hardware installations. Rasmussen pointed out that the system works with any Festo servo drive and doesn't require the use of Festo actuators, providing for flexibility in OEM system design or in diverse end user environments.

The AX Motion Insights Pneumatic version can monitor virtually any pneumatic actuator whether its linear or semi-rotary. The only requirement, according to Rasmussen, is that the actuators have end position sensors to verify completed strokes. 

Another key aspect of AX Motion Insights is its integration with Festo's Smartenance maintenance management system. The two platforms work in tandem to create a complete maintenance workflow: AX Motion Insights identifies when maintenance is needed, and Smartenance manages the resulting tasks. This ensures that predictive insights don't just generate alerts but translate into organized maintenance activities.

Festo noted that Insights Electric and Insights Pneumatic can be purchased on a subscription basis while “time-limited” options (3 and 5 years) will be released at the end of 2025. Data Access is purchased under a perpetual license.

The video below features Festo's Peter Rasmussen explaining the AX Motion Insights apps:

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