Bosch Rexroth is pushing forward the digitalization of its Linear Motion Technology portfolio by upgrading the IMS-A integrated measuring system for ball and roller rail systems. The update introduces a MEMS sensor together with a new BiSS-C sensor interface, giving the system the ability to capture additional variables such as acceleration and temperature alongside position data. The result is a richer data foundation for faster fault diagnosis, extended condition monitoring, and AI-driven process and machine-health analysis.
Why digital feedback matters in linear axes
Modern mechanical and plant engineering increasingly depends on digitally evaluable linear systems to gain precision and process stability. This is especially true for dynamic applications — linear robots, gantry systems, machine tools, and laser or cutting equipment — where effective condition and process monitoring requires more than just positional feedback from the axis.
How the upgraded IMS-A works
The IMS-A tackles this transparency gap by pairing a Bosch MEMS sensor with a sensor interface built on the established BiSS-C standard, a bidirectional serial synchronous protocol. Both elements are compact enough to fit inside the runner block of the profiled rail system. Beyond position, the setup can now capture and synchronously transmit acceleration, temperature, travel distance, and operating hours directly to the control system, with no external sensors required.
This absolute position measurement option is available for the precision BSHP and RSHP ball and roller rail series. The new encoder carries certification from the BiSS-C Association, the body responsible for maintaining the open-source protocol. Built as an evolution of the SSI standard, BiSS-C supports fully digital, bidirectional communication with faster clock rates, built-in diagnostics, and CRC error checking. Its addition brings the IMS-A’s interface options to five, joining SSI, HIPERFACE, DRIVE-CLiQ, and FANUC αi.
From raw data to predictive maintenance
With the extra data channels active, engineers can track vibration across three spatial axes and monitor temperature trends continuously — inputs that feed directly into machine-health scoring, condition-based maintenance schedules, and AI-assisted process tuning. Diagnostics also get faster: acceleration readings recorded at the moment of a machine crash, for instance, can help teams reconstruct what happened, cutting down disputes over service responsibility or liability.
For manufacturers who don’t need the BiSS-C option, Rexroth still offers the IMS in an incremental version, plus the IMScompact line built around a magnetic measuring principle (available in absolute or incremental form). Rexroth’s online configurators for IMS runner blocks and guide rails let engineers select, size, and configure the right interface, and pull CAD files, technical documentation, and lubrication guidance directly.