NETWORK MONITORING AND CONTROL OF FLUID HANDLING APPARATUS

1 . A positive displacement pump, comprising:

a pumphead;

a motor operably connected to the pumphead to drive the pump;

a leak sensor configured to detect leakage from the pumphead or tube installed therein;

a memory;

a network interface;

a processor in communication with the memory and the network interface, the processor configured to:

subscribe, via the network interface, to a command hub that publishes commands for the pump;

control the motor to drive the pumphead according to commands received from the command hub via the network interface;

collect operation parameters from the motor and the leak sensor; and

send the operation parameters to a remote server via the network interface.

2 . The positive displacement pump of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to communicate with the command hub using Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol.

3 . The positive displacement pump of claim 1 , wherein the command hub publishes commands for multiple pumps, and the processor is configured to determine which commands to execute based on an identifier of the positive displacement pump.

4 . The positive displacement pump of claim 3 , wherein the identifier is a media access control (MAC) address of the positive displacement pump.

5 . The positive displacement pump of claim 1 , further comprising:

a local user interface, wherein the processor is configured to operate in one of a local mode in which the processor executes commands from the local user interface and a remote mode in which the local user interface is at least partially disabled to prevent local input.

6 . The positive displacement pump of claim 1 , wherein the leak sensor comprises an electronic mesh that forms a circuit when liquid is present.

7 . The positive displacement pump of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to stop the motor in response to the leak sensor detecting a leak.

8 . The positive displacement pump of claim 1 , wherein the operation parameters include rotation speed, rotation direction, and number of compressions.

9 . The positive displacement pump of claim 1 , wherein the pumphead is one of: a peristaltic pumphead, a quaternary diaphragm pumphead, or a gear pumphead.

10 . A method of controlling a positive displacement pump via a network, comprising:

receiving, from a registered user, a selection of an operation program for the positive displacement pump, the operation program including control commands to control a drive motor of the positive displacement pump;

sending the program to a network hub to publish the control commands to the positive displacement pump, wherein the positive displacement pump retrieves the control commands from the network hub;

storing a record of the control commands associated with the registered user;

receiving operation parameters from the positive displacement pump and storing the operation parameters in association with the registered user;

evaluating the operation parameters according to defined conditions to determine whether an alert condition has occurred; and

transmitting an alert to the registered user or another registered user.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the network hub publishes the control commands using Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the command hub publishes commands for multiple pumps, each command including an identifier of the positive displacement pump to execute the respective command.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the identifier is a media access control (MAC) address of the positive displacement pump.

14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the operation parameters include rotation speed, rotation direction, and number of compressions.

15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein evaluating the operation parameters according to defined conditions comprises:

comparing a current configuration and the operating parameters of the positive displacement pump to historical failure information for a same or similar model of pump or pump component to predict a likelihood of failure or a component lifetime.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the positive displacement pump is a peristaltic pump and the historical failure information includes an average time to failure or average number of cycles to failure for a tubing used in the current configuration.

17 . The method of claim 10 , wherein sending the program to the network hub to publish the control commands comprises:

indicating a time to publish the commands to control the positive displacement pump to operate according to the program.

18 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

generating an audit report including the record of the control commands and associated registered user, the operation parameters from the positive displacement pump, and the alert.

19 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

receiving an indication that a leak has been detected at the positive displacement pump.

20 . A system of controlling a positive displacement pump via a network, comprising:

a positive displacement pump, comprising:

a pumphead, a motor operably connected to the pumphead to drive the pump, and a leak sensor configured to detect leakage from the pumphead or tube installed therein; and

a server comprising a memory, a network interface, and a processor in communication with the memory and the network interface, the processor configured to:

receive, from a registered user, a selection of an operation program for the positive displacement pump, the operation program including control commands to control a drive motor of the positive displacement pump;

send the program to a network hub to publish the control commands to the positive displacement pump, wherein the positive displacement pump retrieves the control commands from the network hub;

store a record of the control commands associated with the registered user;

receive operation parameters from the positive displacement pump and storing the operation parameters in association with the registered user;

evaluate the operation parameters according to defined conditions to determine whether an alert condition has occurred; and

transmit an alert to the registered user or another registered user.