A training idler for belt conveyors with an integrated monitoring system was developed by the chair of mining engineering and mineral economics – conveying technology and design methods at Montanuniversität Leoben. The training idler steers the belt over the return side of the conveyor belt. This movable idler performs an automatic angular adjustment of the axis of rotation. It is equipped with sensors, that measure the movement of the idler. The extent of the movement is dependent on the intensity of the belt misalignment to be corrected. With training idlers, it is possible to compensate the belt misalignment up to a certain level. When this level is exceeded, the belt runs off. The integrated new monitoring system can be used for two different purposes. The first application is a simple belt misalignment warning system, which sets an alarm, if a critical belt movement occurs. The second application is a teachable conveyor malfunction identification. The steering and the monitoring function could be confirmed on an industrial scale.