EQUIPMENT FOCUS Ӏ CONTROLS AND SENSORS


Retro-fitting of new control


systems to existing cranes is therefore a busy industry; as is the manufacture of radio-control units, anti-sway systems, anti- collision systems and the rest, as well as the sensors that feed data to the software’s algorithms. And new models, with new capabilities, are being introduced all the time. Thus Autec, whose hand-held or belly-box-operated remote control systems for cranes are well known, has brought out its new Lift series. It is a handheld wireless control


system designed for operating overhead cranes, jibs, hoists, and winches. Major strengths include new 2.4 GHz radio communication which uses Bluetooth to provide customised safety protection. State-of-the-art technology in the form of a smartphone app, for iOS


and Android, called ‘My Lift Autec’, simplifies system management. Some operating modes, such as the operating distance and the power supply, can be customised to the application. Models are available either with standard (3 x AAA) internal batteries or a rechargeable Li-ion external battery. It is ideal, says the company, for machines that require remote control with few and simple functions. The handset can be configured with 4, 6, or 8 pushbuttons as required. Autec also has a new camera


vision system, called AVS. It adds live video to the company’s Dynamic+P series of cableless remote controls, meaning that blind spots can be monitored in real time. Colour footage is transmitted to the handset or


bellybox, where it appears on the 4.3” display screen. Up to four cameras can be used, with two showing simultaneously on the display. A distinguishing feature is the ‘images overlapping’ function. With this function camera images, machine data, and signals or alarms can be displayed simultaneously, either side by side or overlapping. “This is a remarkable advantage for monitoring all of the machine’s parameters, and for carrying out precise movements and simultaneously supervising movements and possible hindrances,” says Marco Chemello of Autec’s marketing department. “Another important characteristic is the very low latency of the system, of about 100/120ms, which allows the f


smart thinking: palfingeR makes crane control intuitive


Knuckleboom cranes, frequently mounted on trucks, have elbow joints that rotate and telescopic booms that extend. If you want to lift a load vertically you cannot just increase the angle of the boom at the elbow; that would lift, but it would also drag the load horizontally. For true vertical lift, while you raise the boom you have to extend it as well, and by exactly the right amount to compensate. If one lever controls angle and another controls extension, you have to manipulate them in complex synchronisation.


Judging that synch exactly is a matter of practice and experience; but Palfinger


this year introduced a control system for their knucklebooms that manages it automatically. The crane tip can be moved vertically, or horizontally, with just a single movement of the one-and-only lever on the remote control. The operator decides where he wants the tip to go; Palfinger’s ‘Smart Control’ software sorts out the calculations and sends it there. The logic of the movements is processed in the Paltronic control unit. In the


background, the system uses sensors to tell it the current position of the crane, and calculates how each component – knuckle, telescope, slew – needs to move. It may be that the truck is parked on a slope; with Palfinger’s HPSC-Plus Load function, that too can be included and compensated for. When the extension boom system is fully extended it will deflect under


load; Smart Control calculates that deflection also, and again automatically compensates. Flow Sharing, the electronic oil volume distribution system, adapts the required hydraulic oil to the current requirements to give smooth movements of the crane. When the crane operator does not need Smart Control, he can deactivate or override it at any time. The end result is that the operator can now work the crane intuitively; the


tip will move where his finger sends it. He can focus entirely on the load and its environment, on where to move it rather than how. Since it is so much easier to learn, training time for new users is reduced; and it gives the operator freedom to concentrate on more complex lifting operations. Palfinger claims to be the first loader crane manufacturer to offer an intelligent crane-tip control system for the entire capacity range from 29 to 58 tonnes. Up to eight extensions can be controlled, covering the entire TEC 7-range from PK 29.502 TEC 7 to PK 58.002 TEC 7.


CRANES TODAY 37


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