The need for more data is one of the factors driving developments in crane and hoist controls

 As customers demand more from their crane controls, manufacturers are responding with ever more sophisticated solutions.

In the past, says Diego Zamberlan, team leader of application engineering, at Autec, the demand was for smaller sizes and more configurability options.

“Today customers are asking for more. They want more customisation, diagnostic visualisation and, increasingly, they want to ‘record’, to understand the commands a transmitter sends to a receiver,” he says. “Data display is one thing but in the future more will be expected in terms of data information.”

Other controls manufacturers agree that data is high on customers’ wish-lists. Hans-Peter Bauer, president of NBB Controls & Components, says today’s controls are a far cry from the past when all that was required was On/Off and Ready.

“Overhead cranes have become more hi-tech. so radio remote systems need to keep pace,” he says. “Increasingly we have frequency converters in use which enable a stepless move of the crane hoist so soft movement and really precise handling of heavy weights can be achieved more easily.” Customers are also looking for “assistant systems” to help operators work more efficiently and safely. A tandem drive system allows an operator to work with two cranes/hooks at the same time, says Bauer. In addition to technological

advancements, safety and energy efficiency are also driving developments, says Stephen Marczi, sales manager at Munck Cranes.

Dan Beilfuss, director of Magnetek Material Handling, says customers want more information from their crane so they can make better decisions and reduce downtime. They also want to be able to make their diagnoses from a remote location. Safety is also a high priority.

“Through the use of a PLC combined with a diagnostic device like Magnetek’s Datalogger or Wireless Diagnostic System, control diagnostics and real-time operation status are available,” says Beilfuss.

“Two-way data feedback between the crane and the user provides actionable information. Operators can monitor a crane with their smartphone, tablet or PC and make necessary adjustments and predict maintenance needs.”

Diagnostics also help crane manufacturers with warranty claims, says Gerd Berger, sales, marketing and support manager at Hetronic.

“Manufacturers always ask for advanced features to monitor things such as movement or operation time of the crane, whether it’s been overloaded, misused by side pulling of the rope or running it constantly into the limit switches.

Sometimes after six months users will say the crane is broken and they claim under warranty but no-one can prove it’s been misused,” says Berger.

In response to this, Hetronic’s receivers contain black box-type technology to record the number of movements, emergency stops and overloadings.

STRONG DEMAND

These demands for new technology are keeping controls manufacturers busy. For Cervis, the primary steel and steel processing sectors have offered good results. Automotive and general machinery manufacturers also produced strong orders during the third quarter of 2017.

“There are a couple of things that have had a positive impact on sales, including preventative maintenance product replacement, general capital expense projects and upgrades of cranes,” says director of industrial sales Randy Butter. One of the most positive impacts on Cervis’s sales in the material handling industry is the new Warrior product line which was launched this year. The new range, which includes light-duty single and two-speed hand-held remotes and a more complex engineered console box, is enabling Cervis to access new sectors and improve market share, says Butter.

Cervis has a reputation for complex engineered systems for heavy industry but the Warrior products are taking the company into the commodities.

“The Warrior pre-engineered products for standard monorail and small bridge crane applications have been trialled and are quickly making a positive impact on our quarterly sales,” says Butter.

“This milestone makes Cervis a full line designer and manufacturer of industrial wireless control products for all three industries we serve—mining equipment, mobile equipment and overhead material handling sectors.”

Butter adds that the Warrior builds on Cervis’s long-held strength in software design. The new series enables the transmitter to connect to the receiver without the need for tools, programming devices, Eeprom logic memory cards or dip switches. This, says Butter, reduces the need for customers to spend more money on programming aids or memory chips and supports a lower cost of ownership.

“We’ve engineered the Warrior 32 product for ease of selecting optional performance features that can program output configurations, including a fourth motion with two-speed control buttons, A/B select, Momentary/Maintained and other future releases. We’ve taken a great deal of applications requirements and created a menu-driven option for users to select their own features at no additional cost,” he says.

The product line offers a compact twomotion, two-speed Warrior 22 receiver as well as the ‘flagship’ Warrior 32 receiver which is an industry first offering from a user configurability perspective.

This receiver, using various internal switch settings, can be user configured to serve standard three-motion configurations, three-motion configurations with A/B select, four-motion configurations, and four wire hoist configurations.

“This allows the industry to have a single part number system ready on the shelf to be deployed into more than one application without the need to get revised software or buy additional part numbers—not to mention having this all at one price point,” says Butter. For applications requiring higher relay counts and/or analog I/O configurations Cervis offers the MU6E—a configurable, expandable receiver typically used in console box applications.

In terms of transmitters, Cervis has the Warrior HH2S two-speed pushbutton handheld, compact Warrior MCB (mini console box), and the larger Warrior CB and XCB for more complex applications.

Cervis offers multiple radio options, including 900MHz, 2.4GHz and 400MHz “Our high-frequency radio options employ an advanced channel-hopping algorithm to avoid and overpower the every increasing RF traffic in industrial environments,” says Butter. “A significant benefit of the high-frequency Warrior products is the radio’s standard two-way ‘continuous’ communication protocol.”

He says the product line’s initial release has been very successful and additional product hardware and features will be added next year.

The Air 8 transmitter in particular is selling well.

“Customers like the fact that it is compact and powerful but easy to use, and with bi-directional communication and data feedback through LEDs,” says Zamberlan.

The Air 8 is light but durable, with IP65 protection that is resistant to drops from 1.5m. A lithium battery can support 40 hours’ continuous use.

“It can be used for many applications, including overhead cranes, conveyor belts, hoists/winches, and jib and gantry cranes,” says Zamberlan.

Autec’s most recent launches are the Sidekick, or SK4, and DYNAMIC+. The SK4 features an ergonomic casing and a belt so the unit can be worn around the user’s waist, allowing them more freedom to carry out tasks. It features bidirectional radio communication with an extended working range and four LEDs for data feedback. Meeting customer demands for more information, a data logger records RC operations.

DYNAMIC+ is a series of four transmitters—DJS, DJL, DJR and DJM—which can be combined with Autec’s new CRD receiver. The receiver offers customisable cabling with the choice of M12 circular connections, a 10-pin reduced plug or a cable gland.

CRD provides up to 12 analogue and 64 digital outputs, available via CANopen interface, two stop outputs, two UMFS outputs, two CAN outputs and four programmable MOSFET outputs. All the remote controls come with a visual data feedback display.

Autec also has products in the pipeline. After launching the FJB joystick transmitting unit Autec started work on bringing the colour feedback display to a compact joystick system. The compact remote control, which has yet to be named, will feature a 2.8in colour display. Autec is also set to release a DIN rail receiver which will be able to be stored in an electric cabinet of a machine.

NBB is now upgrading the design and technology of its Nano and Nano-L range to include safety technologies such as proximity recognition. This will be launched early in 2018.

Hetronic, which is part of Methode Electronics, has enjoyed growth over the past two years and sales in the current financial year are 30% ahead of the same time last year. The company has opened sales offices in the UK and Sweden, where it was previously represented by dealers, and moved into larger premises in Germany where it is doing some customisation and prototyping.

The need for more data is one of the factors driving developments in crane and hoist controls