SMIE demonstrates remotely-operated Crane Automation
SMIE the inventors of tower crane anti-collision have announced to industry partners that they had taken their crane automation technology a step further.
Using their remote 4G system they have been able to connect a Pro-SITE installed tower crane to their simulator training system based 300km away.
This powerful adaptation is achieved with no hardware modifications to the crane and requires only a viable 3G or 4G connection. Where this is not possible, a WIFI connected system with direct internet connection can be used instead.
The development has come as a direct result of customer feedback and market chatter regarding automation as a future impact.
This follows the announcement from SMIE at Bauma 2019, where they revealed a self driving crane module. Nick Palfrey Chief Marketing Officer was quick to stress the same caution. “For us, this is once again a conceptual exercise in how we as a technology provider can push the envelope. Whilst the technology works and is entirely useable, we are not presenting this as a solution we expect our customers to adopt today. In our view, this is part of a wider set of solutions that we are creating to make jobsites smarter.”
Vincent Brach, Technical Director and Industry Expert added “we are achieving transfer rates of less than 100 milliseconds which is substantial and well below the levels of what is required to remotely control a crane. We added a safety feature to put the crane into a safety mode if this margin went above 100 milliseconds.”
Nick concluded “SMIE are not sitting on their laurels with the current state of the market. We may have invented anti-collision, but we must continue to innovate. The landscape is changing and SMIE are committed to leading the playing field once again.”
SMIE is a global leader in the design and development of innovative, digitally-enabled anti-collision systems to significantly improve on-site safety and performance. The organisation’s renowned ProSITE system was launched in 2016, offering a comprehensive lift management solution and venturing into a new generation of anti-collision technology for modern building sites.
