Application Brief: Crane Positioning Monitoring
Industry: Overhead Cranes
Application: Overhead crane No-Fly zone protection
Summary: Laser-View Technologies created the Crane Sentry® Zone Manager product line based on a special request by Konecranes 5 years ago at General Motor’s Springhill, TN facility. This product’s humble beginnings now is a polished and highly functional product hailed as a solution to challenging restricted no-fly zone needs.
Challenge
Konecranes in Nashville, TN came to Laser-View Technologies in December 2015 with an application at GM Springhill, TN to provide to keep the hoist from colliding with presses in the facility. Our standard Crane Sentry® collision detection system at the time would only handle crane anti-collision. The project required that all materials be delivered before December 25 so that the materials were received before the end of year budget expired.
Due to the shortened delivery time, Laser-View decided to modify the existing Crane Sentry® system to provide the needed functionally. One laser was aimed at a fixed target at the end of the runway; the other laser was aimed at the trolley. Three sets of alarms were configured to control Bridge Forward, Bridge Reverse, and Trolley Forward. The relay outputs were wired in parallel to ensure movement was restricted only when the bridge AND trolley passed the predetermined set points defining the restricted zone.
The laser sensors at the heart of Crane Sentry® offer long-range (0.05-500 meters) capabilities and highly accurate, non-contact distance measurement in a compact, IP65-rated package.
This solution was delivered on time and had been installed successfully. GM and Konecranes were so satisfied with the overall solution, that they ordered several more for the same facility thereafter. This is when the Crane Sentry® Zone Manager product was introduced. This product includes the capability to configure up 8 no-fly zones and prohibit the movement of the bridge and trolley around each zone. The Zone Manager is completely digital internally and does not rely on relay logic to operate.
Crane Sentry® Zone Manager provides a modular, easily configurable, and economical approach to protecting up to 8 no-fly zones, prohibiting direction and speed inputs to a drive. Our unique, no-fly zone system is capable of warning against interference with fixed machinery and racking, and robotics machine arms that telescope into the path of the crane. The products also can be used to create slow speed areas within a facility.
NOTE: The Crane Sentry® system is NOT a safety rated system. The system should be used to complement, NOT as a substitute for, compliance with industry-standard best practices and applicable safety regulations.
For more information on the Crane Sentry® family of crane positioning and collision detection monitoring systems, please click here to contact us or email info@laser‐view.com.