SMIE, manufacturer of anti-collision systems for tower cranes has taken further the crane automation technology. Using their remote 4G system they have been able to connect a Pro-SITE installed tower crane to their simulator system based 300km away. This adaptation requires no hardware modifications to the crane only a viable 3G or 4G connection. Where this is not possible, a WIFI connected system with direct internet connection can be used instead.
Nick Palfrey, Chief Marketing Officer said “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.”
