In-house Development Crane
Development Crane
-
Development Crane
Our Abacus in house Training and R&D crane is based on a full 7 axis RMG/RTG design in a configuration of: • 2 x Gantry drives with 2 motors each • 2 x Trolley Drives with 1 motor each • 1 x Slew Drive with 1 motor (Boom in STS configuration) • 2 x Hoist Drives with 1 motor each The crane in addition to the multi axis Hoist, Gantry and trolley design, be setup with further additional configurations that include: • Hoists can be mechanically linked, run as master-slave or independently • Gantry can be run as master-slave, independently or in different motor pairs • Trolley can be run master-slave or independently The crane has an operational footprint that spans: • Gantry Travel Distance of 4,5m • Trolley Travel Distance of 3m • Hoist Travel Height of 2,9m • Slew with a full 360-degree rotation capability The Control System design is such that it is suitable to be used with any combination of the below: • Siemens S7-300 PLC • Siemens S7-1500 PLC • Simotion D and S120 Drives • CU320’s with S120 Drives • Sinamics G120 Drives • Siemens CMS V4.4 with RMG/RTG, STS or Industrial crane options pre-setup • Siemens RCMS V4.4 All control system options now predeveloped and ready to be setup with a simple hardware exchange, with both Profibus and Profinet as communication platform options available. Each axis even has encoder feedback from the motors. Having such an exceptional piece of equipment at your fingertips, it is no surprise that our team of engineers are able to build up the experience and obtain Siemens Simocrane accreditations in such short time frames, as they “play” with the engineering possibilities the demo crane offers. It also explains how Abacus has been involved in different successful proof of concept works. The crane is used for development testing as well as live Factory acceptance testing with all customers for crane projects, which has the added advantage of allowing customers a real life feel of what they can expect to receive on site. Pre-commissioning of axis provide the added advantage that on site downtime for cranes can be reduced during the upgrade process using the development crane and allow in-advance training of operators and maintenance personnel. -
Crane Projects
Transnet/Siemens RTG Upgrades
Transnet RMG Crane
-
Transnet/Siemens RTG Upgrades
RTG Upgrades
Abacus Automation was awarded the project by Siemens to upgrade 9 Kalmar RTG cranes for Transnet Port Authority.
This involved the replacement of the existing Masterdrives with Sinamics S120 drives. PLC, HMI and drive parameters action changes were necessary. The crane functionality was then re-commissioned to ensure all functions were performing correctly.
-
Transnet RMG Crane
One of the biggest crane related projects that Abacus has completed was for the Transnet Port Terminal (TPT). Abacus supplied the automation solution including the variable speed drive cabinets and crane management systems on two Terex 40t rail mounted gantry cranes that were supplied to Pier 2 of TPT’s Durban port in November 2014.
SIMOCRANE & SIMOTION Technology
Abacus made use of Siemens’ scalable technology modules for crane automation (or SIMOCRANE), which is a software platform designed to increase productivity. The hardware for the solution included high-end programmable logic controllers (PLC’s), a drive controller (called a SIMOTION controller) and variable speed drives (VSDs) designed and optimised for crane use.
The crane management system resides on the computer in the crane’s cabin and provides the driver with all the information pertaining to the crane’s status and its fault diagnostic tools. The driver’s control desk relays signals to the PLC which processes them and passes these signals to the SIMOTION controller. The SIMOCRANE software is embedded into the SIMOTION controller and acts as the interface for the VSDs, which then moves the crane. The SIMOCRANE software offers functionality options for all crane types, and needs only be parameterised and commissioned according to customer specifications.
The solution is derived from Siemens’ collective knowledge from thousands of crane projects. “On a high-risk application like a crane there is very little room for trial and error or experimentation. Safety is a high priority and the software uses multiple safety checks and precautions. The SIMOCRANE solution has been optimised for performance both in terms of production as well as power consumption.
Prior to the 2014 installation, the last time RMG cranes of that size built in South Africa by Demag/Terex was about 25 years ago. This is significant because TPT, like all State-owned companies, requires that a majority of the products supplied are locally procured. Hence both cranes were designed, manufactured, erected, electrified and automated locally with only a few selected parts purchased abroad.
The production performance of the cranes has almost doubled the capability of the cranes they replaced, the drivers have expressed their pleasure with the new cranes, especially the performance of the sway control. -
