Data on utilization rates, temperatures and vibration
The NB-IoT technology is being piloted on light crane systems. Light crane systems are designed for work areas and production lines that have a maximum requirement of 2 tons lifting capacity. Kemppainen is particularly pleased with how easily the sensors can be installed on cranes that are already on the field.
“NB-IoT sensors can be installed on machines that have been in use for ten or even twenty years. Otherwise, building a similar infrastructure would be very difficult and expensive”, Kemppainen points out.
Wireless sensors designed for different purposes can be used in many ways on cranes. An NB-IoT sensor can measure various indicators.
“The utilization rate of a crane is important information for us. We are also interested in temperature and vibration. These are useful when planning maintenance, for example. In addition, a sensor can be adjusted to transmit data on fault situations”, says Kemppainen.
Top Results from a top Team
Telia is providing the infrastructure for the pilot project on Konecranes’ NB-IoT technology. Huld is responsible for the electronics and software and will build the sensor according to Konecranes’ needs.
“Telia and Huld know how to make sensors communicate with the mobile network and how to ensure that the network understands what the sensor is saying. We let them know what types of sensors and data we need. It’s also essential to determine when and to what a sensor must react. The data collected by the NB-IoT sensor is transmitted to the cloud for our further processing.”
The expectations are high. “We believe that NB-IoT is a globally functional technology with a reasonable cost level and excellent coverage”, says Kemppainen.