Crane Monitoring System

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Verticals: Traffic and Transportation,Custom Product Development
Technologies: Embedded Software,Embedded Hardware
Tags: Visual Studio .Net, I2C, SPI flash, Digital signal Controller, UART, RS485, Mechatronics, Cranes, Accelerometers, Inclinometers.

CLIENT

Client is one of the leading construction equipment fabricators in India, manufacturing Cranes, Pick and Carry Vehicles and Back Hoe Loaders for the construction industry.

 

OBJECTIVE

To design and develop a safe load indicator unit for cranes covering the SLI/LMI Hardware, software and the desktop utility for use in all load monitoring applications. The monitoring device would perform sensor measurements and calculate the corresponding safe load for the operator to monitor.

Custom Product Design India

PROJECT SCOPE

  • To design and develop system which supports:
    • Interfaces for pressure transducers, accelerometers, load cells, dynamo-meters, and slew sensors.
    • System reports through console and printer.
    • Graphical Display of parameters through a linear bar graph and numeric display of the current state.
    • Variety of cranes like lattice, pick and carry, telescopic slew, ELL.
    • Pressure based load monitoring and line pull based load monitoring.
  • The PC interface software for one time configuration of the monitoring device. The monitored equipment geometry can be fed into the on board memory which enables the system to be used for various applications. The system can also log events for determining the equipment performance at a later stage.
  • Post delivery support and release management.

 

CHALLENGES

  • New area of expertise: Client's domain knowledge and KritiKal's expertise with controllers and embedded software brought the product to fruition.
  • Optimized software design: The software was to cater to a generic segment of cranes and sensors. The configuration tables had to ensure generality even while addressing small footprint.
  • Rugged system design: The design had to counter vibrations and harsh environment conditions.

 

Technical Specifications

Hardware
ModuleDescription
dsPIC33FJ256GP510-I/PF16 bit Digital signal controller
Serial Flash1 MB SPI flash
Real Time Clock Interfaced on I2C Bus
Graphical DisplayInterfaced on microcontroller parallel Data Bus
PC ConsoleAsynchronous Serial Data (UART)
Analog channels Six channels interfaced through controller through optical isolators, using on chip 12 bit ADC channels
AccelerometersDigital accelerometers interfaced with controller through RS485 transceivers. Used for sensing inclination and tilt
Digital switchesInterfaced with controller through digital optical-isolators

 

Software
  • Embedded development in C. Modular design with each modules interacting with each other through clearly defined interfaces.
  • Event driven design. The software operates through a series of callbacks. No module in the design is allowed to block or busy-wait.
  • Protocol for exchange of data between the desktop utility and the device. The protocol ensures correctness and reliability of the data.
  • Console implementation through a lexical parser.
  • .NET based PC configuration generation and programming utility. Configurable design with provision for extensions in the future
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