The northernmost airport in the EU.
Temperatures as low as -30 degrees Celsius can be expected at Ivalo Airport in Finland in winter. From here Finnair departs daily to Helsinki. In the winter months is high season in Ivalo. Winter sports enthusiasts from all over the world come to this otherwise very lonely place.
As a rule, cargo and sports equipment also goes on the journey with the passengers. Laweco Maschinen- und Apparatebau GmbH, the leading supplier of high-quality lifting systems based in Espelkamp, is testing its new prototype of the electrically driven "Cargo Master CMLT - GREEN LINE" in Ivalo.
For the coming winter, the cargo handling vehicle with scissor lift table of the type GREEN LINE with a lifting capacity of 3,700 kg and a lifting height of 3,600 mm will be in service there for aircraft loading. Reliability and availability are to be ensured even at a location with harsh conditions such as Ivalo by simple and predictive maintenance and servicing. On board the Cargo Master there is therefore a optiMEAS smartMINI System with the task of recording relevant vehicle data every 5 minutes.
According to Guido Weissbrich, product manager of the world-famous traditional brand Cargo Master, the choice fell on the data logger from optiMEASbecause it offers "the optimum performance for the application". "Your device can do more than the competition." And indeed, the ability of the smartMINI as a full-fledged, robust computer with the possibility of data evaluation beyond the mere collection of data - a user-oriented and inexpensive compact solution from optiMEAS.
The decisive factor was the extended temperature range
Above all, temperature data, both internal from the control unit such as hydraulic oil and engine temperatures, and external in relation to the sometimes extreme outside temperatures, are of interest. But also operating times, position determination and possible error codes from the vehicle control unit are continuously recorded. With the extended temperature range of -40° to +70 °, a directly connected PT100 sensor, 2 CAN interfaces, LTE modem and GPS, the smartMINI as an intelligent diagnostic system exactly meets the requirements of this application.
The application provides a separate power supply (DC/DC converter 80V/24V) for the smartPRO to continue recording ambient temperatures even during battery charging. The LTE modem integrated in the device transmits all data directly to optiMEAS own cloud server (www.opticloud.de). This allows analyses to be carried out and notifications of possible error conditions to be sent. At the same time, the data is available via the web front-end or via the PC software optiCONTROL available for download and further processing. A user-friendly overview illustrates the various temperature deflections and events in connection with each other.
It is expected that in autumn another device of the latest generation of the Cargo Master, with a smartMINI equipped, brought to Munich for field testing. Laweco plans to record further vehicle data in the future, as well as the communication of parameter values or remote updates of the control unit software.
The device behind it
Latency-free transmission of field buses via the Internet
In order to be able to access the machine's control system in the field and change parameters literally from your desk, the optiMEAS A patent has been applied for as part of a master's thesis: for latency-free transmission of fieldbuses via the Internet. This allows the data traffic via server to be visualized by the diagnostic device directly on the PC. Access via smartphone or tablet is also possible, right up to updating the entire control unit software.
Customized applications
Only what the customer releases is monitored. The control of a machine can only be accessed when the key switch in the switch cabinet is operated. The customer has his data and the functions connected with the Teleservice in his hands. Characteristic for optiMEAS products is, besides the modular hardware, also the flexible app concept. The basic software is complemented by an app. "This allows us to react quickly and specifically to customer requirements and thus create robust and easy to maintain applications on our systems," says Burkhard Schranz.