Swing-free sensorless crane controller from ABB.

ABBs accurate swing-free sensorless function in the ACS880 is used to avoid uncontrolled load movements and speed up handling without any significant changes in the crane itself. This allows the driver to focus their attention on moving the load, and not trying to manage the swing

Moving a crane from rest or accelerating a load, normally produces a sway due to the kinetic energy of the load mass.  Load-swing happens particularly when operated in manual mode and by an inexperienced operator, and can be dangerous to the load, the local environment, or both.

Cranes are designed to meet a wide range of applications and performance will depend on the industry for which it is designed, whether it is steel, paper or the waste handling.  The ACS880 industrial drives includes built-in crane control software and range of safety functions required to provide the flexibility to meet your customers’ crane control needs.

ACS880 drives with built-in sensorless anti-sway control

Load sway can occur in trolley and long travel movements, and the ACS880 drive’s anti-sway control program automatically compensates for it when it happens. The control program creates a mathematical model of the crane’s pendulum. It estimates the pendulum’s time constant by continually measuring the hoist position and load properties, and factors in the swing velocity and angle. When the operator changes the speed of the crane’s travel, the drive quickly recalculates the required speed reference to compensate for the crane’s speed change, preventing the load from swaying.

Key benefits of the anti-sway control

– Improves productivity by letting the crane operator fully focus on moving the goods rather than manually controlling the sway.

– Lowers risk of damage to the load.

– Reduces mechanical wear and stress to the crane by eliminating the need for quick and jerky manual sway control movements.

– Lowers risk of accidents caused by uncontrolled sway.

– Built into the drive. Works without external anti-sway sensors or other hardware.

Open crane control leaflet here

See swing-free ACS880 on YouTube

See more ABB drives here