ABB-Crane Control System - ASTAT

ABB-Crane Control System - ASTAT

ASTAT® for industry! ASTAT, with slip-ring motors, has become the leading technology for new heavy industrial cranes in the growth regions of the world. In Europe, ASTAT is mostly used for retrofit installations or when normal industrial drives are unable to fulfil the requirements.   We supply ASTAT solutions for applications up to 4000 A or 4700 kVA. The ASTAT Digital Crane Motion Controller has better control and information properties compared to earlier controllers. Equally important is the focus on quality of hardware components. The digital controller can be mounted on a steel plant crane in hot countries such as India without extra cooling or air conditioning. This capability provides additional benefits to worldwide industrial crane users.   i.e. The crane control system must withstand dirty, hot and cold environments in addition to difficult power supply systems. This has forced us to integrate functions like brake control, time relays, logic control and thermistor relays into the ASTAT controller. Generic products with the same robustness as the ASTAT controller are difficult to find. With this level of integration we offer a complete, fully tested motion control system. Slip-ring motors may be produced with small internal rotor losses. This is important in crane applications with multiple motors and a high demand for good motion control.  As well as being ideal for crane applications, slip-ring motors are low on maintenance with brushes being exchanged only every 5 to 10 years.   ASTAT uses the slip-rings for measurement of the rotor frequency and from this calculates the speed. In most cases no tachometer or pulse encoder is necessary. The operator controls the crane motion, while all rotor contactors are optimized by ASTAT, as an integrated part of the current control. This results in dramatically reduced wear of contactors and crane mechanical parts. Crane maintenance costs will therefore be reduced. Advantages with ASTAT®: • Fewer and better components result in more up-time. • Operational diagnostics will speed-up fault tracing. • Multipurpose spares will reduce parts in stock. • The PC-program for maintenance can be installed in a ground level computer. Nobody has to visit the crane first to find the problem.   Digital ASTAT motion control is superior to other techniques and it increases the operational results to the limits of the crane itself. For you as a user it will create: • Increased productivity. The operator moves the crane without jogging, i.e. with one single movement. • Prolonged lifetime. Smooth acceleration and retardation decreases torque peaks.   • Special functions reduce rope and brake wear. • Satisfied operators. Motion control is possible down to increments of only one cm. Try to do such a small step without the ASTAT system! • Excellent control features permit higher speed during automatic control.