Monitoring construction cranes in Mexico

Problem

A company producing concrete masonry units used in construction across the country turned to telematics to solve an issue. The company’s problem settled in the crane operators’ reluctance to disable the machinery after the work shift or when the manipulator needed to be relocated. 

They moved the vehicle keeping the crane open to save time or just out of irresponsibility. As a result, the cranes damaged other machinery nearby and even happened to pull down power lines. Each incident cost a lot to the company. So, the client wanted to find a solution that will eliminate such incidents.

Solution

Cellamerica, the Wialon partner in Mexico, designed and implemented a construction telematics solution for solving the issue. After testing several different options, they brought together a GPS tracker, sensors for wheels and crane control, and a telematics and IoT platform.

• Since the solution required additional device reprogramming, Callamerica’s specialists used BCE IOTM devices.

• A magnetic sensor for wheels control was used to detect the vehicle movements. Thus the machinery could be instantly shut down through necessary commands. The idea to use a magnetic sensor came after tests with an accelerometer and GPRS speed sensor, which couldn’t provide exact data on whether the vehicle was moving on the site.

• The encapsulated sensor was sending data to Wialon on opening or closing the crane. 

• The supervisor received alert notification on attempts to move when the crane is open. Wialon was also used to generate reports on each connected vehicle operation.

Wialon lets the supervisor see the exact time of the crane opening