LONDON – Kinesys recently provided 160 of its new DigiHoist motor controllers to Production Resource Group (PRG). The new units will replace all PRG's existing motor control stock in the U.K., effectively standardizing the control platform across PRG's rigging department, which works with more than 2,000 motors. Kinesys were one of three companies that pitched for the design commission of this project which was managed by Dave Weatherhead for Kinesys, and for PRG by PRG's U.K. head of asset management Paul Weaver and Summit Steel's Jon Bray – who have co-ordinated an overall upgrade for all equipment in PRG's rigging department.
Following the product's launch at the recent 2010 PLASA exhibition in London, the DigiHoist is now also available as an off-the-shelf production model from Kinesys.
"The product is designed to be received on site by riggers who might not have used it before, but will immediately understand how to use it without specialist training," said Kinesys' Weatherhead.
A digital communications link is at the hub of the system, which enables up to 12 DigiHoists to be linked together via one cable (for up to 96 channels of control). A single data cable is then required to connect to a remote pendant, which can be used to control anything from 1 to 96 hoists via a cable run of over 100 meters if required.
Safety features include hoist presence indication and limit monitoring on both upper and lower limits. When activated, the Group Halting function will stop any moving hoists and inform the operator if any chain hoist hits a limit.
There are seven segment displays for each channel, giving operators instant channel number feedback and coherent fault feedback, making it easier to manage large systems.
The digital link incorporates "self-healing" emergency stop connections, removing the need for shorting plugs in the system.
"Having a lightweight and economical control cable rather than the traditional multi-pinned analog cabling was an important feature for us," noted PRG's Weaver.
"We wanted a product that could be configured into large systems, and Kinesys already had digital comms running in their other products, so that was a big advantage," said Summit Steel's Bray. "We were also already familiar with their vari-speed motor controllers, Vector and K2 automation software," he added.
The first of PRG's DigiHoists have been delivered, a process that will continue over the coming weeks. Of the 160 initially ordered, 80 will be made up as 32-way racks and rest as 8-way and 16-way systems.
For more information, please visit www.kinesys.co.uk.
