Trimble and Manitowoc say that they intend to develop solutions that will transform the way in which crane operations and information are managed on a construction site.
The goal is to produce a system that provides “real time, centimetre-level positioning data for multiple cranes working on a construction site”. Cranes on site would all be ‘connected’, with the working area and forbidden zones of each one programmed in.
The companies said that they also expect to develop an "intelligent environment" database for their solutions capable of receiving constant updates of data from building information modelling (BIM) tools and other site sensors working in tandem.
In their vision, crane operations would shut down automatically if they detected any unplanned work activity on site.
A wireless local area network (WLAN) will share the crane position information across the construction site, providing each crane operator, the lift scheduler, and even the back office instant status against the BIM plan.
Manitowoc produces Potain-branded tower cranes and Grove-branded telescopic boom mobile cranes as well as Manitowoc-branded lattice boom crawler cranes.
"Trimble is already using much the same technology to deliver significant productivity improvements to the construction machine control market," said John Cameron, general manager of Trimble's Integrated Technologies Division. "By partnering with the Manitowoc Cranes, a lifting industry leader, we expect to co-develop solutions capable of lifting and delivering materials on the construction site similar to a contract manufacturer who uses a pick-and-place machine to build an electronic circuit board. Our goal is add crane productivity as another key component of the connected site."
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