Given that a good banksman can be hard to find, it is perhaps surprising that so many crane operators still have to make blind lifts. It is not necessary, given the ready availability on the market of high quality and reliable crane camera systems. Sure, they can be expensive – up to E8,000 for certain specifications and applications. But they can also cost much less. Orlaco, the leading European supplier, quotes prices starting at about € 1,500, and even a costlier system than this can pay for itself within 12 months through improved productivity, claims Joost Fons, Orlaco’s sales director. A crane working 2,000 hours a year needs to work just 3% or 4% more efficiently over the year to pay for an € 8,000 system. A large Dutch contractor which has a fleet of 17 tower cranes equipped with cameras has found productivity improvements greater than this, Fons says.
And, of course, the elimination of just one accident would make a camera pay for itself immediately.
Advocates of crane camera systems point out that by putting a camera on a crane’s trolley or jib-end, blind spots normally associated with crane handling and rigging operations are eliminated. Not only does this improve safety, but also, because the operator can see the load at all times, it allows precise positioning of materials, thus improving productivity.
The benefit of a camera system depends on the degree to which the operator can see the load. Large top slewing tower cranes and harbour cranes used for unloading ships generally have the greatest viewing problems. For this reason, harbour cranes are quite commonly fitted with a camera by the OEM. Owners of larger mobile cranes have also seen the benefits, however.
Orlaco says that it produces 400 boom tip camera systems a year for cranes. Its system consists of a rugged camera with integrated 72x optical zoom lens. Digital signal processing techniques give high resolution image reproduction even in low light. Images are relayed to a purpose-built high resolution colour flat screen TFT monitor in the cab. The video and data signal is transmitted to and from the camera via an encrypted wireless RF connection, using frequencies licensed to the CCTV industry. This ensures that the possibility of interference is eliminated and the image quality is equal to that of a ‘hard wired’ system. Orlaco also produces 13,000 compact cameras, some of which are used on cranes for winch/rear/side view.
Says Orlaco’s Joost Fons: ‘We have been mainly supplying to end-users. However, due to the success we have had in selling our cameras to end-users we see a rising interest with crane manufacturers. All manufacturers are collecting information now on cameras systems.’
This statement appears to be justified by a straw poll of manufacturers. Only Spierings, it seems (unless you know different) offers a load view/rear view/side view camera system as standard and this is only on one of its models – the top of the range AT 6 Mighty Tiny. Others offer cameras as an option, thought apparently without much take-up yet, while others do not think the market is yet ready to pay for cameras. All, however, appear to see camera systems as something that will become increasingly common on cranes in the near future.
Orlaco has supplied the factories and/or dealers of Potain, Liebherr, Demag, Faun and others in recent years, as well as Spierings.
Liebherr’s tower crane factory in Biberach, Germany, says that it only offers cameras – as an option – on its MK 80 and MK 100 truck-mounted tower cranes. ‘We are sure that these cameras will help as a safety feature, specially for this crane type, because these cranes very often work in difficult job sites. Often the crane drivers do not have the possibility to look at the load,’ the company says.
Kobelco offers camera systems as an option on all crawler crane models and advocates them as a safety feature, not just to improve visibility of the load and the job site, but also to monitor spooling on the second drum. However, fewer than 10% of Kobelco’s European customers opt for a camera system. ‘Cost is still a barrier,’ says Kobelco sales manager Jos Verhulst. ‘However, several customers prefer to buy the cameras from a third party and fit them by themselves.’
Spanish tower crane manufacturer Jaso does not think the market is ready yet for cameras. Sales engineer Mikel Iturrioz says: ‘We have spoken with some of our customers and they like the camera, but end users do not want to pay the extra money.’
As in other areas of the industry, it is the Dutch who are proving to be early adopters. Orlaco itself is a Dutch company. Fons says: ‘At this moment approximately 20% of all cranes in the Dutch market have been supplied with a camera. We believe that the same percentage will be achieved in all other European countries and the USA after proper marketing has been done. Our main activity at this time is to introduce the concept of a crane camera to the crane market. After a certain introduction period the product will sell itself.’
