July 09, 2008
TTControl, TTTech's subsidiary for off-highway solutions, cooperated with BLUELIFT on the design of an electronic control system for a new aerial platform model. As the BLUELIFT SA 16 Compact has a maximum working height up to 16 meters, safety is a critical issue. TTControl's TTC 200 electronic control unit constitutes the technical core of the electronic system. The device controls all driving movements of the crawler trucks, the translation of the vehicle, as well as the lifting and automatic stabilization of the machine.
TTC 200 is a standard control unit that is especially suitable for managing all safety-critical functions in the machine. The TTC 200 stand-alone version fulfills safety-integrity levels (SIL) 2 requirements; two TTC 200 ECUs in a TTP® network have been the first to achieve SIL 3 certification of the IEC 61508 standard. This supports BLUELIFT's internal safety programs and production of the machines according to the EN 280 standard. The BLUELIFT SA 16 Compact uses a CAN bus network with CAN pressure sensors and CAN angle sensors and joysticks.
"As our aerial platforms are up to 16 meters (approx. 53 feet) high, we must insist on the highest safety standards for electronic control of the machine," states Gianni Marti, Sales Manager at BLUELIFT. "TTControl has significant experience in industries where safety is a stringent requirement. Its hardware fits our needs perfectly".
A 3x5 TTControl control panel is implemented in the cage of the vehicle. It is used to input commands for advanced machine functions. The development of the complete software package for TTC 200 was based on the CoDeSys® programming environment. This user-friendly environment reduces field maintenance problems, since it allows the end user to reconfigure the system without any special tools.
The electronic control system based on the TTC 200 of the BLUELIFT platforms offers maximum flexibility. Users can freely program the control units with CoDeSys, the C language and MATLAB®/Simulink® libraries. The machines also provide multiple upgrade capabilities. New functions can be implemented by changing the software. This provides enormous flexibility and considerable time savings to system developers.
