Sematic Aesthetic Elevator Configurator

During Interlift 2013, Sematic Elevator Products unveiled the online cabin and door design tool Aesthetic Elevator Configurator. Available at configurator.sematic.com, it allows users to create customized elevator cabins in 3D with different combinations of Sematic doors, walls, floors, ceilings, handrails, skirtings, bumper rails and mirrors. Users select whether the project is new or a modernization, whether the cabin will hold passengers or goods and where it will operate – airport, home, hospital, hotel or high rise. Material and finish options include Sematic stainless and etched steels, skin plates, plastic laminates, PVCs, metals, composite stones, colored glass, marble and wood veneers. The tool is available in English, German and Italian. For more information, visit the website or e-mail: marketing@sematic.com.

Wingage System Availability

DigiGage has announced its winGage global software and sensor package (ELEVATOR WORLD, October 2012) availability as of first-quarter 2014 in Europe, Asia and the U.S. DigiGage’s solution is intended to turn any closed elevator cabin into a “digitally transparent” elevator to improve the user experience in elevators. The winGage allows passengers to engage with the lift-car environment and uses no advertising.

The winGage system provides a motion-based, digital design solution for elevators that works completely independently from the elevator’s controller. Its sensor detects the car’s movement and can determine the speed, height and current floor of the cab. Its artificial-intelligence algorithms control virtual-reality content that visually reflects the movement of the elevator on the screen, correlating what passengers feel with what they see, thus creating the sense of the screen being a window inside the elevator cab.

The end user can control the system from the cloud using the winGage web-based control panel, where he or she can manage an information layer that consists of building messages, floor-specific messages, news feeds and social media. The user can also access the online “window view store” that allows him or her to change the content in the personalized dynamic “elevator window” from any Internet-connected device from anywhere around the world. Two versions of the system are available for installation in either new or existing elevators.

For more information, visit DigiGage at website: www.digigage.com. 

People Flow Intelligence

KONE has announced its People Flow® Intelligence suite of “smart solutions” designed to guide building visitors and tenants effectively and smoothly from a structure’s front entrance to their desired destination, while also improving building security. The suite includes access control, destination guidance, information communication and equipment monitoring. The solutions are modular, flexible and third-party compatible, meaning building owners can either take the entire integrated package or choose specific solutions to complement their existing building systems.

Heikki Leppänen, KONE executive vice president, New Equipment Business, explained the impetus for the new products:

“We know that property owners and developers are under increasing pressure to ensure their tenants can move around buildings as quickly and comfortably as possible, and simultaneously provide improved security and access control. At the same time, building users expect to be able to move through various public spaces smoothly and intuitively.”

The access solutions are to seamlessly connect elevators with all entry points in a building, including turnstiles and automatic doors. They take into account the number of people waiting to use the elevators and their destination floors when they assign and guide individual users to their assigned elevators. This is intended to improve elevator traffic-handling capacity and performance, leading to less-crowded elevators, shorter travel times and fewer stops. In addition to the replacement of traditional call buttons by touchscreens, the solutions offer the KONE RemoteCall™ mobile app, which allows users to call an elevator from anywhere in the building using their smartphones.

KONE’s information screens can be placed inside elevator cars or anywhere else in a building. Uses for them include guiding building users to their destination, providing information about the building and serving as a platform for media content. The monitoring aspect of the suite enables the surveillance of elevators and escalators in real time across multiple locations.

For more information, visit website: www.kone.com/peopleflowintelligence.

Condition-Based Monitoring System

ACE Lifts Ltd. has introduced its patent-pending i-COM condition-based monitoring system. Designed to work alongside the company’s lift maintenance services to increase lifts’ reliability, the product can be added to any lift, regardless of age or manufacturer. Performance, ride quality and number of faults can be monitored, and the lift maintainer can be notified of decreases in performance.

The i-COM’s energy monitor enables users to see how much energy a lift is using, calculate whether money and energy could be saved by upgrading to a different system and switch the power off when the lift is not being used. By knowing how many journeys the lift is making, one can plan the appropriate maintenance schedule for a lift. Journeys made and hours run also enable the prediction of failure, facilitating a plan to change components based on usage. Maintenance integrity can be ensured, as the maintenance itself is monitored via such observation of door contact, test control and safety contacts. Floor-level monitoring can provide owners comfort and assurance when their lifts are used by the general public, possibly and providing evidence against spurious claims filed by passengers.

For more information, contact ACE Lifts at Units 4 & 5, Saint Ives Way, Snadycroft, CH5 2QS, U.K.; phone: 01244-525-999; or website: www.ace-lifts.com.

Remote Monitoring/Control Device

SMIRC Automation has developed a remote-monitoring product called “Smart Monitoring Incorporating Relay Control (SMIRC) for Elevators.” According to the company, SMIRC enables the connection of any elevator system to the Internet via a 3G/asymmetric-digital-subscriber-line modem providing authorized users 24/7 unlimited access to reset, monitor and control functions from any PC or smartphone. This facilitates SMIRC’s ability to often release a trapped passenger in less than 1 min. Other benefits include:

• Resetting the central processing unit of the drive and door controllers
• Monitoring the status of safety, lock, car door, door zone, running, position, etc.
• Controlling car/landing calls, independent/fire control, etc.
• Reducing overheads of after-hours maintenance calls
• Reducing vehicle running costs
• Reducing average passenger entrapment time
• Reducing average breakdown time
• Increasing productivity and safety

SMIRC Automation says its product is most effective when a reset/reboot of a controller overcomes a fault condition. SMIRC is also effective in reducing such nuisance calls as running on arrival, intermittent faults, tying up of group controllers and security-related issues. It can be interfaced with both older relay-logic and modern serial-data controllers. No software installation is necessary, and there are no usage limits.

SMIRC Automation at e-mail: info@smirc.com.au or website: www.smirc.com.au.

Emerson Rolls Out New Speed Drives, Motor

Control Techniques and Leroy-Somer, divisions of Emerson Industrial Automation, introduced a new line of variable-speed drives and a permanent-magnet motor during Interlift 2013 in Augsburg, Germany, in October. Commercially available in 2014, the E200 and E300 drives and the E27 motor promise to speed installation and enhance ride comfort, according to Emerson, which stated:

“E200 and E300 have an intuitive user interface, which allows easy adjustment via backlit LCD keypad and rapid setup in familiar elevator language and units. Meanwhile, the compact and silent E27 motor offers a completely new design to ease mechanical installation and to remove the constraints linked to machine-room-less configuration. A central sheave allows a simplification of the chassis, while also offering full access to the sheave and traction ropes.”

For more information, contact Control Techniques at Unit 79 Mochdre Industrial Estate, Newtown, SY16 4LE, U.K.; phone: (44) 0-1686-612000; fax: (44) 0-1686-612999; e-mail: control techniques@emerson.com; or website: www.controltechniques.com