Smart sensor technology from HKS enables more efficient excavator operations
HKS Dreh-Antriebe GmbH has been developing, designing, manufacturing and selling hydraulic and pneumatic compact drives for rotating and slewing masses for 50 years. The company is present in more than 20 countries and is one of the international leading suppliers in its industry.
Slewing drives from HKS’s XtraTilt series are in particularly high demand among renowned manufacturers of construction machinery and excavators—especially when maximum performance and versatile application options, combined with reliability and low maintenance costs, are required.
Avoidable failures due to incorrect use
Hydraulic slewing drives for the construction machinery industry are designed for positioning and holding attachments. However, it can happen that machine operators intentionally or unintentionally overload the drive. For example, very high forces can occur when levering out stones or roots from the side, which can damage the drive. Collisions can also occur if the bucket is slewed against an obstacle.
Assistance system for more optimal operation
To guarantee maximum availability of the slewing drives for all users in the future, HKS was looking for a solution to implement an intelligent assistance system. During operation of a construction machine, it should provide reliable real-time feedback on the current load level of the slewing drive. This gives machine operators a better feel for these loads and enables them to better assess whether the drive is suitable for a given task. In addition, real-time feedback allows the working method to be adjusted according to the load level, enabling continued operation without critical conditions.
Smart sensor technology for greater availability
An essential prerequisite for implementing an assistance system is precise measurement data from inside the component to be monitored. Powerful sensors are required to capture this data. In the case of HKS, these sensors must be integrable into a compact hydraulic component with minimal effort, without negatively affecting its stiffness and strength.
The developers at HKS Dreh-Antriebe GmbH found what they were looking for at core sensing. With coreIN, the Darmstadt-based company provides HKS with a smart torque sensor requiring minimal installation space that can be easily integrated into the compact XtraTilt drives. Once integrated, the sensor technology determines the loads (torques) occurring in the component in both directions and transmits them to a display in the excavator. The loads are shown there in graphical form. The excavator operator can see the loads and control them more effectively. This prevents overload or component damage while ensuring optimal operation within the excavator’s design limits. With the powerful IIoT-Gateway coreGATE, core sensing also provides HKS with the solution for integrating the coreIN torque sensor into the existing data acquisition system.
