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Gantry cranes linked to igus system for high-speed data Transmission

Rubber Tyred Gantry cranes are an essential part of port facilities around the world. With the d-rover, the motion plastics specialist igus provides a solution to supply data to these RTGs quickly and safely – for travels of over 800 metres.

Container handling is a vital element in global logistics, from European ports along the North Sea to the ports on the east coast of China. Rubber Tyred Gantry cranes, or RTGs, are used there where they can arrange containers in columns, side by side and one above the other. An increasing number of these RTGs are not operated by diesel, but pure electric power as they move between the stacks and therefore must be connected to an energy and/or data supply. The d-rover has been developed by igus for secure data transmission, for example to HD video cameras on the RTG. The system is quickly connected to the gantry crane via a retractable and extendible telescopic arm, thus ensuring an uninterrupted high-speed data transmission. In this way the maximum data rates of up to 10 Gbit/s are feasible with chainflex fibre optic cables, even with travels of 800 metres and more. There are no restrictions for the travel speed of the RTGs.

e-rover for the energy transmission to the RTG
Besides the d-rover, igus GmbH offers the e-rover, which electrifies the motor-driven RTGs very easily, so as to reduce energy costs and environmental emissions. Once an RTG has been "plugged in" to the energy chain system, the diesel-fuelled energy supply is cut off. Cables with a cross section of 180 mm² per phase can currently be used. The system uses a retractable/extendible telescopic arm on the RTG. This has two benefits: one, it enables automatic coupling and the energy chain, which can be used to simultaneously guide all media, is moved with the RTG. This guarantees the supply of energy and data. Two, it is possible to compensate horizontal and vertical unevenness and misalignments in the travel.

View the video on d-rover: https://youtu.be/_XhUu_FZuDI

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