A control system decides where the operator stands, how the load behaves when the crane starts and stops, and what the crane refuses to do. Overload protection is standard on everything we build; the rest is chosen against your cycle.
A crane control system is everything between the operator's hand and the motion of the load: the control device, the drives that shape acceleration and braking, and the protective devices that limit what the crane will do. On our cranes it also sets how precisely a load can be placed and how much of the cycle is spent settling it.
Applications
Pendant — a control device suspended from the crane on a cable. Simple, hardwired and always available, with nothing to charge. It ties the operator to the load and to walking the span, which is fine on short spans and light duty and stops being fine as either grows. It is also often the right answer in a classified area, where every powered device has to be certified.
Radio remote — the operator is free to stand where the load is actually visible, which is usually the real gain, and one person can rig and drive. It brings battery management, transmitter handling and signal discipline with it.
Operator cabin — the operator works from above the load in a controlled environment. It earns its place on long spans, continuous duty and hot, dusty or noisy areas; the full comparison sits on that page.
Cabin and radio remote are regularly fitted to the same crane, interlocked so only one is live at a time.
A hanging load is a pendulum, and its period depends on rope length rather than on how heavy the load is. Sway control works on that fact.
Our sway control is inverter-based. The drive shapes the acceleration and deceleration profile so that the crane's own movement does not set the load swinging in the first place. There is no sway sensor and no camera; the control is in the motion command. What that gives you is a load that arrives without a swing to wait out, and an operator who does not have to drive against a pendulum.
Here is what it does not do, because no one else in this category says it. It does not damp a load that is already swinging when it engages. It does not correct sway caused by wind or another outside disturbance. It does not correct a swing that comes from an off-centre or unbalanced pick-up, where the rope is not vertical at the moment of lift. And shaping the speed profile adds deliberate hesitations, which extends the stopping distance slightly compared with an unshaped stop.
Those limits are the reason a percentage figure is meaningless without the conditions attached to it, and the reason we do not publish one. Where the duty genuinely calls for damping an existing swing, that is a different class of system and a different conversation, and we would rather have it before the order than after.
Inverter control is also what makes micro-speed placing possible, which is a separate gain from sway and is often the one operators notice first.
An overload switch and a load cell are standard on every product we build, not an option to add. Together they stop the hoist taking a load beyond its rating, and they also limit the forces the crane transfers into your structure — the second purpose is the one usually left out.
The two work differently and it is worth knowing which you have. A mechanical limiter acts directly on the drive path and is coarse by nature: it has to let a test lift above the rated load through while still stopping a genuine overload, so its trigger sits inside a wide band. A load cell measures the actual force and cuts the motion indirectly, through the control system, so it trips much closer to the rated load — provided the response delay is inside what the design allows.
Both are covered by the EN 14492-2 framework for overload protection on power-driven hoists. We build to it; the compliance statement for a given crane belongs in that crane's own documentation rather than on a web page.
Radio remote, inverter control and sway control can all be fitted to a crane already in service, including one built by another manufacturer — we service, supply parts for and modernise other makes as a matter of course.
What decides the job is the crane, not the kit. Before anything is quoted we look at whether the existing motors and brakes can take inverter control, what condition the panel and contactors are in, what the structure's duty class actually is against how the crane is now being used, and — for sway control — where a usable hook-height signal will come from. Some of those answers change the scope and some of them change the recommendation.
The work sits under modernisation and retrofit, and it starts with a site review rather than a parts list.
Technical data
| Item | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Overload switch + load cell | Standard on every product we build | Stops an overload and limits forces into the structure; EN 14492-2 framework |
| Inverter (VFD) motion control | Option | Soft start and stop on hoisting, trolley and bridge; micro-speed placing |
| Sway control | Option, inverter-based | Cancels command-induced sway; see the stated limits above. No sensor or camera |
| Functional safety level | At least PL c to EN ISO 13849-1; PL d or PL e where the project requires it | Stated per safety function; category and SIL are not claimed |
| Brake | Spring-applied electromagnetic brake — closes when power is cut | Holds the load on power loss; release ≈ 0.3 s |
| Pendant control | Option | Hardwired; often the right answer in a classified area |
| Radio remote control | Option | Operator free to choose the viewing position |
| Operator cabin | Option | Long span, continuous duty, hard conditions |
| Limit switches (hoisting and travel) | Standard | Stops the motion before the end of its path |
| Buffers and end stops | Standard | Absorb the impact at the end of travel |
| Audible and visual warning | Standard | Warns the floor before and during a movement |
| Anti-collision / travel-zone interlocking | Option; reflective photoelectric sensor | For a shared runway or a shared working area |
| Emergency stop | On the control device and the panel | Per project |
| Assisted automation | Option | Position memory, target positioning, repeat moves — operator in control |
| ABRA Crane Tracking | Option; retrofittable to other makes | Running hours, load spectrum, overload events, brake operations |
| ATEX version | Per project, certified by a third-party notified body | Gas Zone 1–2 / dust Zone 21–22. See Explosion-protected cranes |
| Power supply | 380–415 V / 50 Hz (60 Hz for export) | Per project |
| Protection class (panel) | IP54 / IP55 | Per project |
| Ambient temperature (crane) | −10 … +50 °C | Per project |
| Standards | EN 14492-2 (overload protection) · EN 13001 series · CE · ISO 9001 · EN ISO 13849-1 / -2 · EN IEC 60204-32 · busbar to EN IEC 61439-1 / -6 | Per project |
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Protection class | IP65 |
| Frequency band | 2.4 GHz |
| Operating temperature | −10 … +75 °C or −20 … +45 °C by type; −40 … +85 °C available |
| Transmission distance | 100 m standard; 20 – 300 m by type and site |
| Power | Rechargeable, wireless charging or battery |
| Number of functions | Per project |
| Functional safety level | At least PL c to EN ISO 13849-1; PL d or PL e where the project requires it |
| Inverter-based sway control (ours) | |
|---|---|
| Cancels sway the crane's own movement would create | Yes — the acceleration and braking profile is shaped so the swing does not start |
| Damps a load that is already swinging | No |
| Corrects wind or another outside disturbance | No |
| Corrects a swing from an off-centre or unbalanced pick-up | No |
| Needs a sway sensor or camera | No |
| Effect on stopping distance | Slightly longer than an unshaped stop — the profile includes deliberate hesitations |
| Published percentage claim | None. The figure circulating in this category has no published test method behind it |
FAQ
Ours does not. It is inverter-based: the drive shapes acceleration and braking so the crane's own movement does not start the load swinging. Systems that damp a swing already in progress — from wind, or from an off-centre pick-up — measure the sway with a sensor or a camera and correct it reactively. That is a different class of system, and which one you need comes out of the duty.
Usually, including a crane another manufacturer built. What decides it is the existing crane: whether the motors and brakes accept inverter control, the condition of the panel and contactors, the real duty class against how the crane is used now, and where a hook-height signal comes from for sway control. That is a site review before it is a quotation.
No — an overload switch and a load cell are standard on every product we build. They stop the hoist taking a load beyond its rating and limit the forces the crane puts into your structure. A mechanical limiter acts directly on the drive and works within a wide band; a load cell measures the force and cuts the motion much closer to the rated load. Both sit under the EN 14492-2 framework.
Pendant on short spans and light duty, where the operator stays with the load anyway and nothing needs charging — and often in a classified area, where every powered device has to be certified. Radio remote once the span or the duty means walking the crane costs more than it saves, or where the operator needs a viewing position the floor does not give. If the answer is neither, the question is really about an operator cabin.
Get a recommendation
Send us the crane — type, span, capacity, how it is controlled today and how many hours a shift it runs. An engineer comes back on what is worth adding, what the existing crane will take, and what it will not — including on cranes we did not build.
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Designed and built to EN, FEM and ISO standards · CE marked · duty class defined per project (our build range: FEM 1Bm–5m / ISO M3–M8) · manufacturing in İzmir since 2004
