Automation specialists Kinesys are launching two new chain hoist control products - Smart 8 and Sentinel - at Showtech in Berlin.

The Smart 8 expands on Kinesys' existing Power 8 product and offers full positioning facilities built into a standard hoist controller.

Sentinel is a range of fully BGV C1 compliant controllers designed to work with CM Lodestar BGV C1 chain hoists.

Smart 8

The Smart 8 allows fixed speed encoded hoists to be programmed and controlled from a single unit.  This offers cost savings over the traditional approach of a combination of separate motor controllers and a position controller. It also offers users maximum flexibility in allowing controllers to be located near to the motors instead of everything having to be run from a central location.

The Smart 8 comes in low voltage and direct control versions and accepts both traditional pulse encoders and the more precise incremental encoders.

Cues can be programmed directly into the Smart 8 using its large graphical LCD display and intuitive jog wheel interface, or can be downloaded from Kinesys' K2 or Vector software packages.  Once programmed, cues can be triggered either from the controller, from another connected unit or via DMX.

Sentinel

The Sentinel range of controllers has been developed from the ground up to be fully compliant with the BGV C1 specification for chain hoists.  They are designed for use with the BGV C1 compliant variants of CM Lodestar motors which offer users a wide variety of lifting weights and speeds.

On display at the show will be the Sentinel 8-M, the 8-channel manual control entry level unit.  Also available are units offering full positioning capabilities and high resolution load feedback - so operators can see exactly which loads are applied to each hoist in real-time.  All controllers can be connected together for use in larger systems, and operated either from their front panel controls, from a remote ‘go' button or via a handheld pendant with an intuitive graphical user interface and full motor feedback.

At Showtech, Kinesys will be located on stand 1/185, the stand of joint European distributors Sonoss and Louis Reyners. Sonoss has recently invested in a full Kinesys control system for rental to both new and existing customers, allowing them the very practical option of ‘trying before they buy'.