Liebherr showed industry journalists several advanced technological developments during a recent event in Germany, including heavy-lift planning software for cranes and an augmented reality (AR) app.
“Liebherr has evolved from a machine manufacturer into a systems provider with digital services and solutions that go far beyond the machines themselves,” said Andreas Böhm, a member of the Liebherr-International AG board of directors.
Digitized lift planning
One example is the digitization of crane planning within the company’s Crane Planner 2.0 software.
“The planning of lifts is an extremely important part when preparing a site,” said Holger Streitz, managing director, Engineering & Design, at Liebherr’s Nenzing, Austria, crawler crane plant. “At this point, the course is set regarding safety and economy, and the influence of site conditions must be considered from the beginning of the planning. What are the prevailing spatial and soil conditions? What outreaches, weights, and heights have to be overcome?”
The Crane Planner 2.0 planning software for heavy lifts combines highly detailed, interactive 3D models with all the relevant planning data, based on the Load Moment Limiter of the respective machine.
“This combination is a considerable additional benefit of the Crane Planner 2.0 as opposed to conventional lift planning using CAD applications,” Streitz said. “Every change in the crane geometry activates a new calculation of all planning data.”
There is also an app to go with the software package.
“With the new CP-Mobile App, we make the lift planning data even more accessible,” Streitz said. “Ground pressure, load, erectability, and center-of-gravity calculations can all be carried out quickly and easily on a mobile device without elaborate planning. Thus, the most important lifts or data are available to the customer in mobile form.”
Augmented reality
The company also demonstrated its first augmented reality app, the Liebherr AR-Experience, which features three different virtual job sites showcasing the engineering and technologies of crawler cranes, deep foundation machines, and duty-cycle crawler cranes.
“The use of AR and VR solutions has the potential to transform the way of work and we expect that they will become common practice in the construction industry—they are already integral to some of our newest innovations,” Böhm said.
The AR app requires an AR-enabled device and is available through the Apple App Store or the Google Play store.
Liebherr also showed journalists a battery-powered electro-hydraulic drill rig.
