Communicate quickly with elevator motor control

The easy access to elevator data and back-up support can save companies valuable time and money.

Therefore, engineers must be able to communicate quickly with elevator motor control systems to understand a specific problem or to set up the drive in the first place.

By Justin Walker

Time is of the essence. That’s a saying that is well versed in the elevator industry as well when it comes to the installation, commissioning, and maintenance of a lift. The geographic location of the elevator site and the working environment (often in a small and dark shaft), and technical expertise are all important factors in the process of elevator commissioning and ongoing servicing.

Therefore, engineers must be able to communicate quickly with elevator motor control systems to understand a specific problem or to set up the drive in the first place. During my many years of fielding technical support calls and visiting problematic sites it still surprises me how many work hours are unnecessarily wasted troubleshooting, quantified in millions of hours each year.

Quickly diagnose system faults

This was also reflected as a key customer pain point in a recent voice of the customer research Invertek Drives undertook. The common theme was the need for the commissioning and maintenance personnel to be able to quickly diagnose system faults to reduce elevator downtime, and without the need for special cables, or so-called wireless connections which in reality can often be "hit and miss" on site.

Invertek – a global manufacturer of variable frequency drives (VFDs) used to control electric motors – were undertaking the research as part of the development of our new Optidrive Elevator Core VFD. We wanted to ensure it matched the needs and expectations of each person involved in the set up or maintenance of elevator systems.

Quickly diagnose common problems

Photo: © Invertek Drives

Invertek Drives responded to this with a built-in USB-C port. However, we felt we could take things a step further and provide a whole new support eco system to help quickly diagnose common problems, for example, encoder faults, poor travel comfort, wiring problems, brake slippage.

For engineers in the field, it can be frustrating trying to diagnose a problem in a dark elevator shaft or motor room when you’re miles from technical support or colleagues. Imagine having a personal assistant in the palm of your hand, helping guide you efficiently through problem solving on site.

All data at a glance

Invertek has launched Core Assist to solve the problem. An elevator engineer can simply connect an Apple or Android phone via USB-C to the drive and instantly read data, as well as setting up parameters and adjusting. In addition, the drive can be powered up just with the mobile phone meaning it can be set up before it’s placed in its final spot within the shaft or motor room.

One of the many features we wanted to achieve was the ability to set a goal and then be assisted through each step. For example, selecting "I want to solve rollback", as typically found on gearless systems, will reveal a clear screen on your mobile device or laptop with pre-loaded monitoring traces, rollback error count and status values as well as offering what parameters need to be adjusted. This negates the need for timely documentation navigation and phone calls.

A built-in flight recorder

Complimenting this is the ability to troubleshoot. You can select the fault code that is shown on the drive display, and you will be taken through several possible solutions and checks to solve the problem. This system will continually grow as time goes by as it self learns the most common actions and fastest solutions. It will also be continually fed from our support offices with push updates to keep up with the latest customer feedback.

In cases where the drive has tripped, it can often be difficult to understand exactly when the event occurred. By using a built-in flight recorder, a much clearer picture can be provided. Things like where on the travel curve the trip happened, what status the brakes were in, what signals were being received from the controller, what was the load and supply voltage and so on.

Store and compare system performance

This information can then be accessed as a packet of data by the controller and the data is presented as a travel curve showing the point of trip vs each of the monitored statuses allowing for remote access and diagnosis before sending an engineer to the site.

The other benefit of the flight recorder is the ability to store system performance and compare it at a future date. This can help with predictive maintenance and measuring performance degradation over time. Such a simple USB-C connection can resolve situations more quickly and easily, especially when time is of the essence.

The author is Elevator Product Manager at Invertek Drives.

More informations: invertekdrives.com