Kamag: no load is too heavy, no environment is too harsh

At 162 meters high, the tower of the Gothic cathedral in Ulm is the highest in the world. Making similar claims to superlatives are special vehicles from Kamag, a manufacturer also located in that city. They are able to move entire industrial systems with an overall weight of 16,000 tons, and some are put to use in steel mills and smelting works to transport liquid slag as hot as 1300 degrees C. In short, these Kamag vehicles do the job in spots where others have long ago been forced to give up even trying.

Together with the affiliated companies Scheuerle und Nicolas Industrie, Kamag forms the Tii Group (Transporter Industry International), which is considered the global market leader in the development and manufacture of heavy goods vehicles.

Prominent customers in the aeronautics and space industries
Among Kamag’s many customers are those in the aeronautics and space industries. Its vehicles are in use at many international airports to push aircraft into their starting positions. In addition, since 1979 the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration has been regular a customer of this company from Ulm. NASA relies on the firm’s widely tested and proven special vehicles for the transport of highly sensitive loads such as rockets and satellites.

Industrial HMI systems: more reliable and user-friendly access to all data
When transporting such sensitive loads, it’s clear that the operators must continually monitor all relevant vehicular data such as tire and hydraulic pressure, motor oil temperature, the payload and the distribution of the weight. To make sure the driver has access to such parameters at all times, Kamag turns to infrared touch panels made by the industrial electronics manufacturer Syslogic. These units combine intuitive operation using a touch screen with maximum ruggedness and long-term availability. A primary distinguishing factor compared to widely used resistive touch screens is infrared technology, which is based primarily on interrupting beams of light. An invisible infrared barrier can be operated with your bare hands, with gloved hands or even an arbitrary object. To meet Kamag’s high requirements, Syslogic equips its infrared touch panel systems with a front panel made of robust laminated safety glass that is resistant to impacts, scratches and chemicals. In addition, the system features a front face that meets the requirements of Protection Class IP65. 

As Raphael Binder, Product Manager at Syslogic, points out, «The infrared technology is not subject to any mechanical wear. That makes it possible for us to guarantee long-term, trouble free operation. In addition, in contrast to other touch screen technologies, infrared technology does not suffer from any loss in light intensity even after many years of use and requires no calibration whatsoever. Thanks to the bright automotive display, easy clear operation is also possible even in direct sunlight.»

Reiner Lohrmann, Head of Development at Kamag, emphasizes the requirements the systems must fulfill in order to be used in these special vehicles. «Components installed in our vehicles must function reliably during years of continuous operation despite constant temperature fluctuations, harsh environments and vibrations, and do so with an absolute minimum of maintenance.» Lohrmann adds that decisive factors which led Kamag to select the Syslogic HMI systems – besides fulfilling all the technical requirements, which include an extended temperature range of –30 to 70 degrees C as well as protection against condensation – were excellent advice and support, having production in Europe as well as long-term availability. «In Syslogic we have found a reliable partner who can draw upon many years of experience in the manufacture of systems for industrial applications,» summarizes Lohrmann.

Wide variety of applications for the rugged HMI Systems
Syslogic touch panels are put to use in a wide range of vehicle types including Kamag’s Type 2400 modular transporters, which are suited for moving extremely heavy and bulky loads. «The Type 2400 is characterized by its modular design. Depending on requirements, various modules can be coupled to each other,» explains Lohrmann. Because of this flexibility, the variety of applications for this modular transporter is extremely wide. The vehicles are used around the world in the offshore industry, in shipyards, in the chemical sector as well as for the transport of bridges and oil platforms. By means of the Syslogic touch panel housed within the vehicle’s switching cabinet, all data for putting together a segmented assembly can be entered. Using 2-, 4- or 6-axle modules, the vehicle can be configured so that is it ideally matched to the load being transported. All the pendulum axles can be controlled individually. In this way, the modular transporters from Kamag achieve unexcelled stability and are even suited for the transport of objects with an extremely high center of gravity.

Kamag recently proved once again that no load is too heavy – in Norway, an oil-separation installation with a total weight of roughly 15,000 tons was transported with a Type 2400 modular transporter. The load, measuring 85 meters long and 67.5 meters wide, was positioned with millimeter accuracy.