Condition-based
maintenance for ropeways

Long service life for ropeways

Conveniently up the slopes on a skiing vacation or quickly and easily to the mountain restaurant when hiking – a ropeway is indispensable in the mountains. But how is this faithful means of transportation maintained, checked or wear parts replaced? After all, the installations are usually located in places that are difficult to access.

Our proposed solution: service departments should be able to carry out basic checks and identify problems remotely.

Ropeways are unique thanks to their different conditions and locations - and this must be taken into account when monitoring their condition and detecting problems remotely. When it comes to the number of stations, hardly any two are the same: if one station only has a top and bottom station, for example, others also have several middle stations.

The topographical conditions must be taken into account with regard to the routing, as this is strongly influenced by them. The type of drive also varies depending on the system, as it can be located either in the valley or on the mountain.

Attention must also be paid to the operating conditions for lift systems. They are often exposed to icy temperatures, while urban ropeway systems sometimes have to function perfectly even in tropical heat.

The challenge

To ensure that the high investment costs pay off for the operating companies, maximum availability of the systems is absolutely essential. Downtimes must therefore be reduced or prevented. Condition-based and careful maintenance is the be-all and end-all for such systems.

Solution

The condition of the drive systems must be monitored continuously. Why? So that potential damage can be detected at an early stage and maintenance measures can be initiated. To this end, a digital service for condition-based maintenance must be developed. doubleSlash has already been involved in the development of such a system.

By using an agile process model, a digital service was transformed into a productive system within three months. A cloud based on Microsoft Azure forms the stable and scalable basis for the system. Company-specific extensions guarantee the security of the processed data in the next step. This is an important feature, especially in a multi-operator environment. Other parameters for recording the condition of a ropeway, such as oil properties, vibration data from the gearbox bearing and other elements of the drive train (e.g. motors and sheaves), are permanently queried by the system.

• This data is then subjected to a detailed analysis in a high-performance data center.

• A user-friendly dashboard presents all the processed data and information to the responsible specialists. The resulting condition assessment is then the starting point for creating a meaningful report that includes a recommendation for action for further system operation.

Find out more about our IoT partners

The use of digital services for system monitoring makes sense for systems or areas in which breakdowns or maintenance lead to increased costs and time expenditure. Condition-based maintenance is an excellent alternative to conventional maintenance strategies, especially for systems with special influencing factors such as ropeways in ski or hiking areas, with the aim of ensuring a long service life and high availability.

The implementation of your prototype to a deployable solution may now be just a few months away.

Learn more about Predicitve Maintenance