Approach: significantly reduce energy consumption while creating added value
From an energy perspective, an electromechanical solution is particularly advanta-geous for winches because a large portion of the energy can be recovered when low-ering a load. Preliminary tests have shown that, even with a gearbox between the electric motor and the winch, our VirtualSensor technology for determining torque can still provide relatively good information about the force in the winch rope.
VirtualSensor technology with multiple benefits
For winches with an electromechanical design, two applications for VirtualSensor are immediately apparent:
- Detecting when the load is lifted and when it touches down
- Detecting a possible cable flip at the winch when winding
But there is another function that offers great benefits: Detecting and actively damp-ing vertical swinging of the lifted load due to an unwanted pitching motion of the boom!

We assume that – depending on the specific design – active damping of such a nod-ding vibration can be realized by control-related intervention in the winch drive. This would be of great advantage for operational safety and possible overall performance.