Lift monitoring – new tool for lift builders

The Swedish manufacturer Safeline, up to now above all known for its lift emergency call and lift communication products, has developed a new monitoring system linked to a cloud solution.

"Lyra" had already been presented at interlift 2023 and is now also available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The goal was to develop an easy-to-install, completely autonomous system, which also had economic advantages. The complete independence of the control and other electronic components, which makes its use possible in all lifts, is a special feature of the Safeline solution.

"The clear intention behind the Lyra monitoring system is to offer a universal tool especially for lift builders or lift service companies," emphasised Martin Grabmayer, sales manager for the German-speaking countries. In addition, it had the advantage as a passive system of being "absolutely harmless" with regard to cyber security, according to Grabmayer.

No change in the wiring

The core of LYRA is a three-axis acceleration sensor, which records all travel data and evaluates them with AI assistance. In addition, the compact box (118x118x23mm) measures the ambient magnetic field and shaft temperature. As an option, every car door can be fitted with a door sensor that measures the opening and closing, using magnets attached to the door leaf.

The data collected and processed in this way are stored internally and in the case of network reception immediately sent via the integrated mobile communications unit to the cloud and further processed there.

Only two screws …

Photo: © Safeline

The power supply is provided by a 5 V DC power supply unit with USB plug. Installation only requires two screws. These can be attached to the car frame or roof both horizontally or vertically.

Following installation, the system is programmed via an app on site. The programmed floors can then be named as desired to correspond to the shaft plan.

This makes it possible to remotely display
• the car position in the shaft,
• the travel speed,
• standstill detection,
• abnormal standstill between stops (e.g. catch),
• a trip counter,
• temperature,
• door counter and
• if necessary, a group evaluation.

The actual measuring by the acceleration sensors also facilitates additional features. For example, the smooth running of the lift can be presented as a diagram over a particular period of time.

Lift behaviour learning

In its first weeks of operation, every system independently "learns" the behaviour of the lift and generates user behaviour on this basis for detecting standstills. If a lift fails to move within a learned period, a warning is sent to the service company. This makes it possible to react before people report the fault. This also covers weekends and public holidays.

Door behaviour is likewise evaluated. For example, if the number of door movements increases at a floor per trip, this can indicate damage to the door or also soiling. Lyra also reports immediately if the lift comes to a stop between floors.

In addition, freely definable values, such as a divergence in the minimum and maximum values of the shaft temperature, can be immediately reported to the maintenance company.

Trip history consideration

Detailed inspection of the trip history of the past year is possible in the "Orion Cloud". This collection of information can be used for fault analysis or more targeted maintenance.

Monitoring can be set to maintenance mode via app or the cloud. The lift’s travel in inspection mode is not evaluated as an anomaly in the travel profile during this period. After termination of the maintenance mode - either manually or by expiry of the preset period – the monitoring reverts automatically to normal operation.

Apart from the Lyra system, the cloud also supports communication with the Thor and Nova controls and in future also with the latest generation of Safeline emergency call systems.

More information: safeline-group.com