Looking to the future with vision: our new research crane

Shortly before Christmas, the time had come: a Liebherr L1-24 fast-erecting crane with a 27-meter jib was delivered to the Heidebroeck construction site of TU Dresden. This research crane is an important building block for our current and future research activities in the field of construction logistics and construction automation.

But why a research crane?

Tower cranes are central machines on construction sites, especially in the construction of detached houses. Our focus is on further developing their potential applications. Thanks to its exposed position, the crane is ideally suited as a carrier for optical monitoring systems and for networking construction sites. Together with Liebherr, we have defined numerous use cases that we want to implement and further develop from January 2025 - with a direct link to industrial research and innovative applications.

A brief outlook...

The crane will play a key role in the planned joint project BautonomI. The aim is to develop an interoperable anti-collision system in 3D space on the basis of digital twins - based on the SafeCon3D concept. Even though final approval is still pending, we plan to use the crane as a test vehicle for further research projects.

Another project is BauNetz, in which we are investigating the reliability and flexibility of wireless networks in the construction site environment. The crane is central here, as it is already equipped with the latest technology, including a fiber optic rotary joint:

• A fiber optic rotary joint from previous projects in Aachen, which enables the attachment of mobile phone antennas.
• IoT gateways from the Dresden-based company ZigPos , which are based on ultra-wideband (UWB) technology and offer localization accuracy of up to 30 cm. We recently started a cooperation with ZigPos and are looking forward to working together.

The crane will initially remain at the Heidebroeck building in Dresden before moving to the CFLab in Görlitz. The delivery was also an opportunity to reflect on the successful year 2024 and look forward to an exciting 2025. There will be more about our plans and projects fresh in the new year!