SENSORS & CONTROLS
Jointly developed by GS North America and Auto Crane, the NexStar truck-mounted crane control system provides proportional load con-
trol design technologies to the work truck industry.
A CAN-DO ATTITUDE
FOR CRANE CONTROL
GSNA and Auto Crane employ new technologies to redesign crane load control methods
BY KYLE KOPPLIN
GS North America (GSNA), New Berlin, Wis., and Auto Crane, Tulsa, Okla., have
partnered to bring a new control technology to the truck-mounted crane
market. According to the companies,
the NexStar system is designed to
provide advanced proportional control
design technologies to the truck crane
and work truck industries.
“In developing NexStar’s crane
moment indicator control system,
the goal was to bring to the mar-
ket an unparalleled level of equip-
ment and operator safety, as well
as load management control,” said
Todd Kemmerly, chief engineer, Auto
Crane. “We were looking for a one-
stop-shop option for our hydraulics
and control needs that incorporated
the CAN system, which is currently
used by many work trucks in the
industry. GS had the tools to fill this
need and was an instrumental part in
developing, supporting and fine-tun-
ing the system — providing maximum
capacity for the associated cost.”
The NexStar system consists of three
basic components: an FM transmitter,
a receiver with CAN communication
capabilities and a proportional hydraulic
valve bank. The individual yet inte-
grated components allow the system to
be what the companies called “a totally
proportional crane control system.”
“For years the industry standard
was a heavy, pistol grip radio system
with toggle (on/off) switches and a
proportional trigger that required two
hands to operate and rarely allowed
the user to execute more than one
function at a time,” said Mark Torbett,
advanced applications development
manager, GSNA. “Additionally, the
receiver consisted of an unsealed
control box that used a series of LED
lights to depict all of the messaging
from the receiver.”
According to GSNA, NexStar’s IP66
rated FM transmitter weighs 70%
less than its predecessors. It incorporates proportional control buttons
in an 8- and 12-button format with
an emergency stop button and multispeed function. The multispeed function allows the operator to go from
full speed to creep mode by speed
limiting the unit to 100%, 75%, 50% or
25% operation, while maintaining use
of the full range of the proportional
control button at the selected output.
“The system features ramping control
for both the rate of acceleration and
deceleration. It contains a speed limit-
ing function for boom movement as the
load increases, so even though you
press down a button to its full extent, the
crane will only operate to the specified
speed limit,” said Torbett. “This is useful
for applications in which a load must
be maneuvered into a precise location,
while limiting abrupt movements and
increasing load moment safety.”
Because of its reduced size, opera-
tors are able to manage the FM
