Every passing day, technology is developing faster and faster. We are constantly in communication and internet is undoubtedly a huge part of our lives. When everything is changing this fast , physical hardware become autdated easily and cannot keep up with the emerging softwares and technical requirements. In order to keep up with this change, telecommunication infrastructres and devices also need to be renewed or upgraded. Current methods are not efficient and the technicians need a specialized solution.

ASC lifting system is a concept to vertically move sensitive equipments on telecom and construction sites such as 5G antennas, RRUs and special equipments safely and quickly while also protecting them and preventing related injuries that may happen to the technicians during those stages.

The ecosystem consists of a motorised ascender with a vacuuming device, protective cases and a remote:

The product can be controlled via remote or through the interface on the motorised ascender unit which can either carry the load underneath or can be fixed to a position to be used as a winch. There are 2 sizes of the cases: one for small and medium sized antennas, one for big antennas as long as 2.5m. The structure of these cases are inspired by accordions and vacuum matresses which give the cases enough flexibility to shrink and wrap the device put inside.

The project which was a collaboration between Umeå Institute of Design and Ericsson was foccused on Telecom-site technicians with user-centered approach. This profession performsconstruction of telecom infrastructures and requires various physical works including lifting,climbing, managing cables to detail works like installing complex antennas.

Problem:

In a lot of cases technicians carry more than the recommended limit which are specified by Occupational Safety and Health(OSH). Numerical limits for weights lifted are usually specifed as 30kg. This could cause some injuries and also lead to a damage on the products. Moreover, according to HUAWEI, Heavy devices also increase installation costs. For example, in the UK and Germany, a crane is required to install a module heavier than 50 kg. The cost of renting a crane is approximately 1500 pounds per day which is drastically incrising the cost of the whole process.

The technicians I interviewed mentioned me how challenging it could be to handle such devices: "Sometimes it's very hard to lift or maneuver the antennas one person, especially when we need to cross a threshold. There's hardly a place to hold them properly..." Apart from this, from a feedback session with Ericsson and my research, I learned that such devices could be sensitive and should be protected from any possible damage that could occur before the installation.

HOW MIGHT WE IMPROVE THE PROCESS OF MOVING / LIFTING / TRANSPORTATING SEMI-HEAVY EQUIPMENTS AND PRODUCTS?

The project focusses on lifting equipments to high mast structures. Currently, in upgrading projects, lifting can be done by the technicians(human-power) via pulley and in bigger projects, mostly cranes are needed to lift such products.

ASC lifting system is a concept to vertically move sensitive equipments on telecom and construction sites such as 5G antennas, RRUs and special equipments safely and quickly while also protecting them and preventing related injuries that may happen to the technicians during those stages.

The ecosystem consists of a motorised ascender with a vacuuming device, protective cases and a remote:

The product can be controlled via remote or through the interface on the motorised ascender unit which can either carry the load underneath or can be fixed to a position to be used as a winch.

There are 2 sizes of the cases: one for small and medium sized antennas, one for big antennas as long as 2.5m. The structure of these cases are inspired by accordions and vacuum matresses which give the cases enough flexibility to shrink and wrap the device put inside.

Famiy of ASC:

The system can be controlled through a remote after it's installed. While the arrows help with the lifting movement VAC button allows the user to apply and release the vacuum.

The protective vacuum case has a hose connected to the vacuum attachment on the ascender. By sucking the air through this hose, it is shrunk to the desired form and provides strong grip to various size antennas or different products. Inside the vacuum case there are accordion-like structures which help the case to shrink and form the antenna's shape by controling the air between their gaps. The bottom one contains PU sponge inspired from vacuum matresses.

The motorised ascender unit can either carry the load or used bottom rigged to lift it. It has a protective lid which covers the rope loading area, a demountable battery for long operations and a pad area which is used if the ascender used in a rigging position. There's a vacuum attachment that could be connected to the bottom of the motorised ascender with locking latches. This is an optional attachment in order to be able to use the vacuum cases, however the ascender functions can be used without this attachment.

Benefits of the System:

PROTECTION FOR VALUABLE COMPONENTS: Not only during installations, the system provides better protection during the transportation of the equipments

NO CLIMBING: Instead of climbing to a long pole, the technicians can use the ascender to lift themselves by holding the handles

LOWER PHYSICAL WORKLOAD: Technicians don't need to lift the antennas anymore, even if they need to at some point there are multiple handles to distribute the load to multiple people

TIME & ENERGY EFFICIENT: There's no crane needed and it provides fast installation/removal process.