SAWLINES
The various tools and views in BID’s Universal Console allow operators to control equipment remotely and easily
New
Universal Console: Remote Control of Equipment Made Easy
Sometimes, the manual remote control of transfers, conveyors, and other equipment in a mill can be a guessing game because you need to know the exact name or ID number of the equipment to solve an incident. With a traditional console, there is also a risk of selecting the wrong motor which can cause equipment breakage or product damage, not to mention downtime. That’s why BID Group developed a unique, operatorfriendly console for the remote control of equipment in your mill.
32 International Forest Industries | APRIL / MAY 2022
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he new Universal Console is connected to several cameras that allow you to monitor a critical mill area, find the cause of a problem on the line and control the equipment easily with joysticks and visual cues displayed in the camera view. The cameras allow you to see things a human could not see on the line due to access constraints and they also facilitate operator maneuvers for the control of equipment. You can monitor a partial section or a complete area where a console is required to move pieces, logs, or residues. It is also possible to dedicate a camera to monitor the state of motors or photocells. The Universal Console can be installed and used anywhere in the mill because it doesn’t require much space and the cameras allow you to have a complete overview or a detailed view of the area without physical proximity. One of the major advantages is that the operators don’t need to know the equipment names or ID
numbers anymore. They can simply identify and select the equipment visually in the camera view or the layout displayed in the software user interface. All these operator-friendly features reduce the time required to train new operators. Therefore, operator replacement during breaks, lunchtime, and vacations is much easier.
Simple Operation with Joysticks, Cameras and Augmented Reality When a problem arises or when the line stops in the monitored area, the operator can easily identify the cause of the problem with the camera views. For example, a piece of wood fallen from the conveyor. The operator can simply click on the applicable equipment displayed on the monitor. The camera view will automatically zoom in on the equipment and its surrounding and provide a view with Augmented Reality. In the monitor display, the selected
