WINCH SPEED COMPENSATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS

Abstract

A system (40) for controlling the operation of a winch assembly (14), comprising: a winch drum (47) configured to rotate; a winch cable (23) attached to the winch drum; a winch motor (42) operatively connected to the winch drum and configured to rotate the winch drum; a sensor (57) operatively connected to the winch drum, the sensor configured to generate signals indicative of a number of layers of the winch cable on the winch drum; and wherein the sensor (57) is configured to detect the rotation of the winch drum to indicate how many revolutions the winch drum has made; a winch control (51) configured for the following: Receiving a control input requesting a selected rotation of the winch drum, Receiving the sensor signals, Determining the number of layers of winch cable arranged on the winch drum based on the signals from the sensor; and Generating at least one control command (71) for controlling the winch motor and thereby rotating the winch drum based on at least the control input and the determination of the number of layers of the winch cable, wherein the at least one control command causes the winch drum to rotate to produce a substantially constant rope speed based on the received control input and independent of the number of layers determined to be disposed on the winch drum.

Description

Technical FieldThe present disclosure relates to winching on machines, and more particularly to systems and methods for maintaining a desired cable speed generated by a winch.BackgroundWinching is used to perform a variety of tasks and is therefore used in a variety of machines. For example, machines such as bulldozers have evolved to include winds to accomplish tasks beyond their original earth moving function. Other machines, such as pipelayers, are designed to use a winch as the main tool for performing work tasks. These tasks often require that the winch cable be drawn in or out in a controlled manner to allow the operator to perform the desired task.Mechanical winds are often difficult to control or their control presents a challenge because the speed of the cable pull or cable / hook is affected by the number of layers of cable on the drum. The more cable layers wound onto a winch drum, the higher the cable speed at a given drum speed, the cable speed of the cable wound onto the drum increases because the effective combined diameter of drum and cable increases. The change in cable speed from a first number of cable layers to a second number of cable layers changes depending on the diameter of the cable and, in addition, on the arrangement of the cable layers on the winch drum.In particular, some tasks require careful control of the cable speed of the winch cable or cable, which is complicated by the change in diameter of the cable winding on the winch drum when the cable is wound onto or off of a winch drum. It is therefore necessary for the operator of the winch to manually regulate the speed command to the winch. Depending on the operator's experience, it may be a challenge to operate the machine and winch to successfully complete a task.CN 1 03 395 712 B describes a performance adjustable electrohydraulic control system for hydraulicspill winch in which the linear speed of the winch cable is increased or decreased to fall below a predetermined range to compensate for the change in the diameter of the winding by keeping the tension constant. It is assumed that the measurement of the tractive force does not necessarily correspond to a reliable control of the winch cable speed.US 2005 / 0 072 965 A1 discloses an electronic winch monitoring system for a winch comprising a fixed gear ratio transmission having input and output shafts, a winch drum connected to the output shaft and an auxiliary brake connected to the output shaft which is activated by reducing the pressure in a hydraulic brake release circuit.Furthermore, US 3 651 905 A relates to a material handling machine with a two-shell gripper and a lifting device with a closing drum, a holding drum and a delivery drum, all of which are connected to a power source via a gear train.There is a need for reliable systems and methods for compensating for changes in cable speed due to the number of layers of cable on a winch drum. The present disclosure addresses this need.Brief Description of the InventionThe object of the present invention is achieved by a system according to claim 1, by a machine according to claim 3 and by a method according to claim 7. The dependent claims relate to preferred embodiments of the invention.In one aspect, the disclosure includes a system for controlling a winch assembly including a rotatable winch drum with a cable attached thereto. A winch motor is configured to rotate the winch drum. A sensor is configured to generate signals indicative of the number of positions of the winch cable on the winch drum and wherein the sensor is configured to sense rotation of the winch drum to indicate how many revolutions the winch drum has made. A winch controller is configured to: receive a control input requesting a selected rotation of the winch drum; receive the signals of the sensor; determine a number of layers of the winch cable disposed on the winch drum; and generate at least one control command to control the winch motor to rotate the winch drum based on the control input and the number of layers of the winch cable. The control command rotates the winch drum to generate a substantially constant cable speed based on the selected control input regardless of the number of plies determined to be disposed on the winch drum.In another aspect, the disclosure includes a machine including a machine chassis and a winch system including: a winch drum configured to rotate; a winch motor configured to rotate the winch drum; a winch cable attached to the winch drum; a sensor configured to generate signals indicative of the number of positions of the winch cable on the winch drum and configured to sense rotation of the winch drum to indicate how many revolutions the winch drum has made; and a hook attached to the winch cable for coupling to a load. A control system comprises a controller configured to: receive the signals of the sensor, determine the number of positions of the winch cable disposed on the winch drum based on the signals, and generate at least one control command for controlling the winch motor. Thereby, the winch drum is rotated at least in dependence on the determination of the number of layers of the winch cable, wherein the at least one control command causes the winch drum to rotate to generate a substantially constant cable speed, irrespective of the number of layers determined to be arranged on the winch drum.Yet another aspect of the disclosure includes a method of operating a winch system of a machine. The method comprises: receiving, with a controller, a control input; receiving, with the controller, signals indicative of a number of layers of cable on a winch drum of a winch of the winch system; determining, with the controller, the number of layers of cable on the drum based on the receipt of the signals; detecting rotation of the winch drum to indicate how many revolutions the winch drum has made; generating at least one control command based on at least the receipt of the control input and the determination of the number of layers; and rotating the drum based on the at least one control command to generate a substantially constant cable speed independent of the number of layers determined to be disposed on the winch drum.Brief Description of the DrawingsFIG. 1 is a perspective view of a machine with a winch system constructed in accordance with the principles of the disclosure. FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of a winch control system. FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a controller for a winch control system. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a winch drum having a plurality of cable layers. FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method of operating a winch to compensate for changes in effective cable locations. FIG. 6 is a diagram of the positions as a function of the cable speed.DETAILED DESCRIPTIONReferring now to the drawings, wherein like elements refer to like reference numerals, there is shown in FIG. 1 an exemplary embodiment of a machine 10 constructed in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure and including a system for compensating for cable speed of a winch system. In the embodiment shown, the machine 10 is a pipelayer. Although the present disclosure is illustrated as being for a pipelayer, it is understood that the present disclosure contemplates any work machine that includes at least one winch.The pipelayer 10 comprises a work machine chassis 11 with a first side 11 aand a second side 11 b. The chassis 11 can be a standard pipelayer chassis 11. A first sub-frame, e.g. a counterweight frame 12, is fixed to the first side 11a of the chassis 11 and a second sub-frame, e.g. a boom frame 13, is fixed to a second side 11b of the chassis 11. A conventional boom 15 is secured to the boom frame 13 as is known in the art, and a counterweight 18 and winch assembly 14 as are known in the art are secured to the counterweight frame 12.The winch assembly 14 may include a boom winch 16 and a load winch 17. The boom winch 16 is coupled to a boom block 19 of a boom 20 via a boom cable 21 such that rotation of the boom winch 16 in one direction causes the boom 20 to be lowered and rotation in the other direction causes the boom 20 to be raised. Similarly, the load winch 17 is coupled to a load hook bottle and hook assembly 22 via a load cable 23 routed around a load sheave 24 such that rotation of the load winch 17 in one direction causes lowering of the load hook bottle and load hook and rotation in the other direction causes raising of the load hook bottle. For purposes of this disclosure, the terms cable and cable are used interchangeably. Thus, the boom and load jacks 16 and 17 serve to raise, position and lower a load, such as a tube, attached to the load hook of the load hook bottle and the hook assembly 22. Other configurations and numbers of elements associated with the boom winch 16 and / or the load winch 17 are conceivable. The counterweight 18 is movable to balance the position of the boom and the load on the boom 20. Mounted on the front of the chassis 11 is a bumper 41, as is known in the art, especially for pipelayers.The machine 10 includes a cab 34 (only a portion of the cab 34 is shown in FIG. 1 for clarity) in which an operator may place and provide inputs to control the machine. The cab 34 may include one or more input devices, such as a joystick 35, or other suitable control input mechanism or element, through which the operator may issue operating commands or control requests to control the propulsion system and / or steering system of the machine and actuate various devices connected to the machine, including the winch 16 and 17. More specifically, the input device 35 is used by an operator to control the speed and direction of the load winch 17 and to this end generates signals corresponding to the operator's inputs. Moreover, the input device 35 may include functions that enable the operator to select various control maps or the like to adapt the operation of the load winch 17 to different cable diameters. Typically, however, reels are used on pipelayers having only one cable diameter, the size and material of the cable being determined according to a particular set of operating parameters based on the tasks to be accomplished by the reel. Other machines, such as towing machines, are designed to use different cable sizes.The machine 10, to which Fig. 2 also relates, comprises a winch system 40 serving to wind and unwind the load cable 23. Winch system 40 is powered by a power source 25, e.g., an internal combustion engine, or other suitable power source. The engine 10 may include a generator 26 operatively connected to the power source 25 via a driveshaft, transmission, belt, chain, pump, or other suitable power transmission mechanism, in certain embodiments. The generator 26 converts energy from the energy source 25, e.g., torque, when the energy source rotates in operation, into electrical energy, e.g., AC. An inverter 27 is electrically connected to the generator 26, and a drive motor 28 is electrically connected to the inverter 27. The drive motor 28 is configured to drive the machine 10 via one or more gears 29 (which may cooperate with a ground engaging structure such as wheels or endless tracks). The inverter 27 is configured to convert the alternating current from the generator 26 into direct current.The winch system 40 may include a winch motor 42 electrically connected to the inverter 27. The winch motor 42 may have any desired configuration. In embodiments, winch motor 42 may be a switched reluctance motor that operates with alternating current. In operation, DC power may be supplied from the inverter 27 via an electrical cable or cable assembly 43 to a second or "half" inverter 44 that converts the DC power to AC power. The alternating current is then supplied via cable assembly 45 to drive winch motor 42. In other embodiments, the inverter 27 may be configured to supply AC power to the winch motor 42 without the half inverter 44. In still other embodiments, winch motor 42 may be a DC motor and DC power may be supplied by inverter 27 or by another source on the machine without half inverter 44. In still other embodiments, winch motor 42 is hydraulic or electro-hydraulic. While an electrical system is provided as an example of a means for operating the winch disclosed herein, it will be appreciated that hydraulically actuated winch is typically used in the operation of pipelayers as well as other machines intended for use in the construction industry and other areas.A rotatable winch drum 47 of the load winch 17 may be coupled to the winch motor 42 via a transmission system 46 connected to the motor. In embodiments, the transmission system 46 may be configured to allow a plurality of revolutions of the winch motor 42 for each revolution of the winch drum 47. The rotation of the winch drum 47 may be braked or prevented by a brake system 48 connected thereto. The transmission system 46 and the brake system 48 may have any configuration. In embodiments, the transmission system 46 and the brake system 48 may be configured with a default state in which the winch drum 47 is prevented from rotating (i.e., with the brake applied) as long as the brake system is not released. The winch drum 47 may be configured such that the winch load cable 23 is wound around it a plurality of times. The number of wraps around the winch cable 23 around the winch drum 47 depends on the size of the drum as well as the length and diameter of the winch cable. Other configurations of the winch system 40 are conceivable.Operation of the motor 25, winch system 40, and other systems and components of the machine 10 is controlled by a winch control system 52, as generally shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 shows a schematic example of a controller or control system 52 having a winch controller 51. the control system 52 may receive input signals from an operator operating the machine 10 from the cab 34 or from outside the machine, for example, via a wireless communication system.The winch controller 51 (FIG. 3 ) may be any electronic controller configured to operate logically to perform operations, perform control algorithms, store and retrieve data, and perform other desired operations. Winch controller 51 may include or access memory, secondary storage devices, processors, and any other components for executing at least one application. The memory and the secondary storage devices may be in the form of read-only memory (ROM) or random-access memory (RAM), or integrated circuits accessible by the controller. Various other circuits may be connected to the winch controller 51, such as power supply circuits, signal conditioning circuits, driver circuits, and other types of circuits.Winch controller 51 may be a single controller or may include more than one controller arranged to control various functions and / or features of machine 10. The term "controller" is intended in its broadest sense to include one or more controllers and / or microprocessors that may be associated with the machine 10 and that may cooperate in controlling various functions and operations of the machine. The functionality of the winch controller 51 may be implemented in hardware and / or software regardless of the functionality. The winch controller 51 may rely on one or more data maps relating to the operating conditions and environment of the machine and may be stored in the memory of the controller. Each of these data maps may include a collection of data in the form of tables, charts, and / or equations.The control system 52 and winch controller 51 may be both physically located on the machine 10 and may include components remote from the machine. The functionality of the control system 52 may be distributed such that certain functions are remotely performed on the machine 10 and other functions.Referring to FIG. 3, the machine 10 may be equipped with a plurality of machine sensors that provide (directly or indirectly) data about various operating parameters of the machine, or operating characteristics of certain components, such as the winch motor 42, and / or the operating environment in which the machine operates. The term "sensor" is intended in the broadest sense to include one or more sensing devices and associated components that may be associated with the machine 10 and that may cooperate to sense various functions, operations, and operating characteristics of the machine and / or aspects of the environment in which the machine is operated.A voltage sensor 55 may be provided to sense the voltage across winch motor 42 and provide voltage data indicative of the voltage. In one embodiment, voltage sensor 55 may be part of or located within half inverter 44 and may have any configuration. If the winch system 40 does not include a half inverter 44, the voltage sensor 55 may be part of or located within the inverter 27. Other locations for the tension sensor and other configurations of tension sensors are conceivable.A current sensor 56 may be provided to sense the current supplied to winch motor 42 and provide current data indicative of the current. In one embodiment, current sensor 56 may be part of or located within half inverter 44 and may have any configuration. If the winch system 40 does not include a half inverter 44, the current sensor may be part of or located within the inverter 27. Other positions for the current sensor and other configurations of current sensors are conceivable.Because the torque provided by winch motor 42 is a function of the voltage at which the motor is operated and the current provided to the motor, voltage sensor 55 and current sensor 56 may define a torque sensor. Accordingly, if the torque provided by winch motor 42 is different, the required current may be determined based on the torque and voltage.A drum sensor 57 may be provided to directly or indirectly sense the rotational position of the winch drum 47 and to provide rotational data indicative of the rotational position. The drum sensor 57 may be of any configuration, such as a rotary encoder mounted on or adjacent to either the winch motor 42 or the winch drum 47, a camera for detecting visual information indicative of the number of positions of the winch cable on the drum, or any suitable device or system configured to detect information indicative of the number of positions of the winch cable on the drum and transmit that information to the winch controller 51, including radar, LIDAR, and acoustic sensors.In some cases, it may be desirable to monitor the position of the winch motor 42 rather than that of the winch drum 47, as the winch system 40 may be configured such that the winch motor makes a number of revolutions that is unequal to the revolution of the winch drum. The winch controller 51 may monitor, store, and relay the rotation data of the winch motor 42 (or winch drum 47) to determine changes in the angular position and number of revolutions of the winch drum 47.In addition to operating as a rotational position sensor, the drum sensor 57 may also be configured to function as a rotation identification system that detects whether the winch motor 42 and thus the winch drum 47 is rotating or at a standstill. In other embodiments, a separate rotation detection sensor may be provided to determine whether the winch motor 42 and / or winch drum 47 are rotating.In embodiments, the drum sensor 57, when configured to sense the rotation of the winch drum 47, may be used to generate signals that, when analyzed by the winch controller 51, indicate how many revolutions the winch drum has made and / or how many layers of the cable 23 are positioned on the drum. For example, a predetermined number of revolutions of the winch drum 47 may be interpreted by the winch controller 51 as a change in the number of layers of the cable 23 on the drum 47 that corresponds to one layer. For example, if the number of cable layers 23 on the drum 47 is zeroed or determined, one cable layer is added at a change of thirteen revolutions at which the cable is drawn onto the drum. Another change of 12 turns adds a second layer of cable, and so on. The winch controller 51 therefore determines the number of layers of the cable 23 on the drum 47 from the number of revolutions. When the cable 23 is released from the drum 47 and signals are generated indicative of a predetermined number of revolutions of the drum, a layer of the cable is subtracted from the previously determined number of layers. In response to determining that the number of layers of cable 23 has changed from the previously determined number, winch controller 51 is programmed to change the control command to winch motor 42 by an amount to maintain a constant or substantially constant cable speed of cable 23 as long as the operator input remains unchanged. In the context of the present disclosure, "substantially" means a deviation of approximately 10% from the respective target value.Other aspects of the control system 52 include an input for receiving signals related to selection of an operating mode 62, which may be in the form of a directional control input or directional request to roll in or out the cable 23 or to actuate the boom winch 16 to raise or lower the boom assembly 15. The control system 52 further includes an input for receiving signals for manually adjusting the load 66 of the load winch, such as a speed control input or a speed request via the joystick 35 (FIG. 1 ) to adjust the speed of the winch motor 42. The operating parameters of the machine 10 may be displayed to the operator via a visual display 58 in the cab 34 (FIG. 1 ). In addition, winch controller 51 generates control commands 71 for boom winch 16 and control commands 75 for load winch 17, which may include direction commands and / or drum speed commands.Figure 4 shows an example of a winch drum 47 with layers of load cables 23 arranged on the drum. In the example shown, eight layers of load cable 23 are arranged on the drum 47, which extend over the entire width of the drum. The winch drum 47 includes a drum sensor 57 configured to sense the cable 23 on the drum. As mentioned above, the drum sensor 57 may be configured to sense the rotation of the drum 47, the distance to the cable on the drum, or any other suitable method of sensing data indicating how many layers of cable are on the drum.An example of changing the cable speed of the load cable 23 on the hook assembly 22 depending on the effective diameter (the combined diameter of drum and cable) is shown in Table 1. The values are based on a drum diameter of 266.7 millimeters (mm) and a cable diameter of 19 mm, and assume that the drum 47 is rotated at 60 revolutions per minute (U / min). It should be noted that the cable is not stacked in layers corresponding to the cable diameter (19 mm), as the cable may assume a nested configuration, an example of which is shown in Figure 4. The actual change in the effective diameter can therefore be calculated with the aid of a suitable triglyceride function.For a 19 mm diameter cable 23 laid as shown in Figure 4, each layer increases the effective diameter of the cable and drum by 34 mm (slightly less than twice the cable diameter). The table shows that a change in the number of layers leads to a corresponding change in the effective diameter of the combination drum and cable, which leads to a corresponding change in the cable speed, for example at booms and hooks. TABLE 1 TABLE 11285,713,56,72319,915,17,53354,116,78,34388,318,39,15422,519,910,06456,721,510,87490,923,111,68525,124,712,49559,326,413,210593,528,014,0For example, in the above example table, the cable speed is 6.7 metres per minute (m / min) at the hook assembly and the hook itself, respectively, with an effective diameter of 285.7 millimetres (mm), i.e. with a (1) layer of cable on the drum. When the cable is wound on the drum and two (2) layers of cable are placed on the drum, the effective diameter increases to 319.9 mm. With constant drum speed and control input by the operator, the speed of the hook assembly would increase to 7.5 m / min. The reason for this is that the rope speed, regardless of where it is measured, is a function of the effective diameter.The increase in effective diameter from one layer at 285.7 mm to two layers at 319.9 mm and the resulting increase in rope speed from 6.7 m / min to 7.5 m / min corresponds to an increase of about 11.9 percent. To maintain a constant cable speed, the drum 47 is controlled by means of output control commands 71 generated by the winch controller 51 and sent to the winch motor 42 (or an equivalent winch rotation mechanism) to rotate at a lower speed (in this example about 11.9 percent) so that the cable speed at the hook with two layers of cable wound onto the drum 47 is 6.7 m / min. The winch controller 51 performs a calculation and generates a control command 71 based on a determination of the number of cable layers on the drum in the same manner as illustrated above with respect to a change from one cable layer to two cable layers and with respect to the direction of entry of the cable / hook movement. Thus, if the winch controller 51 can determine the number of cable layers on the winch drum, a calculation can be made to adjust the control command 71 and hence the speed of the winch drum to maintain a constant cable speed, assuming a given fixed input command from the operator.FIG. 6 is a table showing, in an example, the relationship between the number of layers and the rope speed at the hook 22. In the given embodiment, the cable diameter is 19 mm, the drum diameter is 266.7 mm, the drum width is 355.6 mm, and the drum speed is 60 U / min. In addition, a factor may be introduced to compensate for the tendency of the rope to compress, referred to as the "K" factor. In one example, the uncorrected cable speed at the hook increases by 0.8 m / sec during winding of the cable onto the drum when a layer is added. The controller 51 is configured to generate a control command that corrects the change in the layer count to generate a constant or substantially constant rope speed regardless of the layer count with an unchanged speed input command.The relationship may be represented by the following equation which may be stored in and used by the controller 51 to perform a calculation to determine the amount of correction of the control command required to achieve the desired demanded cable speed: where S is the winch cable speed (m / min);N is the input speed of the winch;d is the cable diameter;K is the cable compensation factor (the range is typically 0.7 to 0.9);n is the cable layer;D is the drum diameter (mm); andR is the winch reduction value.It should be understood that input may be provided to an operator or the like to input values required to perform the calculation to the controller. Alternatively, the values may be predetermined based on a particular machine and cable configuration and therefore set and supplied to and stored in the controller for use in the calculation of the required correction.Industrial applicabilityThe industrial applicability of the system described herein will be readily apparent from the foregoing discussion. The above embodiments are applicable to machines which employ winch as either the main function of the machine or the auxiliary function of the machine. In further examples, the present disclosure may be applied to operations employing one or more winch that benefit from a precisely controlled lifting or lowering task or tasks, even when the task is performed by a relatively inexperienced operator.An example of industrial applicability according to the disclosure includes a method of operating a machine 10 having a winch system 40 illustrated in FIG. 5. In an optional step 100, also referring to the previous figures, the operator selects whether the cable diameter has been changed from a previous operation of the machine 10. If not, the winch controller 51 uses an existing map or database or the like in step 104 that includes a calculation that uses a selected diameter of the winch drum 47, a selected diameter of the cable 23, and a predetermined change in diameter based on the number of cable layers. If the machine 10 uses only one cable diameter, this step may be skipped.When the diameter of the cable 23 has been changed, a control map is selected and used by the winch controller 51 in step 102 which uses various variables relating to the diameter of the winch drum 47, a selected diameter of the cable 23 and a predetermined change in diameter depending on the number of cable layers. Once a map has been confirmed or selected and loaded into winch controller 51, the winch controller is configured to receive input signals from the operator relating to a demand for cable speed and a demand for cable direction at step 106. The winch controller 51 is configured to receive signals from a drum sensor 57 indicating the number of layers of cable on the drum 47 in step 108. In step 110, control commands 71 are generated using the selected control map based on control inputs from step 106 and the sensed location from step 108 to adjust the speed of the drum 47 to maintain a constant cable speed when the speed control input from the operator remains unchanged. It should be appreciated that in embodiments, the controller 51 may be equipped with or has access to control maps corresponding to a cable diameter developed or originally specified for the machine 10, as well as may be equipped with or has access to maps corresponding to cables of other diameters.It will be appreciated that the foregoing description provides examples of the disclosed system and technique. However, it is contemplated that other implementations of the disclosure may differ in detail from the foregoing examples. All references to the disclosure or examples thereof are intended to refer to the particular example discussed herein and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the disclosure in general. All language of distinguishing and reducing certain features is intended to indicate a lack of preference for those features, but not to exclude such from the scope of the disclosure entirely unless otherwise indicated.The mention of ranges of values is intended merely as an abbreviation method to refer individually to each individual value falling within the range unless otherwise specified herein, and each individual value is included in the specification as if individually set forth herein. All methods described herein may be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context.Unless expressly excluded, the use of the singular to describe a component, structure, or operation does not exclude the use of the plurality of such components, structures, or operations, or their equivalents. The use of the terms "a" and "an" and "the", "the" and "at least one" or the term "one or more" and similar references in connection with the description of the invention (in particular in connection with the following claims) are to be construed to include both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise stated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The use of the term "at least one" followed by enumeration of one or more items (e.g., "at least one of A and B" or "one or more of A and B") is to be understood to mean a point selected from the listed items (A or B), or any combination of two or more of the listed items (A and B; A, A and B; A, B and B), unless otherwise indicated herein or the context clearly contradicts. Likewise, the word "or" as used herein refers to any possible permutation of a series of elements. For example, the phrase "A, B, or C" refers to at least one of A, B, C, or any combination thereof, such as: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B, and C; or a multiple thereof, such as A and A; B, B, and C; A, A, B, C, and C; etc.

Claims

A system (40) for controlling operation of a winch assembly (14), comprising: a winch drum (47) configured to rotate; a winch cable (23) attached to the winch drum; a winch motor (42) operatively connected to the winch drum and configured to rotate the winch drum; a sensor (57) operatively connected to the winch drum, the sensor configured to generate signals indicative of a number of positions of the winch cable on the winch drum; and wherein the sensor (57) is configured to sense rotation of the winch drum to indicate how many revolutions the winch drum has made; a winch controller (51) configured to: receive a control input requesting a selected rotation of the winch drum, receive the signals from the sensor, determine the number of layers of the winch cable disposed on the winch drum based on the signals from the sensor; and generate at least one control command (71) for controlling the winch motor and thereby rotating the winch drum based on at least the control input and the determination of the number of layers of the winch cable, wherein the at least one control command causes the winch drum to rotate such that a substantially constant cable speed is generated based on the received control input and independent of the number of layers determined to be disposed on the winch drum.The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor (57) uses at least one of: visual, radar, LIDAR, or acoustic methods to detect the number of locations.A machine (10) comprising: a machine chassis (11); a system (40) for controlling operation of a winch assembly according to claim 1; and a hook (22) attached to the winch cable (23) for coupling to a load.The machine of claim 3, further comprising a boom (20) extending from the machine chassis; and wherein the winch system further comprises: a boom drum (34) configured to rotate; and a boom cable (21) attached to the boom drum to raise or lower the boom when the boom drum is rotated.The machine of claim 4, wherein the winch cable (23) is disposed on the boom to raise or lower the load when the winch drum (47) is rotated.The machine of claim 4, wherein the sensor (57) uses at least one of: visual, radar, LIDAR, or acoustic methods for detecting the number of locations.A method of operating a winch system (40) of a machine, the method comprising: receiving a control input with a controller (51); receiving signals with the controller indicative of a number of layers of the cable (23) on a winch drum (47) of a winch of the winch system; determining the number of cable layers on the winch drum with the controller based on receipt of the signals; detecting rotation of the winch drum to indicate how many revolutions the winch drum has made; generating at least one control command (71) based on at least receipt of the control input and determination of the number of layers; and rotating the winch drum (47) based on the control command to generate a substantially constant cable speed regardless of the number of layers determined to be disposed on the winch drum.The method of claim 7, wherein the control input (71) comprises a speed request.

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