The (r)evolution of the LICCON crane control system

The LTM 1100-5.3 will be featured at Conexpo 2023. This crane and the LTM 1110-5.2, presented at the North American Customer Day in May 2022 in Newport News, are the first Liebherr mobile cranes with LICCON3, continuing the unique success story of LICCON crane control.

In the beginning there was card chaos

Order and clarity are basic requirements on a construction site. But about 45 years ago, the control of a crane was anything but simple, because at that time there was a wide range of hydraulic, electric and electronic controls.

However, when electronics became more and more common in the operator’s cab in the mid-80s, the consequences were thoroughly analogue. Plug-in cards were used to define the most important work steps – and new ones had to be developed for each new crane. Over time, there were around 100 plug-in cards for different functions. One crawler crane alone came up with up to 24 plug-in cards. Staying on top of things was an art in itself. For this reason, from 1985, Liebherr began to develop its own crane control system: the “Liebherr Computed Control”, or LICCON for short. Everything should be centralized, simple and practical, without card chaos. The solution: a flexible control system with programmable digital plug-in cards that could easily be further developed in-house. Soon, only 20 plug-in cards controlled the entire range of cranes and with that, digital development took its course.

Think simple – the LICCON principle

When developing a programmable controller for complex tasks, Liebherr applies the principle: “Think simple!” In terms of hardware, the LICCON control system should only have three main components: a central unit with an exchangeable memory, a power supply unit with a memory and a monitor with operating unit. In the mid-80s, this idea was almost revolutionary considering the fact that the first PCs were only just coming onto the market at the time. At the same time, digital pioneers at Liebherr were already developing their own programming system with a simple PLC conversational language. Construction and administration now functioned using a generated parts list and a database. Connected to a commercial IT system, a straightforward exchange of data was now possible. What remained were two programmable plug-in cards and a display. There was no comparable system on the market. “We integrated hardware components into a control system whose logic we had designed and programmed ourselves,” explains Erwin Morath, Head of the Control Department at the time. “LICCON was thus unique and could not be copied by the competition.” Series production began with the LTM 1120, which introduced the new LICCON control system in 1989.

Even more convenient operation

The development of new universal control units at the end of the 90s meant that all cranes could be standardized with shared components. They also formed the basis for the new LICCON2 control generation, which was introduced in 2007. This made cranes even more convenient to operate. Since then, the new BTT operating and display unit has made it possible to operate many work processes from the outside. With BTT, the crane is easily and safely rigged: supporting, unhooking the hook block and mounting additional equipment – all this is now no problem with LICCON radio remote control. The only limiting factors: after some time, LICCON2 reached its first limits in terms of computer performance and memory.

Innovation as a permanent state

That is why Liebherr has continued developing and testing. The result: LICCON3 – the next (r)evolution of Liebherr crane control. It is based on completely new software, a fast data bus, significantly more memory capacity and high computing power as well as improved security tools. These are all factors that run in the background but will revolutionize everyday work in practice in the long term. “The advances in microelectronics are immense. We’ll stay on the ball and continue to develop our crane technology,” explains Nikolaus Münch, Head of the Control Department at Liebherr in Ehingen, Germany. “With LICCON3, we now have a solid and expandable technical platform on the basis of which innovation can become a permanent state. This is the foundation for a new generation of mobile cranes – which we are heralding with the LTM 1100-5.3 and the LTM 1110-5.2.”