Nippon Otis and Meidensha Corporation won the Judges’ Special Award at the 67th Promotion of Electrical Science and Engineering Award sponsored by the Promotion Foundation for Electrical Science and Engineering for the jointly-developed “Image Processing-based Rope Tester System” technology.
The award-winning “Image Processing-based Rope Tester System” leverages Meidensha Corporation’s “Catenary Eye®” Overhead Catenary System (OCS) that uses cameras installed on trains to inspect rail lines using image processing while in transit. With elevators, especially in high rise buildings, this same technology can be applied, shortening inspection time and increasing maintenance productivity.
The inspection of roped elevators requires a service engineer to measure rope diameter, conduct a visual inspection, and check for wire breaks. Conventional rope testers that use a magnetic inspection process at low speed have been the norm. With the Catenary Eye® system, the elevator car can be moved once at its normal speed from the lowest to highest floor. The camera captures the rope diameter over the entire rise and measures it automatically. The data obtained can be used to quickly assess the state of rope wear and to help predict the rope’s remaining lifetime, enabling a more individualized and condition-based maintenance and replacement plan.
Nippon Otis and Meidensha will continue to develop innovative elevator maintenance technologies to support increased comfort, safety and efficiency for our customers as they move within buildings.

Awardees
Mitsuru Kato (Nippon Otis Elevator Company)
Yutaka Shoji, Yoshiki Nota (Meidensha Corporation)

Press contacts:

Public Relations Division
e-mail: kouhou@mb.meidensha.co.jp