Functional Safety in the Development Process of Mobile Cranes

Functional safety is a crucial requirement when developing new products containing mechatronic control functions. Due to the technical and commercial characteristics of the business, the mobile crane industry has to face certain challenges to achieve compliance with functional safety standards and to gain process-confidence in the development of complex control functions. The present study analyzes the Tadano product development process and shows two case studies on the development of characteristic systems within the vehicle and crane part of a mobile crane. Based on the results of process analysis and case studies, measures for an adaption of the current development process are proposed.