LIFT SYMPOSIUM | HIGHLIGHTS LEVEL BEST The 10th Symposium on Lift and Escalator Technologies covered simulation, connectivity and safety, as the Lift and Escalator Industry Associations Nick Mellor reports T David Cooper chaired a session on training and education THE LIFT AND ESCALATOR SYMPOSIUM TRUST The Lift and Escalator Symposium is run by a not-for-prot trust dedicated to improving training and education in our sector. Trustees David Cooper, Stefan Kaczmarczyk, Richard Peters and Nick Mellor reect the strong commitment to education and training by the University of Northampton, CIBSE Lifts Group, and the Lift and Escalator Industry Association (LEIA). he 10th Lift and Escalator Symposium was held at Highgate House, near Northampton, on 18 and 19 September, and offered a mix of papers dealing with innovation, design, simulation, education and training, standards and safety, as well as case studies and topical subjects. Professor Stefan Kaczmarczyk, of the University of Northampton, welcomed the audience of 120. The opening session dealt with two types of products covered by the European Machinery Directive. David Cooper gave an insight into the conformity issues with accessible goodsonly lifts (AGOLs), especially where these are not fitted with safety gears. This came after concerns were raised by the Lift and Escalator Industry Association (LEIA) in a Technical Warning Notice (see leia.co.uk). Michael Bottomley followed this with an overview of the other types of lifting appliances covered by the Machinery Directive and questioned whether it offers an equivalent level of safety as the Lifts Directive. With publication of ISO 8100-32 for the planning and selection of passenger lifts expected soon (revising ISO 4190-6), MarjaLiisa Siikonen who spoke in the Standards and Safety Session on day two described the basis for selection of lifts in the draft standard: traditional round-trip time calculations, selection charts, and the use of simulation. The incorporation of simulation methods into the draft standard has prompted plenty of debate, which was informed by papers from the session on traffic and simulation, chaired by Adam Scott. Janne Sorsa gave an overview of the use of traditional calculation and simulation methods, with wide agreement that a calculation should always be a first step of vertical transportation design. However, for more complex situations, simulation can be a more sophisticated design tool. Gina Barneys paper raised the question of whether results from simulation can be verifiable, transparent, repeatable and reproducible, highlighting challenges of incorporating simulation into a standard. The results she presented suggested that simulation has shortcomings in repeatability and reproducibility. The session was rounded off by a paper from Lutfi Al-Sharif on the use of Monte Carlo simulation for compiling car load and drive-motor loading data. A number of papers focused on connectivity issues. Anna Peters looked at the logging and analysis of lift journeys using accelerometers, which are increasingly low cost and, so, readily retrofitted to existing lifts. In a session chaired by Len Halsey, Fabio Liberal presented the potential for mirrors/ large lift-car displays, connected to the Internet of Things (IoT), to display images or information to lift-car users, as well as the possibilities of a touchscreen for controls. Richard Peters described a lift and escalator management system that could offer a standard interface for acquiring data from existing installations and addressing many of the limitations preventing the widespread adoption of monitoring. Rory Smith highlighted the development of Chinese GB/T 24476 Specification for IOT 44 November 2019 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Nov19 pp44-45 Lift Symp.indd 44 25/10/2019 14:50