Retrofitting the Statue of Liberty with a new rescue elevator posed some unusual challenges for Tower Elevator Systems, Inc., but with Siemens TIA Portal engineering software in hand, they rose to the occasion; designing and manufacturing a cutting-edge system that improved safety, reliability, and personnel flow for the Statue.

Undeniably one of most revered and recognized symbols in America, the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor has welcomed millions of immigrants to the shores of the United States--and millions of visitors into its interior. Recently, however, access to the beloved landmark was restricted as Lady

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Case Study

Liberty undergoes a $27 million renovation that will bring the 19th century icon into the 21st century. The “Life Safety Upgrade Program,“ a U.S. National Park Service initiative, will see this universal symbol of freedom and democracy remodeled with new fire and safety features and modified to improve personnel flow. The work is expected to be completed by fall 2012.

A number of critical facility upgrades are planned, including the replacement of the Statue‘s existing emergency rescue elevator with new state-of-the-art equipment. Selected to design and furnish the equipment is Tower Elevator Systems,

Elevating automation to new heights

Inc. (TESI), a firm specializing in permanently installed custom rack-and-pinion elevator systems. To support the controls portion of this special project, TESI turned to its trusted partner, Siemens, and Siemens exciting new engineering software technology, TIA Portal. A proven, intuitive engineering framework, TIA Portal allows automation processes to be designed optimally and efficiently from a single computer screen. This ground-breaking innovation shortens the engineering cycle, saves commissioning time, and reduces maintenance costs and TCO.

The Life Safety project includes the need to upgrade both the safety and function of the 30 year old obsolete rescue elevator which had reached the end of its useful life. The new rescue elevator is a special purpose personnel machine that uses innovative technology to enhance safety and reliability making the system more user friendly. To ensure the latest cutting edge controls platform was integrated to this prestigious project, TESI turned to Siemens, its long time controls system solutions partner to migrate their existing Siemens S7 code base to the new TIA portal software. “The TIA portal brings efficiency and reliability to the project by allowing an integrated work platform to manage the Siemens Safety PLC and Comfort Panel hardware, which make up the heart of the safety rated elevator controller,” says TESI president Todd Grovatt. TESI chose to work with Siemens, not only because of the automation leader‘s obvious ability to support the elevator builder, but because of Siemens‘ name recognition, high-quality products, and focus on safety.

TESI chose to standardize on the Siemens platform from the start, recalls Grovatt. „They brought us the enhanced safety that “Fail Safe” PLCs offer and that we were looking for to take our product to the next level,“ he explains. Siemens SIMATIC ET200S Safety PLC is the standard core component of TESI‘s elevator control system. The Siemens SIMATIC ET200S Safety PLC is easy to use while delivering exceptionally strong performance with one of the smallest I/O footprints. Short I/O reaction time maximizing throughput and system efficiency plus simplified configuration and optimized troubleshooting made it the ideal choice for us in keeping with our “Higher Technology for Safety Sake” philosophy of design for our control systems.

“TESI is extremely proud to have been chosen to develop this new rescue elevator for the Statue,” continues Grovatt. “This is a presentation machine, an upgraded model designed with glass and stainless steel,” he points out “and will be a showpiece for the NPS traveling from the top of the pedestal through the Statue to just under the crown”.

Taking technology to the next levelThe new elevator is designed and intended for emergency personnel, not public use, giving EMTs, firefighters, and other service personnel access to the Statue when someone in distress needs to be reached and retrieved. The custom-designed machine is unique, the only one like it in the world, says Grovatt. It is unique not only because of its location in one of the world’s most popular attractions, but because it also marked TESI’s first application of Siemens TIA Portal.

The system includes the Siemens Fail Safe Safety CPU, various digital inputs and outputs, and the Siemens’ HMI comfort panel, all of which were designed and commissioned using TIA Portal. The project also uses PROFIBUS communication protocols and PROFINET industrial Ethernet. Brian Trapani, lead project engineer and developer of the PLC code and HMI screens for the application, outlines some of the improvements achieved with the new installation. [Trapani, who began the project with TESI, is now part of Patti Engineering, an automation systems integrator and also a Siemens Solutions Partner.]

“Safety features include redundant systems that look at all aspects of the operation,” he notes, “including car speed, height, E-stop circuitry, and open and closed doors on the landing side and the car side. The safety controllers are inherently redundant. The CPU is always looking at E-stops, making sure there are no wire breaks or shorts, whether they are on or off. It helps keep our elevator safer for personnel to travel in.”

TESI has also developed a Patented Hydraulic Rescue Lowering system that is integrated into the safety mechanisms. Should the car lose power or if something goes wrong, a rider can lower the car to the next safe landing so that personnel can get off. “A highly advanced laser positioning system monitors the location of the machine within the hoistway to a very accurate level,” adds Grovatt. “The PLC takes feedback from the system, and using logic we developed, directs the machine to a designated location.”

The Statue of Liberty rescue elevator was also TESI’s first application of Siemens SIMATIC HMI Comfort panels on an elevator. With integrated hardware and software, the SIMATIC HMI panels offer highly readable screens and longer backlight life to reduce TCO and meet complex visualization needs. “We wanted something a little more upscale for the touch panels,” explains Trapani, “so we chose Siemens SIMATIC HMI TP700 Comfort Panel, a full-color system with a lot of bells and whistles. Everything is integrated, giving you the ability to connect all devices easily on one screen via PROFINET or PROFIBUS–or whatever communication protocol is being used. From the touchscreen user interface, a technician can monitor critical systems, perform diagnostics, and troubleshoot any problems“.

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Making programming easy with TIA PortalProgramming such a project could be complex and time consuming, but TIA Portal streamlined and simplified it. “The tool makes the entire transition and the programming development task easier to integrate into one overall project with all the safety modules and the safety integration,” says Grovatt, “and it allows software developers to take a big picture look at the complete safety system.”

Trapani calls the tool essential to the effective completion of the Statue of Liberty project, pointing to many important features, including the ability to drag-and-drop elements to and from any of the included libraries. “You can drop instructions

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directly onto the ladder network. The HMI screens are all right there and available for editing. The cross-reference guide encompasses almost any input/output. Just a click or two gets you to the right place. You can organize function blocks more easily; you can add and remove hardware without ever losing your place. That could not be done with earlier software versions.”

Use of the tool is straightforward, he continues. “You don’t have to be a super programmer to use TIA Portal. It is intuitive. You don’t have to do cross references in one program and then manually look at another, or vice versa. It is all right there in front of you in another window that pops up. We took existing TESI code that was known to be good in previous elevators and adapted it to TIA Portal by the migration process and that probably saved a good three to four weeks worth of time.”

Adding up the savings...and the benefitsAnd those savings enabled Tower Elevator to cut costs and be more competitive. “In the engineering phase, we probably saved 30 to 40% in engineering time,” says Trapani, “and another 20% in the debugging phase thanks to the cross-reference features. They really save time and let you find problems much faster. When you have a high-profile build like we did here,” he points out, “time is a huge factor. And it was good to know we could pick up a phone and call Siemens technical support any time, and they would be there to help us.”

Grovatt and Trapani agree they are very happy with the TIA Portal engineering software thus far. “We understand and appreciate the integration benefits the new tools have given us. Safety is a big focus of this company,” says Grovatt. “The safety PLCs are a primary reason we partnered with Siemens in the first place. Now safety is part of TIA Portal and is easily programmable from within the engineering software tool.”

The elevator went through rigorous testing. “We did a complete Factory Acceptance Test,” says Grovatt. “The machine was installed on our 80 foot tall testing tower at our plant in Round Rock, TX, and ran the system through all functions, which is standard practice for all TESI machines prior to shipping approval.”

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1-800-241-4453info.us@siemens.com

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Subject to change without prior noticeOrder No.: AMCS-SOLTP-0712 All rights reservedPrinted in USA ©2012 Siemens Industry, Inc.

The information provided in this brochure contains merely general descriptions or characteristics of performance which in case of actual use do not always apply as described or which may change as a result of further development of the products. An obligation to provide the respective characteristics shall only exist if expressly agreed in the terms of contract.

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For more information on the products and systems used in this project, including the TIA Portal engineering software tool, visit Siemens Industry at www.usa.siemens.com and Tower Elevator Systems, Inc. at www.towerelevators.com.

To learn more about the Statue of Liberty, visit the National Park Service website at www.nps.gov/stli/index.htm and the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. website at www.statueofliberty.org/default_sol.htm. Among the multitude of NYC tourism sites are NYC and Company at http://www.nycgo.com and NYC Tourism at http://www.nyctourism.com.

The partnership with Siemens helped TESI perform with confidence and take pride in knowing its work will have a lasting impact. Grovatt looks forward to standardizing on the TIA Portal engineering software in the future and integrating the product into its regular operations. “It will add efficiency to our engineering,” he says. “It is the next-step evolution in our partnership with Siemens. Another reason I like TIA Portal is that all the code is fully documented within the engineering software stored on the PLC. Whenever we need it, it is there for us. This has truly been an iconic project,” beams Grovatt with a smile. “There is only one Statue of Liberty and we are very excited to have been part of this improvement effort.”