Omikron quadro Extra Heavy Duty Castors for AVT

Omikron quadro help big names like Airbus and Daimler move their heavy loads.

63,000 kilograms roughly equal the weight of 18 small lorries, and that’s the weight that AVT Europe’s transporters have to carry. When the Belgian customer of TENTE that specialises in heavy good transportation was looking for suitable heavy-duty castors for its new models, we were asked if we could provide a solution that would cope with such heavy loads. Our answer: “Of course!”

The starting point

AVT Europe NV makes driverless heavy-load transporters for the movement of heavy goods such as aircraft parts or railway carriages. The transporters resemble massive mobile platforms and are fitted with intelligent electronics. They are operated by remote control and can carry loads of up to 100 tonnes.

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Compact design, high load capacity

The weight of the load being transported is distributed evenly across all the castors with the aid of air cushions. The heavy goods transporters units are equipped with load-bearing castors and drive wheels. Specifically, the load-bearing castors are always in use and take on the main load. The drive rollers, by contrast, are designed to be lowered to the ground automatically, as needed, and they also help to set the transporters in motion. For AVT, it is important that all the castors have a comparatively small diameter, and yet can withstand heavy loads of up to 12 tonnes while in motion and 20 tonnes while stationary. Outstanding quality and maximum durability play a decisive role in this. Supreme quality and excellent durability are also key factors because the transporters are supplied to various companies, including big names like Daimler, Airbus and the nuclear research institute CERN. These companies need to provide a reliable transport service for extremely high-quality goods. The selective customers of AVT expect a lifetime of 20 years and a warranty of two years. Therefore, our task was to provide castors that meet this diverse set of requirements without any doubt.

Our smart mobility solution

To cope with the extreme operating conditions, the customer chose our Omikron quadro extra heavy-duty castors. These castors are characterised by their special design, which features two wheels to the left and two wheels to the right of the centre. This gives them a higher load-bearing capacity. However, at the same time, the point loads are low, which in return allows the applied weight to be better distributed over the larger contact area. They are therefore particularly easy to steer even under heavy loading. This is because the counter-rotation of the wheels around the common centre makes the rolling and pivoting resistance significantly lower than the resistance of castors containing just one wheel. This differential effect gives the Omikron quadro extra heavy-duty castor incomparable agility. The drive wheel was custom-made and developed in close cooperation with the AVT staff. The wheel has a diameter of 400 millimetres and an overall height of 500 millimetres. Another crucial advantage is that all the running surfaces are polyurethane, which is good for handling characteristics and easy on the floor. As a result of considering the entirety of the tasks at hand, we were able to provide AVT with an intelligent solution in which all components are perfectly coordinated with each other.

Maarten Van Looveren, General Manger at AVT Europe

What convinced us was the durability of the special castors – as well as the know-how of our partners at TENTE.

Maarten Van Looveren, General Manger at AVT Europe

Excellent durability and rapid adaptation to market needs

The AVT heavy-duty transporters are capable of carrying goods with a total weight of 63 tonnes. The well-considered design of the wheels guarantees maximum durability and improved rolling resistance. This in turn enables AVT to install less powerful drives in its transporters and thus save costs and energy. In addition, the company can also rely 100 percent on something else: TENTE. Our employees in Belgium work closely with AVT and are on call to support the provider of heavy-duty transporters with any future special developments. We are extremely flexible and can therefore respond to the growth of the company. No doubt this is another reason why AVT is planning to use TENTE castors in its future projects.