Crane Movements Research Articles

The use of hermite polynomials for the analytical solution of the problem of cargo movement on flexible pendulum suspension on a given trajectory

The method of complete analytical solution of the problem of cargo movement on a pendulum suspension of constant length on a set trajectory in a flat statement is developed. To set the required trajectory as a time dependence of the linear horizontal coordinate of the cargo in a limited time interval, two-point Hermite polynomials are used. When a certain amount of the first derivatives of the linear coordinate of the load is equal to zero in the horizontal direction at the ends of the segment, a vertical arrangement of the crane’s cargo rope is provided at the boundary points and there are no uncontrolled angular swings of the cargo rope during the entire movement. Analytical dependences of the horizontal coordinate of the cargo, its first and second derivatives, the angle of the deviation of the cargo rope from the vertical, its first and second derivatives, as well as the horizontal coordinate of the upper point of the load suspension, its first and second derivatives from the time of displacement are obtained. Scope of the method – automatic control systems for the movement of bridge and gantry cranes, as well as modelling of crane work processes. The application area of the procedure is limited to the small angles of deflection of the cargo rope of the bridge crane from the gravitational vertical. The method opens the possibility of rapid synthesis of the optimal trajectory of the suspension point, which accurately provides the required trajectory of cargo movement. There is no need to use a comparatively complex mathematical apparatus of the theory of optimal management, or resource-intensive algorithms of multidimensional and iterative optimization.

Тоhруhан биилүлхм: журавлиные наигрыши и танцы в традиционной культуре калмыков

The article is devoted to the documentation of music-related phenomena of the Togrun Bi (Crane dance of Kalmyks). The traditional music of Kalmyks is deeply rooted in the culture of Oirad. The new geographical and ethnic environment changed and transformed it. The most obvious shift took place in the dances and musical instruments (their organology, performing style, and tunes). At the same time, on this outskirt of the Mongolian world, some unique forms and genres have been preserved. The sources of the present research are field materials collected by author in late 1990 th in Kalmykia: non-fiarytale prose, two-string dombra tunes with singing, onomatopoeia, and round dances. The participants of Сrane praising ritual were women and children. Similar components are revealed in the ritual Togrugan biilulkhm (Force Crane to dance) and Ova täkh (a sacrifice to a host-spirit of the place). In personal stories and memoires, the mythologic idea of the curse cast by cranes made a connection to arrests, exile and other tragic events in the history of the Kalmyks in the XX century. Characteristics of Crane dances is presented in the musical notations (made by author) and their description. There are the similarities between the Kalmyk round dance with imitations of Crane movements and calls (video recording from the settlement of Yashkul) and circular dances of Evenki, Yakuts, and some other Turkic-languages peoples of Siberia. These rare elements of Kalmyk tradition trail to the regions of South Siberia and Central Asia, from where some Oirad groups brought it to Volga region.

An AIMMS-based decision-making model for optimizing the intelligent stowage of export containers in a single bay

Stowage operations in container terminals are an important part of a port's operational system, as the quality of stowage operations will directly affect the efficiency of port loading and discharge operations, and the scheduling of container shipping liners. The intelligent stowage of containers in container ships was studied in this work. A multi-objective integer programming model was constructed with the minimization of container rehandling, yard crane movements, and the sum of weight differences between stacked container pairs as its objective functions, to address the need for intelligent optimization of single bay export container stowage on a ship's deck. This model also satisfies the stability requirements of preliminary stowage plans drawn by shipping companies, and the operational requirements of container terminals. Linear computational methods were then constructed to transform non-linear constraints into linear ones for better AIMMS solution. Through numerous case analyses and systematic tests, it was shown that our system is able to rapidly solve for stowage planning optimization problems with complex preliminary stowage data, thus proving the applicability and effectiveness of this model. In particular, the application of this model will simultaneously address the safety of ship voyages, the transportation quality of shipping containers and other forms of cargo, and the cost efficiency of ship operations. In addition, this model will also contribute to the optimization of loading and discharge processes in container terminals. Therefore, our model has immense practical value for improving port productivity, as it will contribute to the organization of port operations in a rational, orderly and effective manner.

Optimization of Bridge Crane Movement Control

Transient modes of bridge cranes movement determine their energy, dynamic and electrical performance, as well as productivity and durability of work. An optimal control problem of its movement has been solved while making an analysis of indicators for efficient performance of a bridge crane. Terminal and integral criteria have been selected as optimization criteria. They represent undesirable dynamic properties of the crane. Legendre method has been used to determine the possibility for achieving minimum of the optimization criterion. An analysis of the Euler-Poisson equation, which is a necessary condition for the minimum of the integral criterion, has shown that it is impossible to find a solution for the optimization problem in an analytical form. A method of differential evolution has been used in order to find an approximate solution to the optimization problem. The approximate (suboptimal) solution has been found in the complex domain, which is a limited domain conjunction of dynamic parameters and phase coordinates of the system. Limitation in the domain of the system phase coordinates (a polynomial basis function has been used in the paper) provides the possibility to attain absolute minimums of terminal problem criteria. A simulation of the bridge crane motion has been carried out in order to establish an efficiency for implementation of the suboptimal control. During this process dynamic mechanical characteristics of its electric drive have been taken into account. While carrying out the simulation, a frequency and an amplitude of the electric drive voltage in the crane movement mechanism have been changed (frequency scalar method for speed changing of an asynchronous electric drive has been used). A comparative analysis of the dynamic, kinematic, electrical and energy performance indicators of the bridge crane under suboptimal and S-curved (standard) laws of frequency and voltage variations in the crane electric drive has made it possible to establish an improvement in the efficiency of its operation under suboptimal control.

Faster than real-time simulation of mobile crane dynamics using digital twin concept

The paper discusses the problem of the mobile crane movement prediction in real-time during the operation of the crane. Dynamic and kinematic models of the crane are created to solve this problem. The models form the digital twin that can be used to facilitate the crane operation. As the crane can move rather fast, the crane dynamics, rather than kinematics, becomes more important in its movement prediction. However, in order to be calculated faster than real-time the crane model should be simplified. The paper considers an example of the mobile crane for which two models are developed: the detailed reference model and the simplified model for faster than real-time calculations, which includes the dynamic and kinematic equations. We implemented both models as C programs. Experiments are made in order to compare the accuracy and the calculation speed of the simplified model with respect to the reference model.

INCREASING THE PRODUCTIVITY OF THE BRIDGE CRANE DUE TO THE INTRODUCTION OF ARDUINO'S HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE BASE IN ITS CONTROL SYSTEM

The research results of the possibility of increasing the productivity of the bridge crane through the introduction of hardware and software base Arduino in its control system are given in the article. The indexes of technical productivity of batch operation lift and carry machines of periodic action are analyzed and the working cycle duration has been shortened. Several cases (successive execution –- each subsequent movement only begins after the end of the previous one; partial combination – combine only a few separate movements are combined; full alignment – all crane movements with the load are combined in time) is considered. In this article, based on the results of the analysis, the control of the load-lifting machine was built due to of the introduction of telecommunication systems and technologies, namely the use of microcontrollers with the implementation of control using wired (Ethernet) or wireless (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi) network. Because there is the need to increase the productivity of lift and carry machines, to improve the working conditions of personnel, to improve the reliability and durability of machine elements, causes the creation of new, more advanced systems of machine management and partial or complete automation of their work. Safety in the production will increase significantly with this technology, as it will be possible to implement protection against overload, excess speed, rocking, moving cargo to areas where people are located and so on the results of the article are shown. Crane management can be done either from the operator's cab, directly controlled by the controller, or remotely, by transmitting signals over wired (Ethernet) or wireless (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi) networks.

Modeljuvannja ta optymizacija rezhymiv ruhu vantazhopidjomnyh mashyn i mehanizmiv u procesi pusku/galmuvannja za kryterijem minimumu pytomoi energii. II

The model is substantiated and dynamic optimization of the modes of movement of load-lifting machines and mechanisms in the processes of their braking on the criterion of the minimum of specific energy is realized. The use of the standard method and the scheme of calculating the swinging fluctuations of the load on the ropes of the bridge crane on the model of a two-mass system allows us to establish, on the basis of the specified power-strength criterion, the basic parameters of the modes of movement of bridge cranes, which satisfy certain qualities (minimize their energy characteristics), as well as determine the duration of transients (inhibition cranes to their full stop) for optimal modes of operation of cranes of different design and purpose). The realized approach to dynamic optimization of the modes of movement of load-lifting machines and mechanisms can be further used in the design, construction and real operation of mechatronic control systems by these machines and mechanisms that can provide tracking of all kinematic as well as power-supply parameters of the mechanical system in the processes of its braking for specified a criterion that will inevitably lead to the possibility of functioning of such a system in the energy-saving mode. The results obtained in the work can be used to clarify and improve the existing engineering methods of calculating load-lifting machines and mechanisms which are functioning in the following typical modes: start, reversal, instantaneous braking (stops), both at the stages of their design, construction, and in energy-saving modes of real operation.

A cross-entropy method for optimising robotic automated storage and retrieval systems

In this paper, we consider a robotic automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) where a Cartesian robot picks and palletises items onto a mixed pallet for any order. This robotic AS/RS not only retrieves orders in an optimal sequence, but also creates an optimal store ready pallet of any order. Adapting the Travelling Salesman Problem to warehousing, the decision to be made includes finding the optimal sequence of orders, and optimal sequence of items inside each order, that jointly minimise total travel times. In the first phase, as a control problem, we develop an avoidance strategy for the robot (or automatic stacker crane) movement sequence. This approach detects the collision occurrence causing unsafe handling of hazardous items and prevents the occurrence of it by a collision-free robot movement sequence. Due to the complexity of the problem, the second phase is attacked by a Cross-Entropy (CE) method. To evaluate the performance of the CE method, a computational analysis is performed over various test problems. The results obtained from the CE method are compared to those of the optimal solutions obtained using CPLEX. The results indicate high performance of the solution procedure to solve the sequencing problem of robotic AS/RSs.

Combined quay crane assignment and quay crane scheduling with crane inter-vessel movement and non-interference constraints

Integrated models of the quay crane assignment problem (QCAP) and the quay crane scheduling problem (QCSP) exist. However, they have shortcomings in that some do not allow movement of quay cranes between vessels, others do not take into account precedence relationships between tasks, and yet others do not avoid interference between quay cranes. Here, an integrated and comprehensive optimization model that combines the two distinct QCAP and QCSP problems which deals with the issues raised is put forward. The model is of the mixed-integer programming type with the objective being to minimize the difference between tardiness cost and earliness income based on finishing time and requested departure time for a vessel. Because of the extent of the model and the potential for even small problems to lead to large instances, exact methods can be prohibitive in computational time. For this reason an adapted genetic algorithm (GA) is implemented to cope with this computational burden. Experimental results obtained with branch-and-cut as implemented in CPLEX and GA for small to large-scale problem instances are presented. The paper also includes a review of the relevant literature.

Solving a real world steel stacking problem

We present a real world steel slab stacking problem. The problem features continuous production and retrieval and non-instantaneous crane movements. There are stacking constraints, based on dimensions, weight and temperature of the slabs and temporal constraints based on the casting schedule, the delivery due times as well as the availability of rolling pallets for transport. We present a prioritisation heuristic for the possible crane movements. Based on this heuristic we build a branch and bound solver as well as a greedy look-ahead heuristic. We evaluate the heuristics using randomly generated problem instances of various sizes with the same characteristics as the real world problem and find that the greedy look-ahead heuristic outperforms the branch and bound approach when using realistic time limits.

A comparison of different container sorting systems in modern rail-rail transshipment yards

Rail-rail transshipment yards act as central hub nodes within a railway network and enable a rapid consolidation of containers between different freight trains. To avoid an excessive movement of gantry cranes when transferring a container from one train to another, modern yards apply sorting systems where shuttle cars move containers horizontally along the spread of the yard. This paper compares four elementary sorting systems. Specifically, we compare rubber-tired and rail-mounted shuttles and differentiate whether a pure shuttle system or a lift & shuttle system is applied. In pure shuttle systems, a shuttle receives a container from a crane and transports it towards the destination crane, where it serves as a storage device until being unloaded. A lift & shuttle system applies shuttles with an integrated lifting platform, so that they are able to autonomously store and receive containers from a separate storage rack. Both alternatives exist in rubber-tired and rail-mounted versions. As the shuttles are the main driver of the investment costs, we compare the required fleet size for timely supplying given gantry crane schedules within all four systems. For this purpose, we derive suited scheduling procedures. This way, decision support for yard managers having to identify a suited sorting system and to layout a new terminal is provided.

Distribution and migration chronology of Eastern population sandhill cranes

ABSTRACTThe Eastern Population (EP) of greater sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis tabida; cranes) is expanding in size and geographic range. Little information exists regarding the geographic extent of breeding, migration, and wintering ranges, migration chronology, or use of staging areas for cranes in the EP. To obtain these data, we attached solar global positioning system (GPS) platform transmitting terminals (PTTs) to 42 sandhill cranes and monitored daily locations from December 2009 through August 2014. On average, tagged cranes settled in summer areas during late‐March in Minnesota (7%), Wisconsin (29%), Michigan, USA (21%), and Ontario, Canada (38%) and arrived at their winter terminus beginning mid‐December in Indiana (15%), Kentucky (3%), Tennessee (45%), Georgia (5%), and Florida (32%). Cranes initiated spring migration beginning mid‐February to their respective summer areas on routes similar to those used during fall migration. Twenty‐five marked cranes returned to the same summer area after a second spring migration, of which 19 (76%) settled <3 km from the estimated mean center of the summer area of the previous year. During the 2010–2012 United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Cooperative Fall Abundance Survey for cranes in the EP, we estimated that approximately 29–31% of cranes that summered in both Wisconsin and the Lower Peninsula of Michigan were not in areas included in the survey. The information we collected on crane movements provides insight into distribution and migration chronology that will aid in assessment of the current USFWS fall survey. In addition, information on specific use sites can assist state and federal managers to identify and protect key staging and winter areas particularly during current and future recreational harvest seasons. © 2017 The Wildlife Society.

Scheduling of Different Automated Yard Crane Systems at Container Terminals

In this work, different variants of a branch-and-bound procedure for yard crane scheduling at seaport container terminals and their effect on the terminal’s performance are studied. In particular, this work investigates the level of detail needed to take the exact crane characteristics, e.g., movements and crane interference, into account in the scheduling algorithm. This is examined for four different automated yard crane systems with one or more cranes that operate on rectangular yard blocks with transfer positions at both ends of the block and with the yard blocks arranged orthogonally to the quay. Using a simulation model with realistic scenario data and an automated guided vehicles system for horizontal transport, the results are compared with respect to different key performance indicators, e.g., yard crane productivity and average lateness of jobs. It turns out that especially the consideration of crane interference leads to significant improvements in yard crane productivity. As a result of the long computation times for some crane systems that render the practical application of the algorithm difficult, an approximation procedure is also developed that generates good results in reasonable time and hence allows for real-time application at a container terminal.

Numerical Study on an Airflow Field of a Reticle Stocker with a Moving Crane in a Mini-Environment

This study numerically investigates the effects of a moving crane and airflow on contaminant removal efficiency of various reticle box coverage sequences in a stocker. The analyzed characteristics of flow patterns are used to protect the reticles from contaminants, without altering their internal component configuration in conjunction with the aim of cost-savings. A finite volume method was applied in a numerical analysis using computational fluid dynamics software, ANSYS Fluent. To simulate actual operating conditions, the effects of inlet velocity of clean air and crane movement speed on contaminant removal efficiency (CRE) are considered, and a particle release technique is analyzed to determine contaminant concentrations in the stocker. The results show that a higher airflow rate leads to a better contaminant removal efficiency in the stocker. For the various arrangements of reticle boxes in the stocker, the symmetric coverage sequence provides the most satisfactory contaminant removal rate. An optimal inlet airflow velocity of 0.12 m/s is obtained based on the CRE distribution. In addition, the airflow distributions indicate that a vortex is induced by the air flow through a solid boundary; thus, a higher inlet airflow velocity results in a small vortex that also benefits the CRE. The results also demonstrate that a high crane movement speed causes a large reverse flow region at the bottom that also induces a long wake behind the crane, into which particles are easily drawn.

Seasonal Movements and Multiscale Habitat Selection of Whooping Crane (Grus americana) in Natural and Agricultural Wetlands

Eleven of 15 species of cranes (family: Gruidae) are considered vulnerable or endangered, and the increase of agriculture and aquaculture at the expense of natural wetlands and grasslands is a threat to Gruidae worldwide. A reintroduced population of Whooping Crane (Grus americana) was studied in coastal and agricultural wetlands of Louisiana and Texas, USA. The objectives were to compare Whooping Crane movements across seasons, quantify multiscale habitat selection, and identify seasonal shifts in selection. Whooping Cranes (n = 53) were tracked with satellite transmitters to estimate seasonal core-use areas (50% home range contours) via Brownian bridge movement models and assess habitat selection. Whooping Crane core-use areas (n = 283) ranged from 4.7 to 438.0 km2, and habitat selection changed seasonally as shallow water availability varied. Whooping Crane core-use areas were composed of more fresh marsh in spring/summer, but shifted towards rice and crawfish (Procambarus spp.) aquaculture in the fall/winter. Within core-use areas, aquaculture was most strongly selected, particularly in fall when fresh marsh became unsuitable. Overall, the shifting of Whooping Crane habitat selection over seasons is likely to require large, heterogeneous areas. Whooping Crane use of agricultural and natural wetlands may depend on spatio-temporal dynamics of water depth.

Dynamic analysis and tracking trajectory control of a crane

This paper introduces a method to solve the crane motion trajectory control problem. A dynamic model is proposed based on the Udwadia–Kalaba equation, which can be solved without extra parameters, such as the Lagrange multiplier. The motion trajectory of a crane is used as a constraint (referred to as trajectory tracking constraint). To satisfy the system trajectory, a method to calculate the driving conditions on the basis of the above conditions is proposed. A 2D plane dynamic model of a crane is established. Five stages of crane movement are obtained. Simulation is performed with Matlab. Simulation results simulation show that the Udwadia–Kalaba equation can be well applied to trajectory tracking control of cranes.

Group-Bay Stowage Planning Problem for Container Ship

Abstract Stowage planning is the core of ship planning. It directly influences the seaworthiness of container ship and the handling efficiency of container terminal. As the latter step of container ship stowage plan, terminal stowage planning optimizes terminal cost according to pre-plan. Group-Bay stowage planning is the smallest sub problem of terminal stowage planning problem. A group-bay stowage planning model is formulated to minimize relocation, crane movement and target weight gap satisfying both ship owner and container terminal. A GA-A* hybrid algorithm is designed to solve this problem. Numerical experiment shown the validity and the efficiency.

Two-way integration of 3D visualization and discrete event simulation for modeling mobile crane movement under dynamically changing site layout

Abstract Construction site layout changes dynamically depending on the progress of construction activities in ways that may constrain access routes and paths of mobile resources. Discrete event simulation is a useful tool for modeling time dependent activities and resource interactions but usually cannot depict spatial changes in a natural way. This paper describes a framework for integrating 3D visualization components with discrete event simulations to model the movement of mobile cranes on industrial construction projects and facilitate tempo-spatial planning of site layout. The paper focuses on the integration approach using distributed simulation standards and spatial analysis using a dedicated visualization component with pathfinding algorithm. The A* algorithm is used in conjunction with mesh generation mechanism for developing the proposed framework. The benefits of the proposed framework emerge from taking full advantage of the geometrical and special processing strengths of the visualization component through loose coupling with simulation components. The paper describes the main components of the framework and the two-way communication mechanism between them based on distributed simulation standards. It also presents a case example of a real world project to demonstrate the proposed framework and compare the outcome to a traditional solution that uses a probability distribution to model crane travel times.

Study on an Interactive Truck Crane Simulation Platform Based on Virtual Reality Technology

The modern web-based distance education overcomes space-time restriction of the traditional teaching forms. However, being short of specifically observable and operable experimental equipment makes the web-based education lack advantages in the knowledge learning progress, which needs strong stereoscopic effect and operability. Truck crane is the most widely used crane installed on ordinary or tailor-made chassis with strong operability. This paper introduces a kind of interactive truck crane simulation platform based on the virtual reality technology, on which can complete the simulation experiment of the crane's movement. The framework and working principle of the interactive truck crane simulation platform are discussed in the paper, while landing leg and hook are used as an example to show the motion control mechanism of truck crane components. The interactive truck crane simulation platform uses the browser-based structure, Java3D, virtual reality and Java Applet, etc. to develop a Web3D virtual reality learning environment, which has the advantages of good interaction, strong sense of reality, simple update, less investment and so on. This learning environment can meet the needs that many students study online at the same time, so it has important application in the distance education of mechanical profession and remote training of vocational skills.

Assessment of Emissions Caused by Logistics Handling Operations in Multimodal-terminals

The assessment of emissions caused by logistics operations in general and their allocation to individual customers is a major challenge for logistics service providers. Presently, numerous standards and guidelines exist (e.g. ISO 14064-1, ISO 14065, DIN EN 14040) for the calculation of GHG-emissions caused by logistics processes. Due to missing or incomplete approaches, the assessments as well as regular updates are quite expensive and time-consuming. This endangers in particular the competitiveness of sme logistics service providers who need to gather and provide the relevant information for their clients.To support sme-logistics services providers by calculating and allocating GHG-emissions, a CO2-method kit has been developed, which was implemented in MS Excel. This method kit consists of various demonstrator-tools for each mode of transport and stationary processes in logistics systems. Even complex transport chains can be illustrated with this CO2-method kit as well. Overall, the method kit offers a pragmatic solution for everyday business. The underlying calculation methods determine the energy consumption, CO2- and CO2- emissions, distinguished between Tank-to-Wheel and Well-to-Wheel. Based on the resulting greenhouse gas values, logistics companies can now identify and carry out appropriate measures to reduce their CO2-emissions. The existing method kit is currently extended to include the determination of GHG-emissions of handling operations in multimodal container Terminals.An in-depth analysis of terminal handling operations as well as an analysis of influencing factors on resource energy consumption was needed to develop the CO2-method kit extension. As a first step, the layout and load data were analyzed to picture existing terminal types as well as the distribution of job orders for the observed period. In addition, crane cycle were deconstructed into sub-processes and transferred into standard processes. Following, container, weight and distance classes were defined for the assessment of the power consumption data. The power consumption data was collected by measurement devices attached directly to the cranes. In course of the evaluation the measured values were accurately assigned against the crane movements and processed orders in the period under review. Finally, average energy consumption values for crane cycles were determined for the defined container and distance classes, based on selected indicators.By data analyses, average energy consumption values can be assigned to container handling operations in terminals, taking into consideration of e.g. terminal layouts, container or weight characteristics. Furthermore, the examinations show that the influence of the covered route on the total energy consumption of a crane cycle is slightly higher than the influence of the container weight. Further results and identified dependencies (e.g. influence of the container classes or terminal layout) are shown in this paper.This paper presents results of the research project “Enhancement of the CO2-method kit for an exact determination of environmental effects in terminals”. The aim of the research is to enhance the CO2-method kit with a terminal demonstrator-tool to empower sme logistic service provider to determine GHG-emissions of handling operations in multimodal container Terminals. Therefore, power consumption measurements have been carried out and terminal input data has been analyzed.