Model-based control for crane control and underway replenishment

• US 7,599,762 B2
• Filed: 08/24/2005
• Issued: 10/06/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Grucella, Charles Daniel, Loparo, Kenneth A., Discenzo, Frederick M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Beaulieu; Yonel
• Application Number:
  US11/210,348
• Publication Number:
  US 20070050115A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,504 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1, 701/50
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: B66C 13/063 electrical
• CPC Class Codes: B66C 13/22 for electric drives transmitting control pulses B66C13/40; systems or devices of general application H02P
• CPC Class Codes: B66C 19/002 Container cranes B66C19/007 takes precedence

Abstract

Crane control and anti-sway are facilitated utilizing a diagnostic component that includes a model component and a control component. The diagnostic component interfaces with an extrinsic data analysis component and a controller component. The diagnostic component receives operating condition information from the extrinsic data analysis component and performs predictive modeling, based on a current status and stored information. Further, the diagnostic component predicts the affect of the operating conditions on a crane and implements and/or recommends actions to mitigate the affect of the existing and/or predicted operating conditions. The diagnostic component further mitigates crane sway and/or induces crane sway to reduce container transit time. Intelligent agents are employed to provide trajectory planning and execution and/or to detect potential component failure.

Claims

1. A model-based system that facilitates crane and underway replenishment control, comprising:

a model component that receives a crane operating condition from an extrinsic data analysis component and models crane behavior based at least in part on the crane operating condition; and

a component that receives the modeled crane behavior and infers a crane control action based at least in part on the modeled crane behavior.

2. The system of claim 1, the inferred crane control action mitigates sway of a cable or a cargo during at least one of pick-up, set-down and transit.

3. The system of claim 1, the modeled crane behavior is based at least in part upon an optimized crane control over a prescribed time horizon.

4. The system of claim 1, the inferred crane control action is based at least in part upon crane optimization criteria that provides trajectory planning resulting in one of shortest overall container transit time, most energy efficient operation and most reliable operation.

5. The system of claim 1, the component that receives the modeled crane behavior predicts a future operating condition based at least in part on the crane operating condition.

6. The system of claim 1, the model component models crane behavior through utilization of a derived state prediction.

7. The system of claim 1, the extrinsic data analysis component obtains the operating condition from a user input or at least one sensor.

8. The system of claim 1, the component that receives the modeled crane behavior interfaces with a controller component to implement the inferred crane action.

9. The system of claim 1, the component that receives the modeled crane behavior interfaces with at least one steerable spreader vane to mitigate out-of-plane sway.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a distributed control architecture that facilitates controlling crane sway utilizing at least two intelligent agents.

11. The system of claim 10, the at least two intelligent agents collaborate to detect or predict a component failure to mitigate the component failure during crane operation.

12. The system of claim 10, the at least two intelligent agents mitigate crane sway during one of pick-up, transit, and set-down.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising an intelligent motor that infers a potential system failure or degradation and communicates the potential system failure or degradation to a crane controller.

14. The system of claim 1, the model component comprising a ship motion component that monitors up to six degrees-of-freedom movement.

15. The system of claim 1, the model component comprising a sea state component that predicts a sea state.

16. The system of claim 1, the model component comprising a ship motion component that predicts a ship motion.