Determining an autonomous position of a point of interest on a lifting device

• US 9,156,167 B2
• Filed: 05/15/2007
• Issued: 10/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trimble Navigation Limited (Trimble Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Trimble Navigation Limited (Trimble Inc.)
• Inventors: Cameron, John F.
• Primary Examiner(s): SUGLO, JANET L
• Application Number:
  US11/803,830
• Publication Number:
  US 20080288125A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,073 Days
• Field of Search: 701/50, 701/213, 701/214, 212/270, 212/276, 702/127, 702/150
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1676 Avoiding collision or forbidden zones
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/39091 Avoid collision with moving obstacles
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/39259 GPS to control robotic arm
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40476 Collision, planning for collision free path
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/45046 Crane
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/49139 Alarm if outside zone

Abstract

A system and method for monitoring a lifting device is disclosed. The method receives location information from a position determiner module coupled with a point of interest associated with the lifting device and determines an autonomous position of the point of interest based on the location information. The method further includes monitoring the lifting device based on the autonomous position of the point of interest.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring a lifting device comprising:

utilizing a position determiner module coupled to a first point of interest to generate location information about said first point of interest, said first point of interest moveably coupled with a jib pivot via a cable and said first point of interest capable of traversing at least a portion of a jib of said lifting device, a first counterweight attached to said jib, said jib pivot moveably coupled with said jib, wherein said first point of interest, said jib pivot, and said cable are approximately vertically above a hook block;

determining a distance between said first point of interest and said hook block using a distance determiner in proximity of said first point of interest;

determining an autonomous position of said first point of interest as coordinates in three dimensions based on said location information using a position determiner module, said autonomous position does not depend on physical interactions and relationships between components of said lifting device, said position determiner does not include any moving parts;

maintaining a vertical orientation of an antenna as a vertical angle of said jib changes using a second counterweight coupled with said position determiner module, said antenna is coupled with and used by said position determiner module; and

monitoring said lifting device based on a comparison of said autonomous position of said first point of interest to an expected position in a planned virtual lift path of a physical environment.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said position determiner is substantially compatible with a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System).

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said position determiner is pivotally coupled to said first point of interest.

4. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising:

providing power to said position determiner from a power source coupled to said lifting device.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said power source comprises a solar power generation module.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein said power source generates said power from motion associated with said lifting device.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said autonomous position is precise to less than ten centimeters of error.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said autonomous position of said first point of interest is not extrapolated from a position of another component of said lifting device.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said location information is received wirelessly.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining an autonomous position of a second point of interest based on said autonomous position of said first point of interest.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said autonomous position of said second point of interest is determined by measuring said distance between said first point of interest and said second point of interest, wherein said second point of interest is said hook block.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said distance between said first point of interest and said second point of interest is measured optically.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein said distance between said first point of interest and said second point of interest is measured sonically.

14. The method as described in claim 1 wherein said lifting device is a crane.

15. The method as described in claim 1, wherein the second counterweight includes an image capturing module and wherein the method further comprisese:

receiving an image from said image capturing module coupled to said first point of interest.

16. A system for monitoring a lifting device comprising:

a first point of interest coupled with a cable, said first point of interest moveably coupled with a jib pivot via said cable and said first point of interest capable of traversing at least a portion of a jib of said lifting device, a first counterweight attached to said jib, said jib pivot moveably coupled with said jib, wherein said first point of interest, said jib pivot, and said cable are approximately vertically above a hook block;

a distance determiner for determining a distance between said first point of interest and said hook block;

a position determiner module including said distance determiner and coupled to said first point of interest to generate location information about said first point of interest, said location information indicating an autonomous position of said first point of interest as coordinates in three dimensions, said autonomous position does not depend on physical interactions and relationships between components of said lifting device, said position determiner does not include any moving parts;

a second counterweight coupled with said position determiner such that said counterweight causes an antenna of said position determiner module to maintain a vertical orientation as a vertical angle of said jib changes;

a location receiver module for receiving location information from said position determiner module; and

a lifting device monitoring module for monitoring said lifting device based on a comparison of said autonomous position of said first point of interest to an expected position in a planned virtual lift path of a physical environment.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein said position determiner is substantially compatible with a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System).

18. The system of claim 16 wherein said position determiner is pivotally coupled to said first point of interest.

19. The system as described in claim 16 further comprising:

a power source electrically coupled to said position determiner and physically coupled to said lifting device.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein said power source comprises a solar power generation module.

21. The system of claim 19 wherein said power source generates said power from motion associated with said lifting device.

22. The system of claim 16 wherein said autonomous position is precise to less than ten centimeters of error.

23. The system of claim 16 wherein said autonomous position of said first point of interest is not extrapolated from a position of another component of said lifting device.

24. The system of claim 16 wherein said location information is received by said location receiver module wirelessly from said position determiner.

25. The system of claim 16 further comprising:

said distance determiner for determining an autonomous position of a second point of interest based on said autonomous position of said first point of interest, wherein the second point of interest is said hook block.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein said autonomous position of said second point of interest is determined by measuring said distance between said first point of interest and said second point of interest.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein said distance between said first point of interest and said second point of interest is measured optically.

28. The system of claim 26 wherein said distance between said first point of interest and said second point of interest is measured sonically.

29. The system of claim 16 wherein said lifting device is a crane.

30. The system of claim 16, wherein the second counterweight includes an image capturing module and wherein the system further comprises:

an image receiver for receiving an image from said image capturing module coupled to said first point of interest.

31. A method for improving utilization of a lifting device comprising:

determining, based on a planned virtual lift path, at least one preferred movement of a first point of interest of said lifting device for moving an object from a first point to a second point, said first point of interest moveably coupled with a jib pivot via a cable and said first point of interest capable of traversing at least a portion of a jib of said lifting device, a first counterweight attached to said jib, said jib pivot moveably coupled with said jib, wherein said first point of interest, said jib pivot, and said cable are approximately vertically above a hook block;

determining a distance between said first point of interest and said hook block using a distance determiner in proximity of said first point of interest;

utilizing a position determiner module coupled to said first point of interest via said jib pivot to generate location information about said first point of interest, said position determining including said distance determiner, said position determiner does not include any moving parts;

maintaining a vertical orientation of an antenna as a vertical angle of said jib changes using a second counterweight coupled with said position determiner module, said antenna is coupled with and used by said position determiner module;

determining an autonomous position of said first point of interest based on said location information as coordinates in three dimensions, said autonomous position does not depend on physical interactions and relationships between components of said lifting device; and

monitoring said autonomous position of said first point of interest with respect to said preferred movement of said planned virtual lift path of a physical environment.

32. The method of claim 31 further comprising:

determining a difference between said autonomous position of said first point of interest and said preferred movement.

33. The method of claim 32 further comprising:

providing control information to said lifting device such that said control information indicates a relationship between said preferred movement and said autonomous position of said first point of interest.

34. The method of claim 31 wherein said preferred movement minimizes an amount of time it takes to move said object from said first point to said second point.

35. The method of claim 31 wherein said preferred movement prevents said first point of interest from entering a pre-defined space.

36. The method of claim 31 wherein said position determiner is substantially compatible with a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System).

37. The method of claim 31 wherein said position determiner is pivotally coupled to said first point of interest.

38. The method as described in claim 31 further comprising:

providing power to said position determiner from a power source coupled to said lifting device.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein said power source comprises a solar power generation module.

40. The method of claim 38 wherein said power source generates said power from motion associated with said lifting device.

41. The method of claim 31 wherein said autonomous position is precise to less than ten centimeters of error.

42. The method of claim 31 wherein said autonomous position of said first point of interest is not extrapolated from a position of another component of said lifting device.

43. The method of claim 31 wherein said location information is received wirelessly.

44. The method of claim 31 further comprising:

determining an autonomous position of a second point of interest based on said autonomous position of said first point of interest.

45. The method of claim 44 wherein said second point of interest is said hook block and wherein said autonomous position of said second point of interest is determined by measuring said distance between said first point of interest and said second point of interest.

46. The method of claim 45 wherein said distance between said first point of interest and said second point of interest is measured optically.

47. The method of claim 45 wherein said distance between said first point of interest and said second point of interest is measured sonically.

48. The method of claim 31 wherein said lifting device is a crane.

49. The method of claim 31, wherein said second counterweight includes an image capturing module and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving an image from said image capturing module coupled to said first point of interest.

50. The method of claim 31 wherein said preferred movement is a path between said first point and said second point.

51. A method for preventing lifting device collisions comprising:

utilizing a position determiner module coupled to a first point of interest to generate location information about said first point of interest, said first point of interest moveably coupled with a jib pivot via a cable and said first point of interest capable of traversing at least a portion of a jib of said lifting device, a first counterweight attached to said jib, said jib pivot moveably coupled with said jib, wherein said first point of interest, said jib pivot, and said cable are approximately vertically above a hook block, wherein said location information includes corrected pseudoranges;

determining a distance between said first point of interest and said hook block using a distance determiner in proximity of said first point of interest;

determining an autonomous position of said first point of interest using a position determiner module based on said location information as coordinates in three dimensions, said autonomous position does not depend on physical interactions and relationships between components of said lifting device and without using any moving parts;

maintaining a vertical orientation of an antenna as a vertical angle of said jib changes using a second counterweight coupled with said position determiner module, said antenna is coupled with and used by said position determiner module;

monitoring said lifting device based on a comparison of said autonomous position of said first point of interest to an expected position in a planned virtual lift path of a physical environment; and

comparing said autonomous position of said first point of interest to location information associated with an object proximate said lifting device to prevent said lifting device from colliding with said object.

52. The method claim 51 further comprising:

generating a warning in response to said autonomous position of said first point of interest is within a threshold distance of said object proximate said lifting device.

53. The method of claim 51 wherein said location information associated with an object proximate said lifting device includes a threshold safety distance.

54. The method of claim 51 wherein said position determiner is substantially compatible with a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System).

55. The method of claim 51 wherein said position determiner is pivotally coupled to said first point of interest.

56. The method as described in claim 51 further comprising:

providing power to said position determiner from a power source coupled to said lifting device.

57. The method of claim 56 wherein said power source comprises a solar power generation module.

58. The method of claim 56 wherein said power source generates said power from motion associated with said lifting device.

59. The method of claim 51 wherein said autonomous position is precise to less than ten centimeters of error.

60. The method of claim 51 wherein said autonomous position of said first point of interest is not extrapolated from a position of another component of said lifting device.

61. The method of claim 51 wherein said location information is received wirelessly.

62. The method of claim 51 further comprising:

determining an autonomous position of a second point of interest based on said autonomous position of said first point of interest.

63. The method of claim 62 wherein said second point of interest is said hook block and wherein said autonomous position of said second point of interest is determined by measuring said distance between said first point of interest and said second point of interest.

64. The method of claim 63 wherein said distance between said first point of interest and said second point of interest is measured optically.

65. The method of claim 63 wherein said distance between said first point of interest and said second point of interest is measured sonically.

66. The method as described in claim 51 wherein said lifting device is a crane.

67. The method as described in claim 51, wherein said second counterweight includes an image capturing module and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving an image from said image capturing module coupled to said first point of interest.