Time Delay Control of Sway and Skew of the Spreader Suspended by Four Flexible Cables

This article describes the time delay control of the 3-dimensional motion of the container cranes used in dockside container terminals. The container is suspended by four flexible cables via spreader, and due to the disturbances such as the wind and acceleration of cranes, the container undergoes translational(sway) and rotational position errors. And due to the uncertainty of weight and rotational inertia, accurate position control of container crane is difficult to realize. This paper, based on the analysis of 3-dimensional dynamics of container moving systems, develops time delay control algorithm [1]. The developed control algorithm is shown effective in controlling the container position in the presence of gust and parameter uncertainties.