Anti-Sway Control of Container Cranes;Inclinometer, Observers, and State Feedback

In this paper, a novel anti-sway control system that uses an inclinometer as a sway sensor is investigated. The inclinometer, when compared with a vision system, is very cheap, durable, and its maintenance is easy. However, it gives almost the same performance. Various observers for estimating the angular velocity of the load and the trolley velocity are presented. A state feedback controller with an integrator is designed. After a time-scale analysis, a 1/4-size pilot crane of the rail-mounted quayside crane is constructed. The performance of the proposed control system was verified with a real rubber-tired gantry crane at a container terminal as well as with the pilot crane constructed. Experimental results are provided.