This book introduces and develops the mathematical models used to describe crane dynamics, and explores established and emerging control methods employed for industrial cranes. It opens with a general introduction to the design and structure of various crane types including gantry cranes, rotary cranes, and mobile cranes currently being used for material handling processes. Mathematical models describing their dynamics for control purposes are developed via two different modeling approaches: lumped-mass and distributed parameter models. Control strategies applicable to real industrial problems are then discussed, including open-loop control, feedback control, boundary control, and hybrid control strategies. Finally, based on the methods covered in the book, future research directions are proposed for the advancement of crane technologies. This book can be used by graduate students, engineers, and researchers in the material handling industry including those working in warehouses, manufacturing, construction sites, ship building, seaports, container terminals, nuclear power plants, and in offshore engineering.

This book reports on the latest developments in sliding mode overhead crane control, presenting novel research ideas and findings on sliding mode control (SMC), hierarchical SMC and compensator design-based hierarchical sliding mode. The results, which were previously scattered across various journals and conference proceedings, are now presented in a systematic and unified form. The book will be of interest to researchers, engineers and graduate students in control engineering and mechanical engineering who want to learn the methods and applications of SMC.

Boom cranes are one of the most dynamically complicated types of cranes because they possess rotational joints as opposed to the linear tracks of bridge and gantry cranes. In addition, if the boom crane is placed on a mobile base, additional complexity is added to the system. However, mobile boom cranes have huge potential benefits as they can be quickly transported from one location to another. Furthermore, if they utilize their mobile base during lifting operations, then they can have an extremely large workspace. All cranes share the same limiting weakness; the payload oscillates when the crane moves. A command-generation approach is taken to control the payload oscillation. Input shaping is one such command-generation technique that modifies the original reference command by convolving it with a series of impulses. The shaped command produced by the convolution can then move the crane without inducing payload oscillation. Input shaping can accommodate parameter uncertainties, nonlinearities, multiple modes of vibration, and has been shown to be compatible with human operators. This thesis focuses on three aspects of mobile boom cranes: 1) dynamic analysis, 2) input-shaping control, and 3) experimental testing. A majority of the thesis focuses on analyzing and describing the complicated dynamics of mobile boom cranes. Then, various input-shaping controllers are designed and tested, including two-mode shapers for double-pendulum dynamics. In order to experimentally verify the simulation results, a small-scale mobile boom crane has been constructed. The details of the mobile boom crane and its important features are presented and discussed. Details of the software used to control the crane are also presented. Then, several different experimental protocols are introduced and the results presented. In addition, a set of operator performance studies that analyze human operators maneuvering the mobile boom crane through an obstacle course is presented.

Cranes are a major part of the construction and manufacturing industry. Most of the new architecture and industries relies on different types of cranes to operate or be built. The main objective of this project is to design a gantry crane that will be automated with the help of a raspberry pi and sensors to automatically move the trolley to the location of the package to lift it and place it in the desired location. Different options were looked at and a decision matrix was formed to choose the best option according to the weighted criteria. A detailed design was made of the required crane and trolley and the most suitable option available in the market was ordered. The trolley was modified with different manufacturing processes to add different parts to it to make it ready for automation. A control system was implemented to the design which consists mainly of a raspberry pi, relay switch, camera sensor, and speed control unit. The results obtained from the finite element analysis for a force on the lower plate of the trolley was 0.00614 mm of deformation on the center point, and the equivalent (Von-Mises) stress was found out to be 4.3287 MPa.