Development of Electronic Sway Control System for Container Crane.

Many container cranes have sway-control mechanisms, but most of them consist of a mechanical damper with a hydraulic cylinder, which is very heavy. We have developed a new computerized sway-control System which solves the above problems. This system is based on two theories. One is time-based optimal control, and the other is advanced feedback control. These two theories have been merged into one control method by a software program. Two experiments were carried out using a 1/10-scaled test rig and an actual container crane at the yard. From these experiments, it was confirmed that this system gives excellent performance and sufficient practicality in such areas as ease of operation and comfort of cabin ride.