Container Gantry Crane Simulator for Operator Training

Abstract

Real-time simulators have become more popular in the field of user training. This is due to the possibility to give basic training and knowledge of machines and their operation environment to the operator even when the machine is not actually present. The use of simulators instead of actual machines has several advantages. First of all, the available machine capacity is not tied to training and can be used in productive work. Secondly, using a simulator helps to avoid accidents that may occur using real machines. Using a simulator also enables different environmental aspects, such as lighting conditions, fog, wind, and so on, to be taken into account in the training of all operators alike. Real-time training simulators are complicated machine systems, which consist of a user interface, an I/O-system, a real-time simulation model describing the dynamics of the machine in question and its connections to the environment, a visualization of the operational environment, and a possible motion platform. The user interface is usually taken directly from the simulated machine. Consequently, the user has the possibility to become familiar with the operating interface in an early phase of training. In this article, the development of a gantry crane operator-training simulator, including all the earlier mentioned components, is presented. The aim of this article is to present an example of methods used in the development of the separate areas of a training simulator.

Operative and procedural cooperative training in marine ports

“…The roll excitation moment M can be derived from the Haskind relation, while the restoring moment coefficient C 44 can be expressed as a linear function of the displacement , the transverse metacentric height GM T and the acceleration of gravity g according to Eq. (26).…”

“…[15]. Many simulators are intended to quay cranes operators' training [31,11,7,26] and specific research works have also investigated the training for supporting security procedures integration in the marine port operations [17,18,20]. To this end, it is worth mentioning that a comprehensive survey of research projects dealing with advanced simulation systems for operators training in marine ports is the main deliverable of the OPTIMUS project (Operational Port Training Models Using Simulators, financed by the European Community) [23].…”

New developments in simulation-based harbour crane training

“…For these cranes, the dynamic models are usually divided into three rigid bodies: the gantry, the trolley and the payload (Rouvinen, 2005;Korkealaakso et al, 2007). In a standard model, the gantry has one DOF parallel to the dock edge and the trolley has one DOF perpendicular to the previous one.…”

“…Some authors have proposed more sophisticated models of spreader, including the pieces of metal that guide it in the final approximation to the container. These guides are of great importance to allow a fast and precise positioning of the spreader on the load (Rouvinen, 2005).…”

“…Some more general aspects related to physically-based modelling, which affect any simulator regardless of the type of crane considered, are those related to collision detection or numerical integration of the equations of motion (Rouvinen, 2005;Korkealaakso et al, 2007). These aspects, however, are outside the scope of this work, which focuses on the modelling of some particular physical systems.…”