SUMMARY

Recent decades have witnessed explosive leaps in manufacturing productivity. Advances in communication technology, computing speed, dynamic control, and machine vision have been significant contributors toward this increase. The continued growth of technological capabilities challenges engineers to utilize these advances in more sophisticated and useful automation systems. One such application involves enhancing bridge and gantry crane operation. These systems are used in many areas such as shipping, building construction, and nuclear facilities. The efficacy of this manipulation system is critical to industrial productivity. For this reason, improving the operational effectiveness of cranes can be extremely valuable. The proposed research is concerned with dynamic control and human/machine interaction, especially as these areas relate to industrial crane operation. In the area of dynamic control, the research will investigate control strategies specifically suited for use on systems that possess common hard nonlinear elements such as saturation and rate limiting. The effects of these elements on a branch of control theory called input shaping will be a primary focus. In the area of human/machine interaction, the research will investigate the effects of different crane interface devices on the operational efficiency of cranes. A new crane interface will be developed with the intention of improving the operational performance of cranes. Three fundamental research questions drive the proposed research: (1)Can the operational efficiency of cranes be improved beyond what is achievable through dynamic compensation alone by changing the way operators interact with a crane? (2)What are the effects of nonlinearities on the ability of input-shaped commands to eliminate oscillation? (3)What strategies can be employed to mitigate the detrimental effects of nonlinearities on shaped commands in a manner that is compatible with the way input shaping is used?