Development of Hoisting Load Position Sensor for Container Handling Cranes,Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol.38 No.2(2001)

In recent years, high speed and automation have been promoted to provide higher efficiency for container handling in cranes handling containers such as container cranes and transfer cranes. To bring about automation in these cases, it is important to detect the positioning of hoisting loads accurately. In 1996, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.(MHI) developed a hoisting load position sensor using a 3element laser and CCD cameras that highly detected the 2-dimentional positioning (trolley travel position and gantry travel position) of hoisting loads and has expanded the application to the automatic operation system used for RMGCs. This sensor detects laser light sources mounted on the spreader using 2-dimensional CCD cameras installed on the trolley. Performance and reliability have been highly evaluated by users. So far, the system has been improved to 9-element laser light sources, securely realizing high accuracy position detection even in atmospheres subject to heavy rain, and continues stable and high efficient operation based on the technology of anti-sway and positioning technique used for the abovementioned RMGC automatic operation system.