An Identification-Based Control Method for an Overhead Crane with a New Combined Sensor Placement

This paper is devoted to an automatic control method for an overhead crane under the current parametric uncertainty of the crane, transported cargo, and exogenous disturbances. The control objective is to move the cargo in the horizontal plane to a point ensuring the final delivery of the cargo to the designated place while parrying the angular oscillations of the suspension and reaching given dynamic characteristics. The approach is based on a control scheme with a current parametric identification algorithm, an implicit reference model, and “simplified” adaptability conditions to track cargo movements directly. The control law generates a given trolley speed for the servo drive. The passport data of the crane installation are used to select the control law parameters. Unlike previous publications on the topic, the solution proposed below is simpler, more reliable in terms of operation, and less expensive. This is achieved by placing a combined sensor (an accelerometer with an angular rate sensor (ARS)) on a suspension cable near the crane trolley and applying, first, an algorithmic solution without the preliminary calculation of the ARS drift and, second, a current parametric identification procedure of higher efficiency. Computer simulation results are provided to confirm these advantages of the new solution. A similar example is implemented on an experimental installation.