KR20090073284A - Location based automatic yard crane system - Google Patents

Abstract

A location-based automatic yard crane system is provided to reduce use of the correction sensor in many cases and to be applied to a RMG(Rail Mounted Gantry) as well as a RTG(Rubber Tire Gantry) crane. A location-based automatic yard crane system comprises a sensor unit(320) which is mounted on a UWB Reader installed at open-air yard neighboring, a yard crane and a container, an administration unit(300) for managing position data obtained from a sensor unit and task of the yard crane, a hub processor(310) for processing data from the sensor unit and administration unit, and a operation unit(330) for instructing operation and task of the yard crane.

Description

Location based automatic yard crane system

The present invention relates to an automated method for an unmanned operation of a crane using a UWB (Ultra-Wide Band) communication method and an apparatus therefor. In particular, automation through precise positioning at the port can save a lot of time and money moving cargo and containers. The present invention is intended to apply the accurate position measurement technology using the ultra-wide band (UWB) signal to further develop the unmanned automation method of the yard crane.

The position measuring method of the yard crane includes a method using an infrared sensor, a method using a laser sensor, and a method using a linear encoder. The method of using the laser sensor has the advantage of relatively low measurement error and easy arrangement change, but the disadvantage is that the laser sensor is highly influenced by environment and climate and is expensive. The linear encoder is used to install the sensors at the yard crane's moving position according to the fixed interval and transmit the absolute position value when the yard crane moves.The rail cannot be used for RTG (Rubber Tire Gantry). It can be applied only to RMG (Rail Mounted Gantry), which can only move from above, and it uses many sensors.

UWB communication is based on high-precision positioning, which has the exact positioning function that RFID does not have, and because it has very wide bandwidth and very high center frequency, it is a system having accuracy of 5-10cm or less. In addition, it is possible to configure a location measurement network that can be moved by a wireless network, and is a communication method suitable for RTLS (Real Time Location System) through high speed synchronization acquisition in a wireless communication system.

The existing ATC (Automated Transfer Crane) uses position correction sensors such as GTE (Gantry Traveling Encoder) and ASS (Auto Steering Sensor). As such, ATC uses infrared sensors to prevent collision with other containers when stacking containers, but UWB (Ultra-WideBand) location recognition system recognizes three-dimensional space and uses wide bandwidth from 3.1GHz to 10.6GHz. The system can be simplified by minimizing the number of existing calibration sensors.

Container loading from the container yard and loading into the transport truck are carried out by a yard crane. The yard crane to do this work is adjusted by the sense of the experienced driver, the accuracy of the operation depends on the condition and weather conditions of the driver. Of course, such a sensory work is difficult to remove and load the correct container. In addition, the greater the number of loading stages of the container, the higher the possibility of causing an accident such as contact with another neighboring container.

UWB signals have a very wide bandwidth and have a very high center frequency, and are known to be able to measure the position of an object with accuracy of several Cm or less. In addition, the UWB transceiver can simultaneously transmit and receive various types of data (audio, video, etc.) along with position measurement.

Therefore, the present invention can improve the problems of being affected by the environment and the climate when using the infrared sensor of the conventional method by using the UWB Reader and that can not be used in RTG (Rubber Tire Gantry) when using the linear encoder. In addition, when a person adjusts a yard crane, the more the number of loading stages of the container, the more the UWB Reader can prevent the problem of contact with the neighboring container by three-dimensional position recognition.

In the present invention, by installing the UWB Reader in the yard crane and the container can calculate the absolute position to improve the problems of the prior art. The present invention is a sensor unit mounted to the UWB Reader and the yard crane and the container installed around the yard; A management unit for managing work of the yard crane and the position data obtained from the sensor unit; A distributed processing unit for processing data from the sensor unit and the management unit; It consists of an operation unit for instructing the operation and work of the yard crane.

The present invention shows a characteristic that is not affected by the environment and climate by collecting and controlling the information of the yard crane and the container from the UWB Reader installed around the yard by configuring a wireless network between the sensors using the UWB (Ultra-WideBand) communication method Due to the very high center frequency and wide bandwidth of the UWB signal, accurate position detection is possible, so it can be applied not only to RMG (Rail Mounted Gantry) but also to RTG (Rubber Tire Gantry) cranes. The use of sensors can be reduced.

The present invention from the sensor unit consisting of a UWB Reader and a yard crane installed around the yard and an active tag that can transmit the position of the yard crane and the UWB Reader mounted to the container; A management unit configured of a central control unit (Management Engine) for processing the work data of the yard crane obtained from the sensor unit; A distributed processor (Hub Processor) for calculating position values of the yard crane and the container obtained from the sensor unit and transmitting the calculated position values to the central control unit or transmitting a command of the central control unit to the sensor unit; It consists of an operation unit for performing the operation and work of the yard crane.

First of all, UWB Readers are installed around the yard to construct the position recognition network and UWB active tag is installed on the yard crane, so the distributed processor receives the absolute position value of the yard crane. The distributed value is calculated by the distributed processing unit, converted into data values that can be recognized by the central control unit, and transmitted. The manager issues commands to the distributed processing unit by operating the central control unit to direct the work, and the distributed processing unit automates the work of the yard crane by operating the operating unit.

1 is a view showing a sensor unit in the present invention. UWB Reader 101 and the yard crane and 102 mounted on the container is composed of the Active Tag. The quantity of UWB Reader and Tag depends on the number of yard cranes and containers in the yard. The wireless communication 103 between the UWB reader and the active tag is shown, and the wired / wireless communication 100 between the UWB readers is shown.

2 shows a tag and a UWB Reader attached to a yard crane and a container, and a controller for performing operations of a yard crane. Active tag 230 for checking the position of the yard crane, Active Tag 220 for checking the position of the container. The UWB Reader 230 of the yard crane for checking the exact position of the container and represents the controller 200 to process all the work of the yard crane.

3 is a diagram showing the overall work flow. When the management unit 300 instructs the operation to be performed by the distributed processing unit 310, the distributed processing unit transmits the work contents and the ID of the container and the ID of the yard crane to perform the operation to the sensor unit 320. The sensor unit transmits data to the UWB Reader close to the ID indicated in the sensor unit 320 and transmits the data to the operation unit 330. The operation unit 330 checks the ID value of the container to which the task is assigned, performs the task, and transmits to the management unit 300 that the task is finished in the reverse order when the task is assigned after the task is finished.

Claims (1)

Techniques and steps of using UWB Reader and Active Tag in an unmanned automated method in which a yard crane transports and loads a container in the correct position;

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