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KR-20260062857-A - SIMPLIFYING FOR AN OPERATOR TO HANDLE A CRANE OF A CONTAINER LIFTING SYSTEM

KR20260062857AKR 20260062857 AKR20260062857 AKR 20260062857AKR-20260062857-A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for managing a group of cranes of a container lifting system, a computer program and a computer program product, a container lifting management device, as well as a container lifting system. The cranes have different selectable operating states, including manual control, supervised autonomous control, and unsupervised autonomous control. The container lifting management device displays a supervised view of a group of cranes to at least one operator (S100), visualizes the operation of the cranes in this supervised view, analyzes the behavior of the different cranes (S110), and proposes or implements a change in the operating state of at least one of the cranes based on the analyzed behavior (S120).

Inventors

  • 시오브로 다비드
  • 고팔라크리쉬난 가야트리
  • 할스타디우스 링에 시몬

Assignees

  • 에이비비 슈바이쯔 아게

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20251024
Priority Date
20241029

Claims (15)

  1. A method for managing a group of cranes (18A, 18B, 18C, 18D) of a container lifting system (10), wherein the cranes have different selectable operating states including manual control, supervised autonomous control and unsupervised autonomous control, and the method is performed by a container lifting management device (12): A step (S100; S200) of displaying a supervision view (SV) of a group of cranes to at least one operator, wherein the operation of the cranes is visualized in the supervision view (SV), a display step (S100; S200). Step of analyzing the behavior of different cranes (S110; 210), and A method comprising the step (S120; S220) of proposing or implementing a change in the operating state of at least one of the cranes based on the analyzed behavior.
  2. In paragraph 1, At least one of the cranes in the group of cranes displayed in the supervisory view (SV) (S200) is controlled by a corresponding crane control device of the group of crane control devices (16A, 16B, 16C, 16D), and The analysis of the behavior of different cranes includes the step (S210) of detecting a problem in one of the cranes (18B) controlled by the corresponding crane control device (16B), and The step of proposing or implementing a change in the operating state includes the step (S220) of switching the crane from being controlled by a corresponding crane control device (16B) to manual control by a corresponding operator, and The method is A method further comprising the step (S230) of providing a manual intervention view (MIV) focused on a crane (18B) having a detected problem so that an operator can handle the problem.
  3. In paragraph 2, the container lifting system (10) comprises a group of video capture systems (14a, 14B, 14, 14D), each of which is associated with a corresponding crane (18A, 18b, 18C, 178D) within the group of cranes, and comprises a plurality of video cameras, at least one of which is mounted on the corresponding crane, the crane where the problem is detected comprises a spreader (42), and the video camera of the crane where the problem is detected has a field of view covering the spreader.
  4. A method according to paragraph 3, further comprising the step of obtaining data from a crane control device and/or a video capture device, analyzing said data, determining a problem based on said analysis, and providing recommendations to an operator for handling the problem.
  5. A method according to paragraph 3 or 4, wherein the spreader of the crane in which the problem is detected has movement along the direction.
  6. A method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of changing the field of view of the video camera to become a wide-angle view along or opposite the direction of movement of the spreader.
  7. A method according to any one of paragraphs 2 to 4, wherein the crane handles a container in the current target area and further comprises the step of detecting the location of a person in the current target area or nearby.
  8. In paragraph 7, the problem is that one or more people are currently located within a safe zone around the target area.
  9. In paragraph 8, the method wherein the safety zone passes through a number of neighboring target areas to be handled in a subsequent cycle.
  10. A method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of determining a person in the current target area or surrounding where the problem needs to be handled and setting up a communication session between the operator and this person.
  11. A container lifting management device (12) including a processor (22), The system operates to display a supervision view (SV) of a group of cranes (18A, 18B, 18C, 18D) to at least one operator, and in this supervision view (SV), the operation of the cranes (18A, 18B, 18C, 18D) is visualized, wherein the cranes have different selectable operation states including manual control, supervised autonomous control, and unsupervised autonomous control. It operates to analyze the behavior of different cranes, and A container lifting management device (12) that operates to propose or implement a change in the operating state of at least one of the cranes based on the analyzed behavior.
  12. A container lifting system (10) comprising a group of cranes (18A, 18B, 18C, 18D) and a container lifting management device (12) according to claim 11.
  13. In claim 12, each crane in the group of cranes can be controlled by a corresponding crane control device of the group of crane control devices (16A, 16B, 16C, 16D), and further comprises a group of video capture systems (14A, 14B, 14, 14D) as well as the group of crane control devices, and each video capture system is associated with a corresponding crane (18A, 18B, 18C, 18D) in the group of cranes and comprises a plurality of video cameras, at least one of which is mounted on the corresponding crane.
  14. A computer program (26) stored in a storage medium for managing a group of cranes (18A, 18B, 18C, 18D) of a container lifting system (10), wherein the cranes have different selectable operating states including manual control, supervised autonomous control and unsupervised autonomous control, and when the computer program (26) stored in the storage medium is executed by a processor (22), the processor (22): A supervisory view (SV) of a group of cranes (18A, 18B, 18C, 18D) is displayed to at least one operator, and the operation of the cranes is visualized in this supervisory view (SV), and To analyze the behavior of different cranes, and A computer program (26) stored on a storage medium, comprising computer program code that proposes or implements a change in the operating state of at least one of the cranes based on the analyzed behavior.
  15. A data carrier (34) storing a computer program for managing a group of cranes (18A, 18B, 18C, 18D) of a container lifting system (10), wherein the cranes have different selectable operating states including manual control, supervised autonomous control and unsupervised autonomous control, and the computer program is the computer program (26) according to claim 14.

Description

Simplifying for an Operator to Handle a Crane of a Container Lifting System The present invention relates to a method for managing a group of cranes of a container lifting system, a computer program and a computer program product, a container lifting management device, as well as a container lifting system. As crane systems become more intelligent, their capabilities expand, providing new opportunities to make crane operations more autonomous. For crane operators, this may imply a smaller workload or the need for manual intervention, but there are dangerous side effects such as boredom or meaningless supervisory tasks. The challenge arises of how to create meaningful jobs with stimulating tasks. A solution to this problem is to channel workloads from multiple cranes and assign operator(s) to supervise multiple cranes simultaneously. CN102491206 describes a tower crane monitoring system that includes, for example, a single-crane monitoring unit and a multi-crane centralized monitoring unit. The single-crane monitoring unit is used to manage on-site monitoring of a single tower crane and to transmit monitoring information to the multi-crane centralized monitoring unit, and is connected to a Universal Packet Radio Service (GPRS) public network. The multi-crane centralized monitoring unit is used to monitor information from all on-site single-crane monitoring units in a centralized manner and to control the on-site tower cranes. However, there is a need to dynamically change how the crane operates in relation to monitoring and control. Therefore, there is a need to dynamically change the operating states of the crane group. The present invention will now be described in more detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, where: FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a container lifting system including a group of cranes each connected to a corresponding crane control device, a plurality of video capture systems each associated with the corresponding crane, as well as a container lifting management device. FIG. 2 is a drawing illustrating an example of a container lifting management device. FIG. 3 is a drawing illustrating a computer program product in the form of a CD-ROM having computer program code used to implement a container lifting management function of a container lifting management device. FIG. 4 is a drawing illustrating multiple method steps of a method for managing a group of cranes of a container lifting system. FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing illustrating a container ship in which containers are lifted using a crane. FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically illustrating a supervision view presented to an operator by a container lifting management device in supervision visualization mode. FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating a manual intervention view presented to an operator by a container lifting management device in manual intervention visualization mode. Figure 8 is a flowchart of multiple different method steps for managing a group of cranes in a container lifting system. In the following description, specific details such as specific architectures, interfaces, technologies, etc., are described for illustrative purposes rather than for limitation, in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced in other embodiments that deviate from these specific details. In other cases, detailed descriptions of known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the invention with unnecessary details. The present invention generally relates to supporting a container lifting system operator when a problem is detected in relation to the crane of the system. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a container lifting system (10) comprising a container lifting management device (CLMD) (12), a group of cranes, a group of crane control devices, and a group of video capture systems. For example, there is a first crane (CRA) (18A) connected to a first crane control device (CCDA) (16A), a second crane CRB (18B) connected to a second crane control device (CCDB) (16B), a third crane CRC (18C) connected to a third crane control device (CCDC) (16C), and a fourth crane CRD (18D) connected to a fourth crane control device (CCDD) (16D). The first crane control device (16A) controls the first crane (18A), the second crane control device (16B) controls the second crane (18B), the third crane control device (16C) controls the third crane (18C), and the fourth crane control device (16D) controls the fourth crane (18D). There also exists a group of video capture systems (14A, 14B, 14C, 14D) each associated with a corresponding crane (18A, 18B, 18C, 18D) within the group of cranes. Accordingly, there exists a first video capture system (VCSA) (14A) associated with the first crane (18A), a second video capture system (VCSB) (14B) associated with the second crane (18B), a third video c