OPERATION OF A CRANE

Abstract

 A computer-implemented method for operating a crane, comprising the steps of: receiving angular data of a structural element of a crane (S100); providing an anti-sway control model configured to describe a relation between input angular data of a structural element of a crane and output motion control data for a drive unit of the crane (S110); determining motion control data for a drive unit of the crane by inputting the received angular data into the anti-sway control model (S120); providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data (S130).

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a computer-implemented method for operating a crane, to a device for operating a crane, to a system, to a use of an inertial measurement unit in such a method, in such a device or in such a system and to a computer program product configured to carry out the steps of such a method.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Cranes are widely used for moving goods in warehouses, plants or ports. Cranes are well known in the state of the art. Cranes are operated manually and automatically. The goods moved with a crane act like a load and may oscillate. This may be a challenge by moving goods.

[0003] It has now become apparent that there is a further need to provide a possibility for operating a crane.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for operating a crane, in particular it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for operating a crane. These and other objects, which become apparent upon reading the following description, are solved by the subject matter of the independent claims. The dependent claims refer to preferred embodiments of the invention.

[0005] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-implemented method for operating a crane is disclosed, comprising the steps of:

receiving angular data of a structural element of a crane; providing an anti-sway control model configured to describe a relation between input angular data of a structural element of a crane and output motion control data for a drive unit of the crane;

determining motion control data for a drive unit of the crane by inputting the received angular data into the anti-sway control model;

providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data.

[0006] In an embodiment of the method, the angular data may be received from an inertial measurement unit arranged at the structural element of the crane.

[0007] In an embodiment of the method, the motion control data may comprise position data of the drive unit of the crane.

[0008] In an embodiment of the method, the motion control data may comprise speed data of the drive unit of the crane.

[0009] In an embodiment of the method, the motion control data may comprise acceleration data of the drive unit of the crane.

[0010] In an embodiment of the method, the angular data may comprise one or more angular rates of the structural element and/or one or more angles of the structural element.

[0011] In an embodiment of the method, the method may be a closed loop control.

[0012] In an embodiment, the method may be provided, further comprising receiving a first trigger signal configured to start providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data.

[0013] In other words, to ensure that the method does not interfere with motion profile tracking controllers of the drive unit, the method is only activated in the vicinity of a target (i.e. when a position reference profile is close to a programmed target in position control mode or when a shaped speed reference profile is close to zero in speed control mode). This may enable a tailored controller tuning procedure.

[0014] In an embodiment, the method may be provided, further comprising receiving a second trigger signal configured to stop: providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data.

[0015] In an embodiment, the method may further comprise a gain adaption of one or more controlling parameters of the controller of the drive unit for controlling the drive unit after receiving the first trigger signal or the second trigger signal.

[0016] In an embodiment, the method may further comprise an asymmetric rate limiting for starting providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data and/or stopping providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data.

[0017] In an embodiment of the method, the predefined motion control profile may comprise position data and speed data.

[0018] In an embodiment of the method, the drive unit may comprise one or more driving axles.

[0019] In an embodiment of the method, the structural element may be a hook of an overhead crane.

[0020] In an embodiment of the method, the structural element may be a tip of a mast of a stacker crane.

[0021] A further aspect of the present disclosure relates to a device for operating a crane, comprising:

a receiving unit configured to receive angular data of a structural element of the crane;

a first providing unit configured to provide an anti-sway control model configured to describe a relation between input angular data of a structural element of a crane and output motion control data for a drive unit of the crane;

a determining unit configured to determine motion control data for a drive unit of the crane by inputting the received angular data into the anti-sway control model;

a second providing unit configured to provide the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit;

a control configured to control the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data.

[0022] A further aspect of the present disclosure relates to a system, comprising:

a device for operating a crane as described above;

a crane. The crane may comprise a hook with an inertial measurement unit,

wherein the inertial measurement unit is arranged at the hook. The crane may be a stacker crane with a mast, wherein an inertial measurement unit is arranged at a tip of the mast.

[0023] A further aspect of the present disclosure relates to a use of an inertial measurement unit in a method as described above, in a device as described above, and/or in a system as described above.

[0024] A last aspect of the present disclosure relates to a computer program element, which when executed by a processor is configured to carry out the method as described above, and/or to control a device as described above, and/or to control a system as described above.

DEFINITIONS

[0025] The term angular data has to be understood broadly and particularly relates to angular data of a structural element. The angular data may comprise one or more angles and/or one or more angular rates of the structural element. The angular data may comprise absolute or relative values. The angular data may comprise an angular rate of the structural element. The angular rate is defined by a change of an angle per time. Similar expression for angular rate are angular velocity and rotational velocity. The angular data may be described in a superior coordinate system (e.g. crane coordinate system). The angular data may describe indirectly an angle of a rope of a crane.

[0026] The term crane has to be understood broadly and relates to any material handling system with a hook and/or crane rope and/or beam. The crane may be an overhead crane, a mast/stacker crane, a trolley or the like. The crane may comprise at least one drive unit.

[0027] The term structural element has to be understood broadly and in particular relates to a structural element, which is indicative to an oscillating load of a crane, when measuring the angular rate data of the structural element. The structural element may be a hook of a crane. The structural element may be a tip of a mast/stacker of crane.

[0028] The term anti-sway control model has to be understood broadly and in particular relates to a model configured to describe a relation between input angular data of a structural element and output motion control data of a drive unit of a crane. The anti-sway control model may comprise a cost function for minimizing an angular data of the structural element. The anti-sway control model may be part of a feedback control. The anti-sway control model may comprise one or more motion equations describing the motion of a crane, wherein the crane may be described as multibody system (e.g. hook, rope, bridge, etc.) with one or more degrees of freedom. The motion equation may comprise a mass of a load, a mass of a trolley, a length of the rope etc. The anti-sway control model may add an offset to the speed reference data (part of speed data) for compensating the load oscillation. This offset may be calculated based on an angular data which may be acquired by an inertial measurement unit (IMU) / a gyroscope mounted at the hook (in case of an overhead crane) or at the tip of the mast (in case of a stacker crane). The anti-sway control model may calculate a damping term that is added to a torque reference of the control of the drive unit of the crane. The anti-sway control model may calculate the damping term on basis of the angular data, more particular on basis of an angle and an angular rate of the structural element. The anti-sway control model may calculate a damping term that is added to a speed reference of the speed control loop of control of the crane. This might be advantageous as lower torque references can remain untouched. Depending on a control mode, the speed reference may have different sources: For speed-controlled cranes (manual control by a human operator), speed reference may be the output of the motion profile generator (with or without anti-sway shaping). For position-controlled cranes (automatic control), speed reference may be the summation of the output of the position control loop and a speed feed-forward term from the profile generator.

[0029] The term motion control data has to be understood broadly and relates in particular to data configured to control a drive unit in particular a driving axle. The motion control data may comprise position data (e.g. x=5m), speed data (e.g. v in x-direction = 3m/s), acceleration data (e.g. a in x-direction=2 m/s2). The motion control data may be received from a control of the drive unit and used for controlling the drive unit or the respective driving axle (e.g. a pinion rack drive of a bridge of an overhead crane).

[0030] The term drive unit has to be understood broadly and relates in particular to a drive unit of crane configured to drive the crane from a spatial position to a further spatial position. The drive unit may comprise at least a control and at least one driving axle.

[0031] The term driving axle has to be understood broadly and relates in particular to an electro mechanical motor and a gear configured to generate mechanical movement of a part of the crane or of the entire crane. The driving axle may be a ball screw drive, a pinion rack drive, a winch motor, a belt drive or the like. The crane may have one or more driving axles.

[0032] The term inertial measurement unit has to be understood broadly and relates to any electronic device configured to measure an angular rate of a structural element. The inertial measurement unit may comprise one or more or a plurality of the following an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and/or a magnetometer. The inertial measurement unit may have a processing unit, an interface configured for data exchange, a storage means. As it is difficult to acquire a rope angle directly, the solely use of an inertial measurement unit (IMU) / gyroscope attached to the hook may be advantageous. Such a sensor may provide the angular rate as a signal. For an ideal angular rate signal, one could calculate the rope angle by integration over time. However, gyroscope signal may always be subject to a (potentially temperature- and time-dependent) bias. An angle signal calculated from mere integration would thus be subject to drift. As a remedy, a high-pass filtering to the angular rate signal prior to integration may be advantageous. The high-pass and the integrator can be subsumed into a single filter. Optionally, second-order high-pass filtering can be employed to remove an offset in the angle estimate depending on the sensor quality.

[0033] The term closed loop control has to be understood broadly and relates in particular to control wherein a measurement value (e.g. angular rate data) is used as feedback for controlling the drive unit of the crane. The closed loop control is opposite of an open loop control. The closed loop control may lead to a more efficient anti sway control in comparison to an open loop control, especially if some of the system parameters are not exactly known of if the crane is subject to external disturbances such as wind. The closed loop control may lead to a safer operating of the crane. The closed loop control may lead to a more efficient operating of the crane due to less waiting (e.g. due less swing out time of the load).

[0034] The term first trigger signal has to be understood broadly and relates in particular to a signal configured to start the method for operating the crane in an anti-sway mode (i.e. reduced oscillation of a load moved with crane). The trigger signal may be derived from a motion control profile. E.g., at stops or end position of the movement a trigger signal is generated to start the operating the crane in an anti-sway mode as described above. During acceleration and deceleration phases of the crane, there will inevitably be phases with non-zero angle and angle velocities. In such phases, the anti-sway control model may not be active respectively the anti-sway control model may not be required to determine motion control data. The trigger signal may "activate" the anti-sway control model in the vicinity of the target. If the crane is speed controlled (i.e. manual operation), the trigger signal is that the speed reference produced by the motion profile generator is close to zero. If the crane is position-controlled (i.e. in automatic operation), the trigger signal is that the position reference produced by the motion profile generator is close to the programmed target position. The reasoning is that at the target (be it zero speed in manual mode or a fixed target in automatic mode), ϕref = 0 and ϕ̇ref = 0 hold.

[0035] The term second trigger signal has to be understood broadly and relates in particular to a signal configured to stop the method for operating the crane in an anti-sway mode. The stop of the method for operating the crane in an anti-sway mode may lead to operate the crane in a conventional mode (i.e. without anti-sway mode). In other words, when the described method is stopped, the crane is still operating without the anti-sway mode. The second trigger signal may be derived from the motion control profile (i.e. position controlled, automatic operation) or from a motion profile generator (i.e. speed reference produced by motion profile generator is far away from zero, speed controlled, manual operation).

[0036] The term motion control profile has to be understood broadly and relates in particular to a profile configured to describe position, velocity and/or acceleration of a crane or parts of the crane. The motion control profile may be used to control a crane in an automatic mode and/or in a manual mode. The motion control profile may be part of control file used of control for controlling the crane respectively the drive unit of the crane respective the driving axles of the crane.

[0037] The term gain adaption has to be understood broadly and relates in particular to an adaption of the one or more controlling parameters of the controller of the drive unit for controlling the drive unit after receiving the first trigger signal or the second trigger signal. The gain adaption may be applied to the speed loop of the control of the drive unit of the crane. When providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data is not started, the one or more controlling parameters of the controller of the drive unit are tuned for sufficient reference tracking (i.e. stiff controlling parameters). When providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data is started, the one or more controlling parameters of the controller of the drive unit are de-tuned substantially. This may allow to achieve decent damping rejection with relatively small gains. In addition, a dead-band filter may added to the output of the anti-sway control model. This may be advantageous as the IMU quality may not be ideal, which may result in too much control action for small rope angles. As long as both estimated rope angle and angular rate (i.e. angular data) are sufficiently small, the motion control data may be set to zero. This dead-band can also be used to detect if the oscillation has been cancelled out and therefore to trigger switching back to the tracking parameters of the speed PI (and de-activated damping injection). This may be especially relevant for position-controlled cranes as the damping injection controller may result in positioning errors of the trolley. After cancelling out the oscillation, the position and speed controller may have to move the trolley back to the programmed target position. This may be preferably to be done with small position controller gain to prevent excitation of load oscillations.

[0038] The term asymmetric rate limiting has to be understood broadly and relates in particular to a gentle fade in of the method when receiving the first trigger signal and to an instantaneously switch off the method when receiving the second trigger signal. This may be advantageous to prevent control signal spikes when starting to provide the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and to control the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data. This may be advantageous to prevent an interaction with a tracking controller of the drive unit when stopping to provide the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and to control the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data.

[0039] Units and/or devices and/or controls and/or controllers according to one or more example embodiments may be implemented using hardware, software, and/or a combination thereof. For example, hardware devices may be implemented using processing circuitry such as, but not limited to, a processor, Central Processing Unit (CPU), a controller, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), a digital signal processor, a microcomputer, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a System-on-Chip (SoC), a programmable logic unit, a microprocessor, or any other device capable of responding to and executing instructions in a defined manner.

[0040] Units or devices may include one or more interface circuits. In some examples, the interface circuits may include wired or wireless interfaces that are connected to a local area network (LAN), the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), or combinations thereof. The functionality of any given device or unit of the present disclosure may be distributed among multiple units or devices that are connected via interface circuits.

[0041] Units and/or devices according to one or more example embodiments may also include one or more storage devices. The one or more storage devices may be tangible or non-transitory computer-readable storage media, such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), a permanent mass storage device (such as a disk drive), solid state (e.g., NAND flash) device, and/or any other like data storage mechanism capable of storing and recording data. The one or more storage devices may be configured to store computer programs, program code, instructions, or some combination thereof.

[0042] Any disclosure and embodiments described herein relate to the methods, the systems, the devices, the computer program element lined out above and vice versa. Advantageously, the benefits provided by any of the embodiments and examples equally apply to all other embodiments and examples and vice versa.

[0043] As used herein "determining" also includes "initiating or causing to determine", "generating" also includes "initiating or causing to generate" and "providing" also includes "initiating or causing to determine, generate, select, send or receive". "Initiating or causing to perform an action" includes any processing signal that triggers a computing device to perform the respective action.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] In the following, the present disclosure is described exemplarily with reference to the enclosed figures, in which

Figure 1

shows a flow diagram of an example method for operating a crane; and

Figure 2

shows a schematic illustration of an example device for operating a crane.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMEENTS

[0045] Figure 1 shows a flow diagram of an example method for operating a crane.

[0046] In step S100 angular data of a structural element of a crane received. The crane is in the present example an overhead crane. The structural element is a hook of the crane. The angular data may be received by an inertial measuring unit arranged in the hook. The inertial measuring unit may be in wired or wireless data connection with a device or processor executing the described method.

[0047] In step S110 an anti-sway control model is provided configured to describe a relation between input angular data of a structural element of a crane and output motion control data for a drive unit of the crane.

[0048] Step S120 comprises determining motion control data for a drive unit of the crane by inputting the received angular data into the anti-sway control model. The motion control data may comprise speed data and/or position data for controlling the crane, respectively the drive unit of the crane. In the present example, the drive unit comprises a driving axle, wherein the driving axle is a pinion crack drive for driving the bridge of the overhead crane.

[0049] Step S130 comprises providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data.

[0050] The method may be carried out in closed loop manner. This may be advantageous in terms efficiency, reliability and safety in comparison to an open loop control. The method may further comprise receiving a first trigger signal configured to start: providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data. The method may further comprise receiving a second trigger signal configured to stop: stop providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control. The method may further comprise a gain adaption of one or more controlling parameters of the controller of the drive unit for controlling the drive unit after receiving the first trigger signal or the second trigger signal. The method may further comprise an asymmetric rate limiting for starting: providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data; the method and/or for stopping: providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data.

[0051] Figure 2 shows a schematic illustration of an example device 200 for operating a crane. The device 200 comprises a receiving unit 210 configured to receive angular data of a structural element of the crane; a first providing unit 220 configured to provide an anti-sway control model configured to describe a relation between input angular data of a structural element of a crane and output motion control data for a drive unit of the crane; a determining unit 230 configured to determine motion control data for a drive unit of the crane by inputting the received angular data into the anti-sway control model; a second providing unit 240 configured to provide the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit; a control 250 configured to control the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data.

[0052] Figure 3 shows a concept scheme of the example device for operating a crane. The receiving unit 300 receives angular data from an inertial measurement unit arranged e.g. at hook of the crane. The receiving unit 300 may estimate based on angular rate and/or angle of the hook an angle of the rope of the crane. The angular data is transmitted to a calculation unit 310 which is configured to provide the anti-sway control model and to determine motion control data for the drive unit of the control by inputting angular data. The motion control data is transmitted to a control 330 of the drive unit of the crane. The concept may optionally also comprise a trigger unit 320 configured to receive a first trigger signal configured to start providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data. The trigger unit 320 may further be configured to receive a second trigger signal configured to stop providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data. The trigger unit 320 may further be configured to provide a gain adaption of one or more controlling parameters of the controller of the drive unit for controlling the drive unit after receiving the first trigger signal or second trigger signal. The trigger unit 320 may further be configured to provide an asymmetric rate limiting for starting providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data and/or for stopping providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data.

[0053] In the following, a summary of the main effects and main advantages of the present disclosure is provided:
One major challenge in controlling cranes may be load oscillations. Upon accelerating a bridge or a trolley, a load or a tip of a stacker crane inevitably may start swinging. Anti-sway (or anti-pendulum) control schemes may aim at suppressing such oscillations. Input shaping approaches may achieve this by properly modifying the motion control profiles such that oscillations may not be excited in a first place. However, such open-loop approaches may face to conceptual challenges: Firstly, they may rely on a well-known model to achieve robust performance. Secondly, they cannot take care of external disturbances such as wind forces on the load. Therefore, solutions also aiming at robust outdoor operation may be in need of an additional feedback-based device for operating a crane. Key challenges for such a sensor-based device for operating a crane may be (a) acquisition of the required signals by means of affordable and easy-to-integrate instrumentation, (b) integration into the overall control structure of the drive unit, and (c) making sure to not interfere with motion profile tracking controls.

[0054] The computer-implemented method for operating a crane may allow to reject external disturbances (e.g. wind) and may therefore be suitable for outdoor operation. In addition, the feedback-based method may improve robustness of anti-sway with respect to uncertain parameters. Feedback-based anti-sway is currently realized using an external rope angle sensor and a dedicated controller. The main benefits of the method proposed in this invention disclosure may comprise: (a) The method may be fully integrated into the drive unit, combining speed / position control and feedback-based anti-sway internally and ensuring seamless coordination of anti-sway and tracking control. (b) The method solely may rely on angular rate data, which can be obtained from a gyroscope mounted at the hook. No direct rope angle measurement is needed. (c) The proposed feedback-based anti-sway method for operating a crane can be combined with open-loop anti-sway approaches (both in speed and position control).

[0055] The proposed method for operating a crane may propose to add a compensation signal to the speed data. This offset may be calculated based on an angular rate data which may acquired by an inertial measurement unit (IMU) / a gyroscope mounted at the hook (in case of an overhead crane) or the tip of the mast (in case of a stacker crane). Due to a special controller design and tuning no direct rope angle measurement may be required. As the damping signal (i.e. compensation) may be injected on speed data, lower-level torque control can remain unchanged. To ensure the anti-sway feedback controller does not interfere with the motion profile tracking controllers, the former may only be activated in the vicinity of the target (i.e. when the position reference profile is close to the programmed target in position control mode or when the shaped speed reference profile may be close to zero in speed control mode) and a tailored controller tuning procedure is proposed.

[0056] Aspects of the present disclosure relates to computer program elements configured to carry out steps of the methods described above. The computer program element might therefore be stored on a computing unit of a computing device, which might also be part of an embodiment. This computing unit may be configured to perform or induce performing of the steps of the method described above. Moreover, it may be configured to operate the components of the above described system. The computing unit can be configured to operate automatically and/or to execute the orders of a user. The computing unit may include a data processor. A computer program may be loaded into a working memory of a data processor. The data processor may thus be equipped to carry out the method according to one of the preceding embodiments. This exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure covers both, a computer program that right from the beginning uses the present disclosure and computer program that by means of an update turns an existing program into a program that uses the present disclosure. Moreover, the computer program element might be able to provide all necessary steps to fulfill the procedure of an exemplary embodiment of the method as described above. According to a further exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer readable medium, such as a CD-ROM, USB stick, a downloadbale executable or the like, is presented wherein the computer readable medium has a computer program element stored on it which computer program element is described by the preceding section. A computer program may be stored and/or distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid state medium supplied together with or as part of other hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms, such as via the internet or other wired or wireless telecommunication systems. However, the computer program may also be presented over a network like the World Wide Web and can be downloaded into the working memory of a data processor from such a network. According to a further exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a medium for making a computer program element available for downloading is provided, which computer program element is arranged to perform a method according to one of the previously described embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0057] The present disclosure has been described in conjunction with a preferred embodiment as examples as well. However, other variations can be understood and effected by those persons skilled in the art and practicing the claimed invention, from the studies of the drawings, this disclosure and the claims. Notably, in particular, the any steps presented can be performed in any order, i.e. the present invention is not limited to a specific order of these steps. Moreover, it is also not required that the different steps are performed at a certain place or at one node of a distributed system, i.e. each of the steps may be performed at a different nodes using different equipment/data processing units.

[0058] In the claims as well as in the description the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several entities or items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in the mutual different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used in an advantageous implementation.

REFERENCE SIGNS

[0059] 

S100

receiving angular rate data

S110

providing an anti-sway control model

S120

determining motion control data

S130

providing the motion control data and controlling the drive unit of the crane

200

device

210

receiving unit

220

first providing unit

230

first determining unit

240

second providing unit

250

control

300

receiving unit

310

calculation unit

320

trigger unit

330

control

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for operating a crane, comprising the steps of:

receiving angular data of a structural element of a crane (S100);

providing an anti-sway control model configured to describe a relation between input angular data of a structural element of a crane and output motion control data for a drive unit of the crane (S110);

determining motion control data for a drive unit of the crane by inputting the received angular data into the anti-sway control model (S120);

providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data (S130).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the angular data is received from an inertial measurement unit arranged at the structural element of the crane.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the motion control data comprise position data and/or speed data of the drive unit of the crane.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the angular data comprise one or more angular rates of the structural element and/or one or more angles of the structural element.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the method is a closed loop control.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising receiving a first trigger signal configured to start: providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising receiving a second trigger signal configured to stop: providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control.

8. The method according to claims 7 and 8, further comprising a gain adaption of one or more controlling parameters of the controller of the drive unit for controlling the drive unit after receiving the first trigger signal or the second trigger signal.

9. The method according to claims 7 and 8, further comprising an asymmetric rate limiting for starting: providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data; and/or for stopping: providing the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control of the drive unit and controlling the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data.

10. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the drive unit comprises one or more driving axles.

11. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the structural element is a hook of an overhead crane or a tip of a mast of a stacker crane.

12. A device (200) for operating a crane, comprising:

a receiving unit (210) configured to receive angular data of a structural element of the crane;

a first providing unit (220) configured to provide an anti-sway control model configured to describe a relation between input angular data of a structural element of a crane and output motion control data for a drive unit of the crane;

a determining unit (230) configured to determine motion control data for a drive unit of the crane by inputting the received angular data into the anti-sway control model;

a second providing unit (240) configured to provide the motion control data for the drive unit of the crane to a control (250) of the drive unit;

a control (250) configured to control the drive unit of the crane according to the provided motion control data.

13. A system, comprising:

an device for operating a crane according to claim 12;

a crane.

14. Use of an inertial measurement unit in a method according to any one of the claim 1 to 12, in an apparatus according to claim 12, and/or in a system according to claim 13.

15. A computer program element, which when executed by a processor is configured to carry out the method according to any one of the claims 1 to 11, and/or to control an apparatus according to claim 12, and/or to control a system according to claim 13.

Drawing