Rigid-flexible coupling numerical simulation platform for validation of anti-sway control scheme for overhead cranes

Abstract

Overhead cranes are widely used for lifting and moving cargo. Anti-sway control is a key technology that enhances transportation efficiency and improves operational safety. To validate the effectiveness of the anti-sway control schemes, an experimental validation platform should be constructed. Given the challenges and high costs associated with constructing a closed-loop experiment platform, developing an alternative numerical simulation platform for the validation of control schemes is of significant importance. Therefore, this paper employed the absolute nodal coordinate formulation to construct a trolley-rope-load rigid-flexible coupling dynamic model for the rapid validation of anti-sway control schemes. The model could capture the global nonlinearities, as well as flexibility and vibration of the cable. The experimental results show that the numerical simulation platform exhibits high accuracy in predicating sway of rope/load with double pendulum effect across different motion ranges. It shows that the numerical platform is accurate enough to serve as an alternative to physical experimental platforms and can be utilized for the validation of anti-sway control methods. Based on the numerical simulation platform, two open-loop control strategies, input shaping and trajectory planning based on Gaussian pseudo-spectral method, were compared. The results show that trajectory planning not only accommodates operational constraints, but also provides a superior suppression on the rope/load sway angles.