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US 11,897,733 B2Granted
Sensing device for a crane
OwnerThomas Bedgood, Dean Dobson +1inventors
InventorsThomas Bedgood, Dean Dobson, Alex Kuiper
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sensing device for a crane detecting unsafe operating conditions includes an inertial measurement unit for measuring pitch and yaw of a hook of the crane attached to a load. The inertial measurement unit is adapted to measure deviation of the hook of the crane from a plumb position and activate an alert element if the deviation of the hook exceeds a predetermined limit.
Claims20
A sensing device for a luffing crane for detecting unsafe operating conditions comprising:
- an inertial measurement unit for measuring pitch and yaw of a hook of a crane attached to a load, the inertial measurement unit comprises:
- an electronic gyroscope;
- an accelerometer, wherein the gyroscope and the accelerometer are adapted to measure orientation of the hook and obtain orientation data to measure deviation from a plumb position of the hook;
- a magnetometer adapted to measure yaw of the hook and adapted to measure changes of the hook relative to magnetic north and obtain yaw data, and
- a microcontroller arranged to:
- calculate a compensation factor from yaw data measured by the magnetometer;
- combine the orientation data measured by the gyroscope and the accelerometer with a statistical estimation filter;
- and
- determine deviation of the hook of the crane from the plumb position before commencement of lifting the load attached to the hook using the combination of the orientation data with the statistical estimation filter and the compensation factor,
- wherein the inertial measurement unit is adapted to activate an alert element if the deviation of the hook exceeds a predetermined limit.
7 more elements
A method for detecting an unsafe operating lifting condition for a luffing crane, the method comprising the steps of:
- measuring orientation of a hook of a crane attached to a load from an electronic gyroscope and an accelerometer of an inertial measurement unit attached to the hook of the crane;
- obtaining orientation data from the electronic gyroscope and the accelerometer of the inertial measurement unit;
- measuring yaw of the hook from a magnetometer of the inertial measurement unit;
- obtaining yaw data from the magnetometer of the inertial measurement unit;
- calculating, using a microcontroller, a compensation factor from the yaw data measured by the magnetometer;
- combining, using the microcontroller, the orientation data measured by the accelerometer and the electronic gyroscope with a statistical estimation filter;
- determining a deviation of the hook from a plumb position before commencement of lifting the load attached to the hook using the combination of the orientation data with the statistical estimation filter and the compensation factor;
- and
- activating an alert element if the hook is not in a plumb position.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.