Department of Electrical Engineering

Gantry Crane Project

Gantry cranes are used to unload shipping containers from trains and freighters and place them either onto a flatbed truck or stack them on the ground for storage. The crane operator must be careful to minimize the angle of displacement of the container (the angle of deflection) to reduce the number of workplace accidents caused by the shipment falling from the crane or the crane becoming unbalanced and collapsing. To avoid accidents such as those mentioned, engineers develop controllers to minimize the angle of deflection.

This project's aim is to make a minature gantry crane that will move in one dimension and will accept two modes of operation: semi-automatic and manual. The mode of operation will be chosen by the operator using a button on the joystick that the operator will use to move the crane.

Manual Mode:         The operator will have full control of the crane through the joystick. The controller will be disabled  and  microswitches secured to the frame will prevent the operator from crashing the crane into the bumpers on either side of the track.

Semi-Automatic:     The operator will still be able to move the crane through the joystick, but the controller will correct the angle once the operator stops moving the crane.

DEVELOPEMNT PROCESS
The Simple Pendulum                 
The Cart and Pendulum               
Brief Introduction to Controls 

IMPLEMENTATION
Parts
Raspberry Pi   
Microcontroller
Mode Operation