On time-optimal anti-sway controller design for bridge cranes

In this paper, we analyze and discuss the time optimal control problem for bridge cranes. Specifically, we employ the geometric approach introduced in [12] to address the control issue without computing the analytic trajectory of the costate. As a second contribution, we show that an alternative approach based on a proportional controller accounting for the limits of the control action can be tuned to resemble to the time-optimal solution, but with simpler and more robust implementation. The above ideas are validated by means of some simulation examples.