Design and implementation of visual simulation system for shipborne crane control

The shipborne crane studied in this paper is a complex system made up of the foldaway and controlled arms, which has the important function for ships working on sea. A visual simulation system for this shipborne crane with virtual reality is designed and realized by OpenGL on VC++ (Visual C++) platform. The present system can realize the visual simulation for trajectory-planning and joint control along track at the certain states. The main characteristics of structure and function of the visual simulation system are described. The software scheme is brought out. It´s essential for virtual simulation software to apply in the studies of kinematics and dynamics simulation for this kind of shipborne crane. The results of visual simulation show that this system is workable and effective. It is an important simulation environment for the study of the crane´s operation on the sea and offers a very effective, economical means or approach for the research and development of other similar systems.