Crane control using machine vision and wand following

The payload oscillation inherent to all cranes makes it challenging for human operators to manipulate payloads quickly, accurately, and safely. A new type of crane control system that allows an operator to drive a crane by moving a hand-held wand has been implemented on an industrial bridge crane at the Georgia Institute of Technology. An image processing system tracks the movement of the wand and its position is used to drive the crane. The crane was used to study the performance of human operators as they drove the crane through obstacle courses. The experimental results show that operators performed maneuvering tasks faster, safer, and more effectively when using the wand controller instead of the traditional push-button pendent controller.