Automatic detection of the truck position using stereoscopy

The productivity of port container terminals depends on the speed of loading and unloading the ships by means of ship-to-shore cranes. Due to a fast growth in container transport, ports have to increase the efficiency in order to maintain competitiveness. The focus of this paper is on the stage of positioning the truck under the ship-to-shore crane. Currently, the speed of this process is mainly dependant on the experience of truck drivers, which causes unwanted delays in the (un)loading process. A solution is proposed which is based on acquisition of live stereoscopic images of the truck, object recognition on captured images and calculation of the truck position using stereoscopy. The aim of this system is not only to increase the speed of the unloading process but also to improve the overall productivity of port container terminals.