Exploring the application of haptic feedback guidance for port crane modernization

In this thesis, the author presents a feasibility study of methods to modernize the port crane systems with the application of haptic (force) feedback assistive technology to assist the crane operator in the container handling process. The assistive technology provides motion guidance to the operator that could help increase the safety and productivity of the system. The technology of haptic feedback is successful in applications such as gaming, simulators etc., and has proven quite efficient in alerting the user or the operator. This study involves the implementation of haptic feedback as an assistive mechanism through a force-feedback joystick used by the operator to control the motion of a scaled port crane system. The haptic feedback system has been integrated to work with the visual feedback system as part of this study. The visual feedback system shares information needed to trigger the haptic (force) feedback display on the joystick. The force feedback displayed on the joystick has been modeled on Hooke's law of spring force. The force feedback and the visual feedback form a motion guidance system. The integrated system has been implemented and tested on a lab-scale testbed of a gantry crane. For experimental purposes, this concept has been tested on a PC-based Windows platform and also on a portable single board Linux-based computer, called the Beagleboard platform. The results from test runs on both the platforms (PC and Beagleboard using ARM processor) are reported in this study.