Container loading facility and method for operation monitoring therein

Abstract

The present invention relates to a container loading facility and a method for operating and monitoring a working surface (3) on the ground (2) below a container crane (1), wherein one or more 3D laser scanners (10) scan the working surface (3) from above. During the operation of the facility, the laser scanner (10) simultaneously scans the working surface (3) using sectors of the divergence plane of the light beam or sectors of the diverging single light beam in order to obtain a measurement point cloud, wherein lines or planes of the height of the working surface (3) are spaced apart from one another, and the size of the spacing is determined such that a person standing on the working surface is hit by at least one of the planes or single light beams of the light beam (S1). In the measurement point cloud thus obtained, the working surface (3) is first identified (S2). Then it is determined whether there are at least one or more measurement points in the measurement point cloud that are typical for a person standing on the identified working surface (S3). If such measurement points exist, the movement of the crane is slowed down or stopped (S4).

Description

Field of the Invention

[0001] The present invention relates to a container loading facility and a method for operation monitoring having the features of the preamble of the independent claim. Background Art

[0002] In a container terminal, a container bridge (English: STS (ship-to-shore) crane) loads standardized ISO containers from a ship onto the shore, or directly onto a truck, or the container bridge transfers the container to a transport vehicle, in particular an unmanned transport vehicle (AGV; Automated Guided Vehicle). The container bridge is usually constructed as a gantry loader and automatically receives the container and travels to the destination. The surface on which the AGV travels prohibits personnel from entering for safety reasons.

[0003] The destination can be, for example, a temporary warehouse on land, where a rail-connected gantry crane (RMG; Rail Mounted Gantry) or a rubber-tired gantry crane (RTG; Rubber Tyred Gantry) unloads the container for temporary storage.

[0004] There are transition tracks inside or outside the gantry, through which the container is delivered or retrieved. The handover is carried out by the crane driver manually controlling the crane.

[0005] The vehicles for road transportation of containers are trucks with or without trailers, and saddle trucks composed of a truck tractor and a container chassis suspended like a conventional saddle trailer, or terminal trucks with terminal trailers. In the case of a loading task for road transportation, the driver or other personnel must walk around the vehicle before or after loading or unloading and unlock or lock the twist locks at the vehicle. In the case of a loading task using a terminal trailer, the driver must check whether the so-called IBCs (Inter Box Connectors, which tighten the containers on the ship) are removed. Personnel may move freely in the space under the crane.

[0006] EP 2 724 972 B1 discloses a container loading facility and method having the features of the preamble of the independent claims, in particular a method for determining a position in a computer-aided manner based on a cloud representing the upper side of a load-bearing vehicle of measurement points, at which position an ISO container is placed on the load-bearing vehicle by means of a crane, and the measurement points are obtained by scanning the load-bearing vehicle from above at a height of at least 5 meters using a 3D laser scanner or two 3D laser scanners arranged at a certain distance. The proposed 3D laser scanner is formed by a 3D laser scanner, and the 2D laser scanner can be pivoted by means of a servo motor and is here a time-of-flight infrared laser scanner with a spacing resolution of approximately 10 mm. This resolution is required to identify and locate the twist locks at the load-bearing vehicle and from which the container target position data can be calculated.

[0007] This 3D laser scanning provides a substantially complete image of the measurement scene in the form of a relatively dense three-dimensional point cloud.

[0008] This method and other methods achieve at this time: In principle, also automate the crane movement as much as possible when the truck departs, but the work safety must be absolutely ensured at this time. The work safety has been achieved so far, for example, by the crane driver radio contacting the personnel in the work area, such as the truck driver, and being able to send and receive instructions.

[0009] To monitor the danger area, personnel can use a camera-based system with an image evaluation device. The personnel stay in the danger area during the automatic loading or unloading of the road transport vehicle in order to trigger an alarm or an emergency stop if necessary. However, due to the inadequacy of such a system or, for example, due to line-of-sight limitations and / or adverse weather conditions, there is a risk of false alarms or missed detections in the danger identification, which can lead to personal injuries and corresponding downtime. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to identify and locate the personnel in the work area in at least one additional way to ensure a special redundancy.

[0010] In the measurement point cloud of the 3D laser scanner for determining the position of the container and the truck, in principle, it is also possible to identify whether there is something somewhere that does not belong there. However, the time required to obtain such a relatively high-resolution scan is orders of magnitude longer in order to also be able to identify the presence of personnel in the work area, especially when the personnel are moving. In particular, the 3D laser scanners used so far must be rotated as a whole from one position to the next, where the 3D scanner stops correspondingly briefly in order to obtain a cross-sectional profile. In all cases, it is possible to consider using a very large number of individual 3D laser scanners, each of which only observes a small part of the scene, but this roughly doubles the equipment and computational costs. Summary of the Invention

[0011] The object on which the present invention is based is to improve the working safety during container loading at an acceptable cost.

[0012] This object is achieved by a container loading facility and a method having the features set forth in the independent claims. Advantageous refinements of the invention are set forth in the dependent claims.

[0013] According to the invention, the laser scanner is a laser scanner of a type that is set up to scan the working surface simultaneously in a plurality of planes or lines spaced apart from one another, where the laser scanner emits a sector of the divergence plane of the beam or a sector of a diverging single beam. The planes or lines have a spacing from one another in the height of the working surface, which spacing is greater than 10 and less than 30 centimeters in at least one direction on the ground, for example in the longitudinal direction of the loading position and / or in a direction transverse thereto.

[0014] Furthermore, there is a personnel recognition unit which is designed to cause one or more laser scanners to perform at least one scan during the container loading process in order to obtain a measurement point cloud, in the measurement point cloud thus obtained, to identify the working surface and the loading surface of the road transport vehicle, for example by averaging and / or eliminating outliers; to determine whether there is at least one or, in a preferred embodiment, at least two adjacent measurement points in the measurement point cloud that are more than 0.5 meters or alternatively more than 1 meter above the identified working surface or the identified loading surface, and if there is at least one such measurement point, to output a personnel likelihood signal which indicates that there may be a person at the corresponding location.

[0015] There is also a safety device which is designed to: when the personnel likelihood signal is output, slow down or stop the movement of the crane, where a warning signal can be output first or additionally.

[0016] In a preferred embodiment, each laser scanner is a 3D multi-layer scanner. Such scanners, also known as 3D multi-plane scanners or 3D multi-layer scanners, are commercially available and are described, for example, in EP 2 983 030 A2, which discloses that in many applications it is not desirable to detect the environment only in a single plane, especially in mobile applications, such as in driverless vehicles, which require the identification of the ground with edges and steps, like objects protruding into the driving area at different heights. Instead of using a three-dimensional scanner in which the sensor as a whole or a rotating mirror is additionally periodically tilted, if not the entire spatial region but only some mutually layered planes are monitored, a 3D multi-layer scanner is sufficient.

[0017] The present invention includes a new purpose of use for a multi-layer laser scanner, which is not used to identify objects that are more or less horizontally in front of the scanner by stratifying scanning planes with respect to each other, but rather to identify persons who are more or less vertically below the scanner in a container transfer area, wherein the scanning planes are stratified side by side with respect to each other. Different from conventional 3D laser scanning, only an incomplete image of the measurement scene is obtained, which is sufficient to identify whether there may be a person in the measurement scene when the spacing between the planes is appropriately selected, and this image of the measurement scene is obtained in a very short time, which is at most on the order of 1 / 10 second and is usually much shorter, so that moving persons can also be identified.

[0018] Instead of a multi-layer laser scanner, a so-called 3D array scanner or flash lidar device can also be used for the present invention. Such a device has an array of laser diodes that simultaneously emit sectors of divergent single beams, wherein a complete 3D image is provided immediately.

[0019] In a preferred embodiment, near the edge or corner of the working surface, a personnel standing area, for example measured as 2×2 meters, is marked on the working surface, and the safety device only allows the crane to move when a personnel presence signal is output for the personnel standing area but not for the rest of the working surface, that is, when a person is detected in the personnel standing area but not in the rest of the working surface.

[0020] In a preferred embodiment, the working surface is divided into multiple zones, namely at least into an inner zone that at least includes a loading position, that is, a position corresponding to or larger than the loading position, and an outer zone that extends around and is adjacent to the inner zone. During the container loading process, a plurality of scans that are successively continuous in time are performed, and if at least one measurement point above 0.5 meters (or alternatively above 1 meter) is obtained above the identified working surface or the identified loading surface, a personnel presence signal is output.

[0021] Additionally, it is checked whether the orientation of such a measurement point changes over time in the point cloud. If so, a moving personnel presence signal can be output.

[0022] The movement of the crane is slowed down or stopped according to which of the two zones the two signal types are output for. Here, during the operation of the facility, the position and size of the zones into which the working surface is divided can be changed dynamically and matched to the orientation and movement direction of the just-loaded container.

[0023] Different from conventional safety systems and anti-collision systems, therefore, it is not necessary to immediately perform an emergency cut-off, but rather a reaction can be carried out step by step. For example, when a person is identified as approaching the outer zone, first only a warning is output, and then, when the person enters the outer zone, the crane operates more slowly, and when the person enters the inner zone, an emergency cut-off is performed.

[0024] According to the present invention, in a method for monitoring the operation of a working surface on the ground below a container crane, during the loading, lowering or lifting of a container, one or more 3D scanners scan the working surface from above in three dimensions from a height above the ground, where the height is several times greater than the height of an ISO container, and one or more laser scanners scan the working surface simultaneously in a plurality of planes or lines spaced apart from each other using sectors of the divergence plane of the light beam or sectors of the diverging single light beam in order to obtain a measurement point cloud, where the lines or planes of the height of the working surface have a certain spacing from each other, and the size of the spacing is determined such that a person standing on the working surface is hit by at least one of the planes of the light beam or at least one of the single light beams. In the measurement point cloud thus obtained, the working surface is first identified. Then it is determined whether there are at least one or more of the following measurement points in the measurement point cloud, where the one or more measurement points are typical for a person standing on the identified working surface. If there is one or, in a preferred embodiment, at least two adjacent such measurement points, the movement of the crane is slowed down or stopped.

[0025] In a preferred embodiment, if one or more measurement points typical for a person standing on the identified working surface are obtained for a preset area at the edge of the working surface but not for the central area of the working surface, the movement of the crane is not slowed down or stopped, but the movement of the crane is allowed to continue.

[0026] In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of zones are defined within the working surface, namely at least one inner zone and an outer zone, where the inner zone is directly below the container suspended from the crane, and the outer zone extends around and is adjacent to the inner zone. The movement of the crane is allowed only when one or more measurement points typical for a person standing on the identified working surface are not obtained in the inner zone or the outer zone. When one or more measurement points typical for a person standing on the identified working surface are obtained in the outer zone but not in the inner zone, the movement of the crane is slowed down. When one or more measurement points typical for a person standing on the identified working surface are obtained in the inner zone, the movement of the crane is stopped. Description of the Drawings

[0027] Other features and advantages of the present invention result from the dependent claims and the following description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0028] Figure 1 Schematic side view showing the lower part of a gantry crane with a rail connection, in which the working surface is at the ground of the working space to be monitored;

[0029] Figure 2 Showing Figure 1 Schematic top view of the working surface

[0030] Figure 3 a schematic top view showing the working surface below a container crane with dynamically changing zones; and

[0031] Figure 4 A flow chart of a method for operating monitoring of a working surface below a container crane is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] In order to load the cargo in the area (gantry) of the ship-to-shore crane (STS crane) in a container port, the movement of personnel is required. This can be, for example, the navigator of the truck or the person who removes the so-called IBCs (inter box connectors) (which fasten the stacked containers on the ship) from the container before it is placed on the ground or on the truck chassis. The person can move freely in the gantry area. Due to safety restrictions, carelessness and / or unfavorable weather conditions, personal injuries can occur when lowering or picking up the load and thus lead to downtimes.

[0033] In order to avoid accidents involving people, a redundant system for object recognition and object tracking in a defined working space is proposed. Thus, the position of each person in the danger zone can be determined and in the event of danger, for example, the lifting function of the crane can be stopped. The system can identify and locate people in the working space during loading of containers and continuously feed their position back to the crane controller.

[0034] Figure 1 The lower part of a container crane, here an RMG gantry crane 1, is shown, which can be driven on rails on the ground 2 of a port or other container transshipment site and which forms a loading facility or part of a loading facility. Figure 2 The working surface 3 shown from above is located below the gantry crane 1 at the ground 2 and has the same dimensions as Figure 1 On the working surface 3, a long loading position for a truck 5 or the like is marked ( Figure 2 ). The truck 5 has a loading surface and a cab.

[0035] Alternatively, the container crane can also be an RTG crane or an STS crane.

[0036] The monitored working space in which personnel can and are allowed to stay can, for example, be cuboid and be delimited by a floor 2 and two vertical struts 6, 7 and a transverse load-bearing member 8 of a gantry crane 1. However, for example, if the vertical struts 6, 7 are spaced apart from each other, the monitored working space can also be smaller and extend on a working surface 3 that does not reach the struts completely. This is the case, for example, in Figure 2 as shown Figure 2 and shown in the same scale Figure 1 in the top view of the situation.

[0037] In this embodiment, the working surface 3 extends between the vertical struts 6, 7 of the gantry crane 1. In other types of container cranes, such as so-called cantilever RMG cranes that place containers through the side, or in STS cranes, the working surface can also be completely or partially outside the crane struts. In the case of STS cranes, it is in its so-called outreach area.

[0038] Two 3D scanners 10 are installed at a height above the floor 2. The 3D scanners 10 are designed to monitor the working space by scanning the working surface 3 including the trucks 5 standing thereon in three dimensions from above, where this height is several times the height of an ISO container, as the ISO container shows in Figure 1 as the container 9 from above.

[0039] In particular, there is one 3D laser scanner 10 each at a height of, for example, 10 or 20 meters near the left-front vertical strut 6 and the right-rear vertical strut. The right-rear vertical strut is blocked by the right-front vertical strut 7 visible in Figure 1 such that the 3D laser scanners 10 are vertically located at two diagonal corners of the working surface 3, as shown in Figure 2 shown. Here, the two 3D laser scanners 10 measure farther from each other than the diagonal of the marked loading positions.

[0040] The laser scanners 10 are each 3D multi-layer scanners, or alternatively 3D array scanners or flash lidar devices. As in this embodiment, the laser scanners 10 can advantageously be fixed to the crane. However, the following embodiments are also feasible, where the laser scanners are fixed to struts or utility poles that may already exist on the operating site as long as they are close enough to the working surface and do not interfere with the crane's activities. In any case, the laser scanners 10 do not scan the working surface 3 mainly from directly above but more or less obliquely from above.

[0041] In addition, the laser scanners 10 are designed and oriented such that they can monitor the entire working face 3 completely except for the gaps existing between the planes or lines of the laser scanners 10. Each of the two laser scanners 10 is responsible for one of the two L-shaped partitions 11, 12, and the partitions complement each other to form a rectangle corresponding to the working face 3 around the loading position. Thereby, it is avoided that a part of the working face 3 is blocked by the heavy goods vehicle 5 or the container 9 standing on it or vertically suspended above it. In the case of a 3D multi-layer scanner, the scanning plane preferably extends parallel to the longitudinal direction of the loading position.

[0042] Instead of the gantry crane 1, the above-mentioned loading facility can also have other cranes, namely, for example, a container bridge, which can transport the container directly from the ship to the heavy goods vehicle or vice versa. In this case, the heavy goods vehicle lane and the heavy goods vehicle loading position can extend transversely to the quay or along its longitudinal direction.

[0043] In Figure 1 and Figure 2 During the operation of the shown container loading facility, during the container loading process, the personnel identification unit causes the laser scanners 10 to perform scans continuously, for example, once per second or once per tenth of a second. In principle, the following measurement point cloud is sufficient, in which the ground 2 or the working face 3 and the loading surface of the heavy goods vehicle are identified.

[0044] This can be done in different ways computationally, and these ways are equivalent in principle. Thus, all measurement points outside the pre-known contour at the loading position can be regarded as forming the working face, and the loading surface of the heavy goods vehicle 5 is obtained by only selecting those measurement points located above the ground 2 at a typical height within the contour at the loading position, that is, for example, 1 meter above the ground 2. This also eliminates the measurement points originating from the cab of the heavy goods vehicle 5. Alternatively, the working space can be divided into a plurality of virtual cuboids with dimensions matching the resolution of the laser scanners 10, and after eliminating the cuboids that can be easily recognized as representing the cab, the upper sides of all the cuboids into which the measurement points fall are regarded as the contours of the ground of the working face 3 and the loading surface of the heavy goods vehicle 5.

[0045] Then it is determined whether there is at least one measurement point in the measurement point cloud that is more than 0.5 meters above the identified working face or the identified loading surface, or equivalently, whether there is the uppermost cuboid that protrudes more than 0.5 meters above the identified working face or the identified loading surface. Instead of the minimum height of 0.5 meters, other minimum heights can also be adopted, starting from which the measurement points are considered, for example, 0.7 or 1 meter.

[0046] If such a measurement point or cuboid exists, a personnel possibility signal is output, which indicates that there may be a person at that location. Additionally, when there is a measurement point or cuboid less than 0.5 m but, for example, greater than 30 cm above the identified working surface or the identified loading surface, an object possibility signal is output, because in such a case there may be certain objects that do not belong there and, for example, represent a tripping hazard or a lowering obstacle on the ground or the loading surface.

[0047] If a personnel possibility signal or an object possibility signal is output, the safety device ensures that the crane movement is stopped and a request is sent to the control station or the crane driver and / or the truck driver to explain the situation.

[0048] Therefore, in this embodiment, the truck driver should not be on the working surface 3 for rapid loading. However, the truck driver should be in the cab of the truck 5 or outside the working surface 3.

[0049] In an improved form of this embodiment or the following embodiments, the driver is urged to go to the personnel stay area 13 measured to be approximately 2×2 m, as Figure 2 shown, and this personnel stay area is marked at the corner of the working surface 3 on the ground. Crane movement is only allowed when it is recognized by means of the laser scanner 10 that there may be a person in the personnel stay area 13 but not on the working surface 3 or the loading surface of the truck 5.

[0050] In an improved form of this embodiment or the embodiments described below, additionally it is determined whether there is at least one or more measurement points in the measurement point cloud that are typical for the truck 5 and especially for its cab, and the orientation of these measurement points changes over time in the measurement point cloud. Based on this, it is possible to identify that the truck 5 starts to move prematurely, for example, during the container lowering process or the container lifting process because of the driver's premature negligence, so that the crane movement can be stopped in a timely manner.

[0051] According to Figure 3 , now another embodiment is described, which, like the previous embodiments, is especially suitable not only for operating the working area of a gantry crane or a container bridge, but also for operating the monitoring of other working areas for lowering containers in a port.

[0052] This can be, for example, a working area on a ship, where containers are briefly lowered to manually assemble or remove container connectors.

[0053] Additionally, the facilities and methods described here can also be used in other areas of the container transfer area in the port or at other locations, i.e., at locations in fully automated work areas where there was originally no access for personnel but where they can accidentally arrive, for example.

[0054] The following describes this general method according to Figure 3 and Figure 4 this.

[0055] Figure 3 The working surface 3 below the container crane is shown from above. This working surface is also rectangular as in the Figure 2 embodiment, having a length and width that match the size of the currently used container crane.

[0056] The laser scanner 10 scans the entire working surface 3 from above again and again, for example, ten times per second, and in particular detects the container 9 that is suspended at the crane at a height where the container 9 can now or at least after further descent collide with personnel who are inappropriately standing or walking on the working surface 3, as well as detecting the personnel 16 who are standing in the corner of the working surface 3. Additionally, the laser scanner 10 detects the moving direction and moving speed of the container 9 and the personnel 16. The moving direction and moving speed are shown as movement vectors by means of arrows in Figure 3 this. Figure 3 this.

[0057] A plurality of dynamically variable zones are virtually generated on the working surface 3 to form multi-level danger zones and / or safety zones. For example, an inner zone 14 is virtually formed horizontally and circularly around the container 9, and an outer zone 15 is virtually formed horizontally and circularly around the inner zone 14.

[0058] As long as the container 9 does not move, the inner zone 14 and the outer zone 15 can be smaller than Figure 3 the situation shown, for example, such that the inner zone 14 corresponds to the Figure 2 loading position in Figure 2 this and the outer zone 15 corresponds to the two partitions 11, 12 in Figure 3 this. If the container 9 moves horizontally, the inner zone 14 and the outer zone 15 become larger in the moving direction. More precisely, the faster the container 9 moves, the larger the inner and outer zones are, as is illustrated in

[0059] It is also possible to surround the personnel 16 (in Figure 3Such a dynamically changing area or safety area related to the moving direction and moving speed is arranged (not shown in the figure), so that the movement of the person 16 can be predicted. If the identified person 16 is in a dangerous area, that is, in the inner area 14 and / or the outer area 15, or if the safety area surrounding the person 16 starts to enter the outer area 15, or conversely the container 9 approaches the person 16, the corresponding driving movements of the crane's hoist, lifting mechanism and traveling mechanism are slowed down or stopped.

[0060] In particular, also as in Figure 1 and Figure 2 In the embodiment of, the laser scanner 10 scans the working surface 3 simultaneously in a plurality of planes or lines spaced apart from each other by means of a fan-shaped area of the divergence plane of the light beam or a single light beam, so as to obtain a measurement point cloud therefrom, wherein the lines or planes at the height of the working surface 3 have a spacing from each other, and the size of the spacing is determined such that a person standing on the working surface is hit by at least one plane of the light beam or at least one of the single light beams ( Figure 4 step S1 in).

[0061] In order to be able to identify a person standing on the working surface with sufficient reliability using relatively few planes or lines, the plane or line should not be greater than 30 cm in at least one direction on the ground at the height of the working surface 3, for example in the longitudinal direction of the loading position and / or in a direction transverse thereto, but a smaller minimum spacing, for example 10 or 20 cm or any intermediate value, is also feasible.

[0062] The working surface 3 is also identified in the measurement point cloud obtained in step S1 ( Figure 4 step S2 in).

[0063] Then it is determined whether there is at least one or more measurement points in the measurement point cloud that are typical for a person standing on the identified working surface ( Figure 4 step S3 in). If no such measurement points are obtained, return to step S1 to obtain a new measurement point cloud.

[0064] If such measurement points are obtained, for example, when the working surface 3 is designed from the beginning such that no person should stay there as long as the container 9 is moving, or for example in special cases such as test or calibration travel, the crane movement can be slowed down or stopped without other conditions ( Figure 4 step S4 in).

[0065] However, preferably, in step S3, it is additionally determined whether the safety zone of person 16 or its own safety zone is located in the outer zone 15 and not in or intersecting with the inner zone 14. If so, the crane movement is slowed down in step S4. Additionally, in step S3, it is determined whether the safety zone of person 16 or its own safety zone is located in or intersecting with the inner zone 14. If so, the crane movement is stopped in step S4. That is to say, the crane movement is only allowed when the safety zone of person 16 or its own safety zone is not located in the inner or outer zone.

[0066] Preferably, a warning signal is also output, more precisely when person 16 approaches the outer zone 15 and the warning signal has been output before the crane movement is slowed down.

[0067] Between step S2 and S3 or between S3 and S4, it can additionally be determined whether there are the following measurement points in the measurement point cloud, the measurement points being typical for the truck 5 or its cab and / or loading surface and the orientation of the measurement points changing over time in the measurement point cloud. If this is the case, this indicates that the truck 5 is moving, and then the crane movement is also stopped.

[0068] The method described above can also be extended as in the first embodiment, that is, foreign objects in the working space are also identified, in particular foreign objects larger than, for example, 30 cm, so as to slow down or stop the crane movement if necessary, so that the crane driver or person 16 has the opportunity to understand the situation. Accidentally left objects can exist not only on the working surface 3, but also on the truck loading surface, and thus the described method can also be used to avoid damage to items when lowering the container. Objects in the working space can be distinguished from personnel according to their recognized size and classified accordingly, and also according to the fact that the personnel working there move frequently.

[0069] In order to also reliably identify personnel and objects in the working area, the means and methods provided as hardware and software above can be associated with other hardware parts and software algorithms for personnel and object identification to establish an overall system with redundant operation. The availability and thus the safety of the system are improved by means of different hardware components and software components.

[0070] Thus, in addition to the 3D laser scanner 10 which forms the main component of the described safety system or collision avoidance system, a camera can also be used, with which the presence of persons in safe or unsafe areas can additionally be detected. Optionally, it is also feasible to integrate, for example, a radio frequency identification (RFID) system, in which, for example, persons in the working area are identified on the basis of signals by means of triangulation, the signals being sent back by RFID transponders which the persons are supposed to carry with them. However, there will also be persons in the container terminal who do not carry an RFID transponder, which of course is not required for laser-based person identification.

[0071] Each different system works self-sufficiently and provides the abovementioned information about the persons identified. However, the data of the individual systems can be merged in an evaluation software. If at least one system is to notify a dangerous situation, an indication of the measures suitable for avoiding the dangerous situation is sent to the crane controller. In an ideal case, all existing systems report the same information. If one of the systems reports a dangerous situation, this is sufficient for availability and safety in the dangerous situation. This fusion of laser camera, laser RFID or laser camera RFID also simplifies the work safety certification.

Claims

1. A container loading facility having a container crane and a work surface (3) accessible to personnel on the ground (2) below the container crane, wherein, At least one elongated loading position for a container road transport vehicle is marked on the working surface (3), and one or more 3D laser scanners (10) are arranged at a height several times the height of an ISO container (9) above the ground (2), the laser scanners being arranged to scan the road transport vehicle and the working surface (3) in three dimensions from above, and wherein the installation has a personnel identification unit which is arranged to cause one or more of the laser scanners (10) to perform at least one scan during the container loading process in order to obtain a measurement point cloud, It is characterized in that, - one or more of the laser scanners (10) are of a type which is arranged to scan the working surface (3) simultaneously in a plurality of mutually spaced planes or lines using a sector of the divergence plane of the light beam or a sector of a diverging single light beam in order to obtain a measurement point cloud, wherein the planes or lines have a spacing from one another at the height of the working surface (3), the spacing being greater than 10 cm and less than 30 cm in at least one direction on the ground (2); - the personnel identification unit is arranged to identify the working surface (3) and the loading surface of the road transport vehicle in the obtained measurement point cloud in order to determine whether there is at least one measurement point in the measurement point cloud which is more than 0.5 m above the identified working surface (3) or the identified loading surface, and when there is such at least one measurement point, to output a personnel likelihood signal; and - the installation has a safety device which is arranged to slow down or stop the movement of the crane when the personnel likelihood signal is output.

2. The container loading facility according to claim 1, wherein Near the edge or corner of the working surface (3), a personnel standing area (13) is marked on the working surface (3), and the safety device is arranged to allow the movement of the crane only when the personnel likelihood signal is output for the personnel standing area (13) but not for the rest of the working surface (3).

3. The container loading facility according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The working surface (3) is divided into a plurality of zones, namely at least an inner zone (14) and an outer zone (15), the inner zone at least including the loading position, the outer zone extending around the inner zone (14) and adjoining the inner zone; the personnel identification unit is arranged to cause one or more of the laser scanners (10) to perform a plurality of successively consecutive scans during the crane loading process, and if it is determined that there is at least one measurement point in the measurement point cloud which is more than 0.5 m above the identified working surface (3) or the identified loading surface and the orientation of which changes over time in the measurement point cloud, to output a personnel likelihood signal; and The safety device is arranged to decide whether to slow down or stop the movement of the crane depending on which of the two signal types is output for which of the inner zone and the outer zone.

4. The container loading facility according to claim 3, characterized in that, The personnel recognition unit is arranged to dynamically change the orientation and size of the areas delimited by the working surface (3) during operation of the facility, and the personnel recognition unit is arranged to match the orientation and the direction of movement of the container (9) just loaded.

5. The container loading facility according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The laser scanner (10) is fixed at the container crane or at a support or mast standing firmly on the ground (2).

6. The container loading facility according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The laser scanner or each laser scanner (10) is a 3D multi-layer scanner.

7. The container loading facility according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The laser scanner (10) or each laser scanner (10) is a 3D array scanner or a flash lidar device.

8. A method for monitoring the operation of a working surface (3) on the ground (2) below a container crane, wherein, During the container loading, lowering or lifting process, one or more 3D laser scanners (10) scan the working surface (3) from above in three dimensions from a height above the ground (2), the height being several times the height of an ISO container (9), in order to obtain a measurement point cloud, characterized in that the following method steps are provided: - causing one or more of the laser scanners (10) to scan the working surface (3) simultaneously in a plurality of planes or lines spaced apart from one another by means of a sector of the divergence plane of the light beam or a sector of the diverging single light beam, in order to obtain the measurement point cloud, wherein the lines or planes at the height of the working surface (3) have a spacing from one another, the size of the spacing being determined such that a person standing on the working surface (3) is hit by at least one plane of the light beam or at least one of the single light beams (S1), the spacing being greater than 10 cm and less than 30 cm in at least one direction on the ground (2), - in the obtained measurement point cloud, identifying (S2) the working surface (3), - determining whether there is at least one measurement point in the measurement point cloud that is typical (S3) for a person (16) standing on the identified working surface (3) and is located more than 0.5 m above the identified working surface (3) or the identified loading surface, and - if there are typical measurement points, slowing down or stopping the crane movement (S4).

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, If one or more measurement points that are typical for a person standing on the identified working surface (3) are obtained for a predetermined area at the edge of the working surface (3), but not for the central area of the working surface (3), the crane movement is not slowed down or stopped, but the crane movement is allowed.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, A plurality of areas are defined within the working surface (3), namely at least one inner area (14) and an outer area (15), the inner area being below the container (9) suspended at the crane, the outer area extending around the inner area (14) and adjoining the inner area, wherein - the crane movement is only allowed if no one or more measurement points that are typical for a person standing on the identified working surface (3) are obtained in the inner area (14) or the outer area (15); - Slow down the movement of the crane when one or more measurement points typical for a person standing on the identified work surface (3) are obtained in the outer area (15) but not in the inner area (14); - Stop the movement of the crane when one or more measurement points typical for a person standing on the identified work surface (3) are obtained in the inner area (14).

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, Change the orientation and size of the inner area (14) and the outer area (15) according to the orientation and direction of movement of the just loaded container (9).

12. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, It is also determined whether there is at least one or more measurement points in the measurement point cloud that are typical for a foreign object, wherein the identified person and the foreign object are distinguished according to size and movement.

13. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, It is also determined whether there is at least one or more measurement points in the measurement point cloud that are typical for the truck (5) and for the cab of the truck, and the orientation of the one or more measurement points changes over time in the measurement point cloud; and the movement of the crane is stopped only when it is recognized that the truck (5) moves during the lowering or lifting of the container.

14. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, The method is carried out in a container loading facility according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

15. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that The laser scanner or each laser scanner (10) is a 3D multi-layer scanner.

16. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, The laser scanner (10) or each laser scanner (10) is a 3D array scanner or a flash lidar device.

17. The container loading facility according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The container loading facility is arranged to carry out the method according to any one of claims 8 to 13.

Images