Head Calculation System

Abstract

We provide a hook lifting height calculation system that can be installed retrofitted and can suppress measurement errors. [Solution] The lifting height calculation system S used in the pneumatic caisson construction method of this embodiment comprises a wire drum 30 around which a wire 26 is wound, a 2DLiDAR 31 installed near the wire drum 30 and scanning the wire 26, and a control device 40 which acts as a calculation device to calculate the lifting height of the hook or earth bucket 22 based on the scanning information from the 2DLiDAR 31. The 2DLiDAR 31 is configured to scan the reciprocating movement of the wire 26 along the direction of the rotation axis of the wire drum 30.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for calculating the lifting height of a crane hook or an earth bucket in the pneumatic caisson method.

Background Art

[0002] In the pneumatic caisson method, the operation of discharging the excavated soil in the working chamber is performed by lifting and lowering an earth bucket with a crawler crane (see FIG. 1). In the operation of this crane, when the earth bucket is inside the material lock, the operator cannot visually confirm the lifting height of the earth bucket, so extremely careful crane operation is required.

[0003] In relation to this, as a technology for automating the earth discharge operation of the pneumatic caisson method, the earth bucket detection system of Patent Document 1 is known. In the earth bucket detection system of Patent Document 1, detection information from any of the first sensor, the second sensor, and the third sensor is acquired, and position information indicating the position of the earth bucket is calculated based on the acquired detection information.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, although the detection system of Patent Document 1 includes control means for controlling the reel so as to further unwind / wind up a wire of a predetermined length, the measurement method of the length of the wire and the lifting height of the hook is not specified.

[0006] In this regard, Patent Document 2 describes a method for measuring the rotation angle of a wire drum in relation to wire length measurement. However, if the wire drum is wound with multiple layers of wire, the length of the wire wound on the drum will differ for each layer, and since the number of layers cannot be determined, a large error occurs. Furthermore, measuring equipment for the rotation angle of a wire drum is not easy to install as an add-on.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a hook lifting height calculation system that can be retrofitted and can suppress measurement errors. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] To achieve the above objective, the lifting height calculation system of the present invention comprises a wire drum around which a wire is wound, a 2DLiDAR installed near the wire drum and scanning the wire, and a calculation device that calculates the lifting height of the hook based on the scanning information from the 2DLiDAR. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] Thus, the lifting height calculation system of the present invention comprises a wire drum around which a wire is wound, a 2DLiDAR installed near the wire drum to scan the wire, and a calculation device that calculates the lifting height of the hook based on the scanning information from the 2DLiDAR. With this configuration, the 2DLiDAR can be installed retrofitted, and the lifting height calculation system can suppress measurement errors by knowing the number of layers. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the soil removal equipment for a pneumatic caisson. [Figure 2] This is an explanatory diagram illustrating the configuration of a wire drum. (a) is a front view, and (b) is a side view. [Figure 3] This is a block diagram showing the configuration of the hook lift height calculation system in the embodiment. [Figure 4]This flowchart shows the overall process for calculating the hook lift height. [Figure 5] This flowchart shows the process for calculating the number of layers in a wired drum. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the components described in the following embodiments are illustrative and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention to them alone. [Examples]

[0012] (Overall structure of a pneumatic caisson) First, the overall structure of the pneumatic caisson 1 will be explained using Figure 1. As shown in Figure 1, a tapered cutting edge 12 is formed at the bottom of the pneumatic caisson 1 below the side wall 11, and the working chamber 13 is formed surrounded by the inner surface of this cutting edge 12, the lower surface of the working chamber slab 14 (and also the ground). At least one excavator (not shown) is placed inside the working chamber 13, and the ground is excavated by the remotely operated excavator to sink the pneumatic caisson 1. The soil excavated by the excavator is then removed using an earth bucket 22.

[0013] At least one material shaft 16 extends from the work chamber 13 toward the ground, with a material lock 17 installed at its top. Similarly, at least one manshaft (not shown) extends from the work chamber 13 toward the ground, with a manlock (not shown) installed at its top. In addition, although not shown, compressed air equipment is provided for supplying and exhausting compressed air to the work chamber 13, material lock 17, and manlock.

[0014] (Configuration of soil removal equipment) The earth bucket 22 is suspended by a wire 26 and is hoisted / lowered by a skater crane 23 as a crane erected on the ground close to the pneumatic caisson 1. Further, the skater crane 23 moves the earth bucket 22 horizontally and hoists / lowers it to discharge the earth and sand into a dump truck 29 via an earth and sand hopper 28.

[0015] This wire 26 is wound around a wire drum 30 disposed at the base where the operating cab 23 of the skater crane 23 is located, and is hoisted / lowered by rotating the wire drum 30 in the forward and reverse directions. And the skater crane 23 as a crane is equipped with a 1D LiDAR 32 that measures the horizontal position (distance from the base) of a trolley directly above the earth bucket 22 (or hook), and a 2D LiDAR 31 that measures the horizontal movement amount in the axial direction of the wire drum 30 of the wire 26 in the vicinity of the wire drum 30.

[0016] The 1D LiDAR 32 is a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) that operates one-dimensionally and measures the distance (point) to the trolley non-contact using a measurement light beam. The measured distance to the trolley - that is, the distance directly above the hook or the earth bucket 22 - is transmitted to a control device 40 as a computing device.

[0017] The 2D LiDAR 31 is a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) that operates two-dimensionally and can obtain information (point cloud) regarding distance and angle, that is, two-dimensional distance information, by rotating the measurement light beam on a plane. That is, the 2D LiDAR 31 measures the distance and angle to the wire 26 non-contact using the measurement light beam. The measured distance and angle to the wire 26 are transmitted to a control device 40 as a computing device.

[0018] More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b), the 2D LiDAR 31 is installed slightly above and closer to the front of the wire drum 30 using brackets or the like, and scans only the wire 26 extending from the wire drum 30 along the direction of the rotation axis of the wire drum 30. That is, the plane scanned by the 2D LiDAR 31 (indicated by the dashed line in FIG. 2) does not intersect the wire drum 30.

[0019] And the control device (40) as a computing device has a function of controlling the operation of the skid crane 23 and a function of calculating the hoisting height of the hook (not shown) or the earth bucket 22 based on the scanning information from the 2D LiDAR 31. The functions of the control device 40 as this computing device will be described later.

[0020] In addition, a central monitoring room (not shown) is installed on the ground near the pneumatic caisson 1. The control device (40) is arranged in the central monitoring room, and the overall monitoring and management are carried out, including the loading of materials and the unloading of excavated earth and sand through the excavator, the material shaft 16 and the material lock 17, the entry and exit of workers through the man shaft and the man lock, the pressure management such as pressurization and decompression in the man lock, and the attitude display of the sinking amount and inclination of the caisson.

[0021] (Configuration of the control system) And the hoisting height calculation system S for the hook or the earth bucket 22 of the pneumatic caisson in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, includes the 2D LiDAR 31 for wire position detection, the 1D LiDAR 32 for trolley position detection, the crane control device 33, the control device 40 as a computing device, the crane control circuit 41 as an output system, the crane control switching circuit 42, and the skid crane 23. The control device 40 as a computing device has a function of controlling the hoisting / lowering operation of the skid crane 23 in addition to the functions of the computing device described later.

[0022] In this way, by adding the 1DLiDAR32, which acquires the horizontal position of the trolley, to the system of the scooter crane 23, the horizontal position of the hook (earth bucket 22) of the scooter crane 23 can be determined. Then, together with the calculated lifting height of the hook, the vertical position of the hook can be determined.

[0023] Furthermore, by adding a crane control circuit 41 that transmits crane control signals based on information from the control device 40, and a crane control switching circuit 42 that can switch between control signals from the control device 40 and control signals from the crane operating device 33 to the system, it becomes possible to control the skater crane 23 based on the hook position from the control device 40. The following describes the functions of the control device 40 as a computing device (lifting height calculation function and number of layers calculation function).

[0024] (Procedure for calculating head height) Next, using the flowchart in Figure 4, we will explain the overall flow of the head calculation procedure using the head calculation system S.

[0025] First, the following are obtained from the control device 40 in advance: the wire diameter r of the crane, the wire drum diameter R, the number of layers n of the wire drum (for example, "2" in the case of Figure 2(a)), and the hook lift height (for example, the hook is raised to the upper limit of the hoisting mechanism, and this lift height is set to 0) (steps S1 to S2).

[0026] Next, the control device 40, acting as a computing device, acquires a point cloud of the wire 26 using the 2DLiDAR 31 and calculates the horizontal position of the wire 26 (steps S3-S4). Specifically, it scans the horizontal position (horizontal displacement; reciprocating movement) of the wire 26 from a position slightly above the front of the wire drum 30. (See Figure 2).

[0027] Then, when a hoisting / lowering control signal is received from the crane control device 33 (step S6), the horizontal movement of the wire 26 is calculated (step S7), and this is converted into the displacement of the hook lifting height h (step S8). The calculation formula (conversion method) at this time will be described later.

[0028] If the received control signal is for hoisting (YES in step S9), the hook lift displacement is added to the hook lift (step S10). If it is for lowering (NO in step S9), the hook lift displacement is subtracted from the hook lift (step S11).

[0029] The process returns to acquiring the point cloud data from the 2DLiDAR31 (steps S12 to S3, S4), and these steps are repeated. This allows the hook lift height h to be calculated. When the lift height calculation system S is terminated, the hook lift height at that time is stored in the control device 40 and used as the initial value for the next startup.

[0030] (Formula for calculating hook lift displacement) Here, the conversion of the wire horizontal movement Δd to the hook lifting displacement Δh is obtained by multiplying the wire horizontal movement Δd by a conversion coefficient α. Δh = α·Δd

[0031] The conversion coefficient α represents the ratio of the hook lifting displacement Δh to the wire horizontal movement Δd, and is calculated using the wire length per rotation of the wire drum 31 and the wire horizontal movement.

[0032] The wire length per rotation of the wire drum 31 is π·(R+(2n-1)r), and the horizontal wire movement per rotation of the wire drum 31 is r, therefore, α = π·(R + (2n-1)r) / r =π(R / r+2n-1) This is the result.

[0033] Alternatively, the amount of horizontal wire movement per rotation of the wire drum can be expressed as D / N using the horizontal movement range of the wire and the number of wire turns per layer. α = π·(R + (2n-1)r) / (D / N) =(Nπ / D)(R+(2n-1)r) That is also acceptable. Here, r: wire diameter R: Wire drum diameter n: Number of layers D: Horizontal movement range of the wire N: Number of wire turns per layer Δd: Horizontal wire movement Δh: Lifting displacement α: Transformation coefficient

[0034] (Procedure for calculating the number of layers) Next, using the flowchart in Figure 5, we will explain the procedure for calculating the number of layers using the head calculation system S.

[0035] First, as with the hook lifting height calculation, the initial value of the number of layers of the wire drum 30 stored in the control device 40 is read (step S21). Then, if either a hoisting or lowering signal is received, the following control procedure is initiated (step S22).

[0036] When the control device 40 receives a hoisting control signal (YES in step S24) and the sign of the displacement amount of the horizontal position of the wire changes (YES in step S23), it increases the number of layers by 1 (step S25).

[0037] Conversely, when the control device 40 receives a control signal for lowering (NO in step S24) and the sign of the displacement amount of the horizontal position of the wire changes (YES in step S23), it reduces the number of layers by 1 (step S26). This process is repeated (steps S26 to S22).

[0038] In this way, by detecting (estimating) a change in the number of layers n of the wire drum 30, the current number of layers n can be calculated. When the system is shut down, the number of layers n of the wire drum 30 at that time is stored in the control device 40 and used as the initial value for the next startup.

[0039] (effect) Next, the effects of the head calculation system S of this embodiment will be listed and explained.

[0040] (1) As described above, the lifting height calculation system S used in the pneumatic caisson construction method of this embodiment comprises a wire drum 30 around which the wire 26 is wound, a 2DLiDAR 31 installed near the wire drum 30 to scan the wire 26, and a control device 40 as a calculation device that calculates the lifting height of the hook or earth bucket 22 based on the scanning information from the 2DLiDAR 31. With such a configuration, the 2DLiDAR 31 can be installed retrofitted, and the lifting height calculation system S can suppress measurement errors by knowing the number of layers. In particular, by using the 2DLiDAR 31, the lifting height of the crane hook can be calculated with non-contact, inexpensive, and simple equipment.

[0041] (2) Furthermore, since the 2DLiDAR31 is configured to scan the reciprocating movement of the wire 26 along the direction of the rotation axis of the wire drum 30, the displacement of the lifting height can be easily calculated by using the position of the wire 26 in the direction of the rotation axis of the wire drum 30 in the calculation. In addition, this position makes it easy to install the 2DLiDAR31 retrofitting.

[0042] (3) Furthermore, since the 2DLiDAR 31 is configured not to scan the wire drum 30 itself, but only the wires 26 being fed out, the position of the wires 26 can be accurately determined with almost no error based on extremely clear measurement data. Moreover, by enabling scanning only the wires 26, it becomes easier to install the 2DLiDAR 31 at a location away from the wire drum 30.

[0043] (4) Furthermore, the control device 40, which acts as a calculation device, is configured to calculate the lifting displacement of the hook or earth bucket 22 based on the horizontal movement of the wire 26, so that the lifting height can be easily calculated using a conversion method that is less prone to measurement errors.

[0044] (5) In this context, the control device 40 as a calculation device is specifically configured to calculate the head based on the following equation (1). Δh = α·Δd ·····(1) α = π·(R + (2n-1)r) / r Here, r: wire diameter R: Wire drum diameter n: Number of layers Δd: Horizontal wire movement Δh: Lifting displacement α: Transformation coefficient Therefore, based on equation (1), although it is a simple calculation formula, the lifting displacement Δh can be calculated with great accuracy based on the horizontal wire movement Δd.

[0045] (6) Furthermore, the control device 40, which acts as a calculation device, is configured to increase the number of layers by 1 when it receives a winding control signal and the direction of movement of the wire 26 changes, and to decrease the number of layers by 1 when it receives a lowering control signal and the direction of movement of the wire 26 changes, so that the number of layers can be accurately and easily estimated (determined) based on the control signal and the measured value.

[0046] (7) Furthermore, the scaffolder crane 23 is further equipped with a 1DLiDAR 32 for measuring the horizontal position of the trolley, and the control device 40, which acts as a calculation device, calculates the vertical position of the hook or earth bucket 22 based on the measured horizontal position, so that the position of the earth bucket 22 can be easily and accurately determined.

[0047] Although embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and any design modifications that do not depart from the spirit of the present invention are included in the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0048] 1: Pneumatic caisson 11: Side wall 12:Blade mouth 13: Workshop 14: Workshop slab 16: Material Shaft 17: Material Lock 22: Earth Bucket 23: Skater Crane 26: Wire 28: Soil Hopper 29: Dump truck 30: Wire drum 31: 2DLiDAR 32:1DLiDAR 33: Crane control device 40: Control device 41: Crane control circuit 42: Crane control switching circuit S: Head calculation system

Claims

1. A wire drum around which the wire is wound, A 2DLiDAR is installed near the wire drum and scans the wire, A calculation device that calculates the lifting height of a hook or earth bucket based on the scanning information from the 2DLiDAR, A head calculation system equipped with the following features.

2. The lifting height calculation system according to claim 1, wherein the 2DLiDAR is configured to scan the reciprocating movement of the wire along the direction of the rotation axis of the wire drum.

3. The lifting height calculation system according to claim 2, wherein the 2DLiDAR is configured not to scan the wire drum itself, but only to scan the wire being fed out.

4. The lifting height calculation system according to claim 3, wherein the calculation device is configured to calculate the lifting height displacement of the hook or the earth bucket based on the horizontal movement of the wire.

5. The head-calculation system according to claim 4, wherein the calculation device is configured to calculate the head based on the following formula (1). Δh=α・Δd (1) α=π・(R+(2n-1)r) / r Here, r: wire diameter R: Wire drum diameter n: Number of layers Δd: Horizontal wire movement Δh: Lift displacement α: Conversion coefficient

6. The calculation device is configured to receive a hoisting control signal and increase the number of layers by 1 when the direction of movement of the wire changes; and to receive a lowering control signal and decrease the number of layers by 1 when the direction of movement of the wire changes; the lifting height calculation system according to claim 5.

7. It is further equipped with a 1DLiDAR to measure the horizontal position of the trolley of the scaffolder crane. A lifting height calculation system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the calculation device is configured to calculate the vertical position of the hook or the earth bucket based on the measured horizontal position.

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