Crane Simulator Data Emulation for Real-Time Response
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current crane simulators struggle to provide a realistic training experience due to delayed responses and limited intuitive feeling for crane reactions, mainly because of complex computation processes and limited virtual reality representations.
Innovation Solution
The simulator incorporates a data emulation system using hardware components to simulate actuator movements, allowing for faster and more realistic movement data generation with less computing power, and includes a hybrid movement simulation module combining computer simulations with real hardware components to determine machine movements and deformations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If complex computation processes are used to simulate crane movements and deformations, then the virtual representation accuracy is improved, but the response time increases and real-time simulation capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The simulation system is divided into two independent modules: a movement simulation module that uses pre-calculated lookup tables for fast response, and a graphical simulation module that handles detailed visual rendering. This segmentation allows each module to optimize for its specific function, with the movement module providing rapid responses and the graphical module providing accurate visual representations.
Solution Approach 2:
Crane movement data and structural deformation characteristics are pre-calculated and stored in lookup tables before simulation runtime. When the simulator needs to simulate crane movements, it directly retrieves pre-computed values from these tables rather than performing complex real-time calculations, dramatically reducing response time while maintaining accuracy.
2Reliability
If hardware components are used to emulate actuator movements, then the realism of crane reactions is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses lookup tables that contain pre-recorded crane movement and deformation data as virtual copies of actual crane behavior. These tables capture the essential characteristics of crane reactions without requiring physical hardware copies, achieving realism through data replication rather than physical duplication.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical emulation hardware with a computational approach using lookup tables and processing units. Instead of using physical actuators and sensors to replicate crane movements, the system uses pre-stored movement data and computational retrieval, substituting mechanical complexity with information processing simplicity.
3Productivity
If pre-calculated lookup tables are used for movement simulation, then the computation speed is improved, but the adaptability to different crane configurations decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The lookup tables are designed to be dynamically configurable and adaptable to different crane types. The system can load different movement data sets corresponding to various crane configurations, allowing the same computational framework to efficiently simulate multiple crane types by simply changing the input data rather than the computational structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system achieves adaptability to different crane configurations by changing the parameters and data in the lookup tables rather than modifying the computational engine. Different crane types are accommodated by loading appropriate movement characteristics, dimensions, and deformation parameters into the tables, maintaining fast computation speed while achieving versatility.
Data Source
AI summary
A crane, a construction machine or an industrial truck, with a control station including at least one input means for inputting control commands, a graphical simulation module for calculating a virtual representation of the machine surroundings and/or machine components visible from the control station, such as a boom or a load hook, and a display device for displaying the calculated virtual representation, wherein a movement simulation module is provided for determining movements and/or deformations of the machine components according to the inputted control commands, depending on which the graphical simulation module calculates the virtual representation. Proposed is a data emulation using hardware components, which carry out actual actuating movements and thus simulate “actual” actuating movements of the machine to be simulated, in order to provide corresponding movement data more rapidly and with less computing performance, whereby a more realistic simulation can be achieved in real-time or almost real-time.