Fixed Camera Image Cropping for Crane Load Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing remote-controlled container cranes face mechanical and environmental stress issues due to tiltable cameras, which affect reliability and require sensitive motors to handle G forces and harsh conditions.
Innovation Solution
A container crane control system with a fixedly mounted camera that adjusts the position and zoom of the cropped image based on the load's height, eliminating the need for physical camera rotations and sensitive motors, thereby increasing reliability and reducing mechanical stress.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a tiltable camera is used to track the load, then the camera can follow the load movement, but the camera is subjected to mechanical stress and environmental factors requiring sensitive motors
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of making the camera movable to track the load, the patent inverts the approach by keeping the camera fixed and making the image digitally movable. The control device receives load position data and shifts the cropped image position accordingly, achieving tracking without mechanical movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical camera tilting system with a digital image processing system. The control device uses software algorithms to reposition the cropped image within the captured frame based on load height data, eliminating motors, gears, and mechanical stress while maintaining the tracking function.
2Reliability
If a fixedly mounted camera is used, then mechanical stress and moving parts are eliminated, but the camera cannot track load movement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a digital copy of the load position information from sensors and applies it to the image processing. The control device uses the load height data to calculate and apply the appropriate image shift, effectively copying the physical load movement into the digital image domain without moving the camera itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions the tracking function from the physical dimension (camera movement) to the digital dimension (image position within the frame). By manipulating the image coordinates rather than camera coordinates, the system achieves tracking in a different domain that avoids mechanical constraints.
3Manufacturing precision
If the camera zooms to maintain image quality during load movement, then image quality is preserved, but mechanical stress and moving parts are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical zoom lenses with digital zoom implemented through image cropping and scaling algorithms. The control device crops the captured image to the required region and scales it to maintain the desired field of view, eliminating the need for moving lens elements while preserving image quality.
Data Source
AI summary
A container crane control system including: a camera configured to be fixedly mounted to a crane to obtain a series of captured images, a video output configured to provide a video signal including a series of cropped image based on the series of captured images; and a control device configured to, for at least part of the captured images and the respective cropped image, receive an input signal indicating a current height of a load of the crane, wherein the control device is configured to control a position of the respective cropped image within the captured image based on the current height of the load.