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Introduction
System architecture and communication protocol
Experimental results, conclusion and future work
A Wave Simulator and Active Heave Compensation Framework
for Demanding O↵shore Crane Operations
F. Sanfilippo 1 , L. I. Hatledal 1 , H. Zhang 1 , W. Rekdalsbakken
2
and K. Y. Pettersen
3
1 Department of Maritime Technology and Operations, Aalesund University College, Postboks 1517, 6025 Aalesund, Norway,
[fisa, hozh]@hials.no
2 Department of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Aalesund University College, Postboks 1517, 6025 Aalesund, Norway,
wr@hials.no
3 Department of Engineering Cybernetics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway,
kristin.y.pettersen@itk.ntnu.no
2015 28th IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering (CCECE)
F. Sanfilippo, L. I. Hatledal, H. Zhang, W. Rekdalsbakken, K. Y. Pettersen
An Active Heave Compensation Framework for O↵shore Crane Operations
Introduction
System architecture and communication protocol
Experimental results, conclusion and future work
Summary
1
Introduction
2
System architecture and communication protocol
3
Experimental results, conclusion and future work
F. Sanfilippo, L. I. Hatledal, H. Zhang, W. Rekdalsbakken, K. Y. Pettersen
An Active Heave Compensation Framework for O↵shore Crane Operations
Introduction
System architecture and communication protocol
Experimental results, conclusion and future work
Background
Motivation factors
Underlying idea
Current maritime crane control architecture
Low control flexibility and non-standardisation are two crucial issues:
relatively simple control interfaces;
array of levers, throttles or buttons are used to operate the crane joint by joint;
each input device can normally control only one specific crane model.
When considering working efficiency and safety, this kind of control is extremely
difficult to manage and extensive experience with high control skill levels is required of
the operators[1] .
[1] Filippo Sanfilippo et al. “A Universal Control Architecture for Maritime Cranes and Robots Using Genetic Algorithms as a Possible Mapping Approach”. In: Proc. of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics
(ROBIO), Shenzhen, China. 2013, pp. 322–327.
F. Sanfilippo, L. I. Hatledal, H. Zhang, W. Rekdalsbakken, K. Y. Pettersen
An Active Heave Compensation Framework for O↵shore Crane Operations
Introduction
System architecture and communication protocol
Experimental results, conclusion and future work
Background
Motivation factors
Underlying idea
Motivation factors
More flexible and reliable control approaches are needed. Several research groups
are investing resources in this direction.
However, testing new control methods in a real setup environment is very difficult
because of the challenging work-space in which maritime cranes are operated.
Due to the challenging crane operational scenario in real applications, several
studies have been performed by using a computer-simulated environment[2,3] .
Disadvantages of a computer-simulated environment:
A simulation approach is always limited when compared to a realistic
experimental setup.
[2] J¨
org Neupert et al. “A heave compensation approach for o↵shore cranes”. In: Proc. of the IEEE American Control
Conference, Seattle, Washington, USA. 2008, pp. 538–543.
[3] Filippo Sanfilippo et al. “Flexible Modeling And Simulation Architecture For Haptic Control Of Maritime Cranes
And Robotic Arm”. In: Proc. of the 27th European Conference on Modelling and Simulation (ECMS), Aalesund,
Norway. 2013, pp. 235–242.
F. Sanfilippo, L. I. Hatledal, H. Zhang, W. Rekdalsbakken, K. Y. Pettersen
An Active Heave Compensation Framework for O↵shore Crane Operations
Introduction
System architecture and communication protocol
Experimental results, conclusion and future work
Background
Motivation factors
Underlying idea
A wave simulator and active heave compensation framework
+
Operator
The framework is highly
modular and open-source:
Arm Kinematics
-
Modular Design;
Accelerometer
∫
Modular Mechanics;
Modular Hardware;
Wave simulator
Modular Software.
Motion Platform
Kinematics
Testing alternative control algorithms in a realistic and safe laboratory setup:
The system is composed of an industrial robot, the Kuka KR 6 R900 SIXX (KR
AGILUS) manipulator, and of a motion platform with three DOF.
The motion platform allows the simulation of wave impacts, while the robotic
arm can be manoeuvred by the user.
An accelerometer is adopted in order to monitor the wave contribution.
Not only an engineering tool but mostly a scientific tool!
A framework that can be used to discover new ways of controlling maritime
cranes.
F. Sanfilippo, L. I. Hatledal, H. Zhang, W. Rekdalsbakken, K. Y. Pettersen
An Active Heave Compensation Framework for O↵shore Crane Operations
Introduction
System architecture and communication protocol
Experimental results, conclusion and future work
Motion platform
Robotic arm
Integrated control system
Motion platform kinematics
Roll
z
Pitch
C
A
y
h3
B
h1
h2
h1
h2 = h3
h1
h = a1 cos(↵) +
A
C
l
a2
l/2
y
x
A
B
l/2
a12 sin2 (↵)
(1)
=
B
m1
(2)
C
x
y
α
a1
a22
(h2 , h3 ) = sin( )l
l
h
q
m2
h2 = h3 =
It is a type of parallel robot that incorporates
three DOFs. It consists of three arms
connected to universal joints at the top base.
Each joint is actuated by a motor.
The rotation range of each joint is limited to
125 which corresponds to the joint pointing
straight up, and the corresponding platform
corner to have its maximum height.
F. Sanfilippo, L. I. Hatledal, H. Zhang, W. Rekdalsbakken, K. Y. Pettersen
arcsin( (h2 , h3 ))
l
sin(✓)m1
h1 = sin(✓)m2
✓ = arcsin(
(3)
(4)
(5)
(h2 , h3 ) h1
) (6)
m1 + m2
An Active Heave Compensation Framework for O↵shore Crane Operations
Introduction
System architecture and communication protocol
Experimental results, conclusion and future work
Motion platform
Robotic arm
Integrated control system
Motion platform interface
Computer
(Master)
Motion
Platform
PLC (Slave)
ModBus
Profibus
In order to simulate a realistic
application scenario, the control
system that actuates the motion
platform is independent from the
control system that operates the
robotic arm.
The motion platform is controlled by
using a hardware platform based on a
commercial Programmable Logic
Controller (PLC).
F. Sanfilippo, L. I. Hatledal, H. Zhang, W. Rekdalsbakken, K. Y. Pettersen
By using the Modbus protocol, a
master-slave pattern is set up with the
controller acting as a master and the
PLC as a slave.
The three axes of the motion platform
are driven by DC motors (203V). The
motors are interfaced to a motor
controller.
A programmable power supply board
is used in order to avoid buying costly
H bridge circuits. This board can be
remotely controlled from the PLC via
Profibus.
The motor revolution is controlled by
means of inverters.
An Active Heave Compensation Framework for O↵shore Crane Operations
Introduction
System architecture and communication protocol
Experimental results, conclusion and future work
Motion platform
Robotic arm
Integrated control system
Robotic arm interface
Remote Computer
User
JOpenShowVar
Program
KRC
KRL
Actuator
Program
CrossComClient
xt
xt
writeVariable
KRC Inv.
kinematics
θt
KUKAVARPROXY
TCP/IP
The robot can be operated by the user by means of a standard joystick. In order
to efficiently control the robot, the open-source cross-platform communication
interface provided by JOpenShowVar [4] is used. This choice is motivated by the
fact that JOpenShowVar allows researchers to implement alternative control
algorithms according to current needs.
It is a client-server architecture with JOpenShowVar running as a client on a
remote computer and KUKAVARPROXY acting as a server on the Kuka Robot
Controller (KRC). JOpenShowVar locally interacts with the user program and
remotely communicates with the KUKAVARPROXY server via TCP/IP.
[4] F. Sanfilippo et al. “JOpenShowVar: an Open-Source Cross-Platform Communication Interface to Kuka Robots”.
In: Proc. of the IEEE International Conference on Information and Automation (ICIA), Hailar, China. 2014, pp. 1154–
1159.
F. Sanfilippo, L. I. Hatledal, H. Zhang, W. Rekdalsbakken, K. Y. Pettersen
An Active Heave Compensation Framework for O↵shore Crane Operations
Introduction
System architecture and communication protocol
Experimental results, conclusion and future work
Motion platform
Robotic arm
Integrated control system
Integrated control system
+
xs_new = xs_old + ki
xs_new
ki
Actuation Thread
xs - xc
-
δxd
PID
xc
Tz, Tθ, Tϕ, TA
z
ϕ, θ
δxd
θa
δxd
θa
ki
Client
Motion Platform
k (scaling
factor)
Accelerometer
USB
i
Motion Platform
(PLC)
Robotic Arm
Input device
(Joystick)
ϕ, θ
F. Sanfilippo, L. I. Hatledal, H. Zhang, W. Rekdalsbakken, K. Y. Pettersen
d
Arduino
Receiving
sensor data
Low-Pass
Filter
!
Kinematic Model
z
Signal
Sinusoidal
generators
Modbus
UDP
Input Device
Thread
θa
JOpenShowVar
TCP/IP
Server
Control Thread
An Active Heave Compensation Framework for O↵shore Crane Operations
Introduction
System architecture and communication protocol
Experimental results, conclusion and future work
Experimental results
Conclusion and future work
Experimental results
F. Sanfilippo, L. I. Hatledal, H. Zhang, W. Rekdalsbakken, K. Y. Pettersen
An Active Heave Compensation Framework for O↵shore Crane Operations
Introduction
System architecture and communication protocol
Experimental results, conclusion and future work
Experimental results
Conclusion and future work
Displacement[m]
Experimental results
0.7
Actual x
Desired x
0.68
0.66
0.64
0.62
0
10
20
Time[s]
30
Displacement[m]
−0.08
−0.1
−0.11
0
Displacement[m]
50
Actual y
Desired y
−0.09
10
20
Time[s]
30
40
50
0.8
0.75
0.7
no active
compensation
0.65
0
F. Sanfilippo, L. I. Hatledal, H. Zhang, W. Rekdalsbakken, K. Y. Pettersen
40
10
20
Time[s]
30
Actual z
Desired z
40
50
An Active Heave Compensation Framework for O↵shore Crane Operations
Introduction
System architecture and communication protocol
Experimental results, conclusion and future work
Experimental results
Conclusion and future work
Conclusion and future work
A wave simulator and active heave compensation framework for demanding o↵shore
crane operations:
It makes it possible to reproduce in a laboratory setup the challenging operation
scenario of controlling o↵shore cranes.
The system is built on open-source software and hardware and it can be used for
testing di↵erent control algorithms as well as for training purposes.
Future work:
Di↵erent control algorithms may be tested as alternatives to the standard
kinematic method[5] .
Integration of the proposed system with the flexible maritime crane architecture
that we recently developed[6] .
Standardisation process of the proposed framework to make the system more
reliable for both the industrial and the academic practice.
[5] Filippo Sanfilippo et al. “A mapping approach for controlling di↵erent maritime cranes and robots using ANN”. In:
Proc. of the IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation (ICMA), Tianjin, China. 2014, pp. 594–
599.
[6] F. Sanfilippo et al. “Integrated Flexible Maritime Crane Architecture for the O↵shore Simulation Centre AS
(OSC)”. In: submitted to the IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering (2015).
F. Sanfilippo, L. I. Hatledal, H. Zhang, W. Rekdalsbakken, K. Y. Pettersen
An Active Heave Compensation Framework for O↵shore Crane Operations
Introduction
System architecture and communication protocol
Experimental results, conclusion and future work
Experimental results
Conclusion and future work
Thank you for your attention
Official repository and support:
The official repository is available on-line at
https://github.com/aauc-mechlab/WaveSimulator, along with several
detailed class diagrams, all the mechanics, hardware schematics and demo videos.
F. Sanfilippo, Department of Maritime Technology and Operations, Aalesund
University College, fisa@hials.no.
F. Sanfilippo, L. I. Hatledal, H. Zhang, W. Rekdalsbakken, K. Y. Pettersen
An Active Heave Compensation Framework for O↵shore Crane Operations