PT Journal
AU Kivelä, T
   Büscher, K
   Hoffmann, E
   Schumacher, P
   Bolender, S
   Furmans, K
TI Retrofitting indoor bridge cranes for autonomy: Development of an autonomous pallet cage transport system
SO Logistics Journal : Proceedings
PY 2023
VL 2023
IS 1
DI 10.2195/lj_proc_kivelae_en_202310_01
DE Autonomes Transportsystem; Maschinensicherheit; Brückenkran; Gitterbox; Fördertechnik; Autonomous transport system; machinery safety; computer vision; bridge crane; pallet cage
AB While bridge cranes are widely available systems for handling heavy materials, they are mainly used manually and for isolated transports which results in a low degree of utilization. This work proposes a retrofittable, removable system, that enables the existing bridge crane to transport pallet cages autonomously, also in crowded industrial environments without the need of restricted areas at shopfloor level. The system consists of a newly developed removable load handling device, a camera and radar sensor based perception system and a control structure, that implements a new developed safety concept and a process control system for autonomy. A requirements study is discussed, upon which a system design is suggested. The suggested system design is validated by a prototype built on a standard bridge crane.
ER