A design of an overhead crane tele-operation control system

This paper presents a design method for a tele-operation controller for an overhead crane system that allows the operator to control the speed of the overhead crane freely and to feel the swing of the rod instinctively through the reaction force. Feeling the reaction force makes it easier for the operator to know about the swing of the rod than simply seeing the rod's movement through cameras. This system can be used via the internet and can be controlled from everywhere. For example, operating in a place such as a nuclear power plant, where it could be dangerous for humans to be in the case of an accident, this tele-control system using the internet as its communication line can be useful, since it allows the operator to control the crane from a safer place. The use of our system is demonstrated by an experiment run jointly by Toyohashi and Toyota.