Project number: MT-11-24

Funding source: Caltrans

Total cost: $35,000

Performance period: August 2010 to July 2011

Efficient container handling system at the ports leads to reduced ship waiting time, increased productivity, cost reduction, and lowered harmful emissions to the environment. Terminal operators use the free flow of information from the ships to streamline containers that move from the vessel through the gantry cranes or quayside container cranes to the truck or the rail, and finally transport out of the terminal gate. The loading and unloading of containers from a starting position to a destination is conducted visually by experienced crane operators from inside the crane cab situated high above the ground for several hours daily. To improve crane safety and port productivity, we proposed an assistive user interface that integrates visual and haptic (force) feedback to assist the crane operator during container handling process. In this phase, the work focuses on the design and construction of a scaled testbed with visual and force feedback system to provide motion guidance. The visual feedback is provided by a camera and the force feedback is provided through a force-feedback joystick, which are integrated in MATLAB/Simulink. The motion guidance is provided as a force cue to alert the operator of surrounding objects and avoid possible collision. A preliminary experiment was conducted on the testbed to investigate the performance of the integrated system and the feasibility of the proposed technology. Initial results indicate the potential of the system in preventing collision and improved ergonomics; however, further user experiment will be needed.