13

On the Adaptive Tracking Control of 3-D

Overhead Crane Systems
Yang, Jung Hua
National Pingtung University of Science and Technology
Pingtung, Taiwan
1. Introduction
For low cost, easy assembly and less maintenance, overhead crane systems have been
widely used for material transportation in many industrial applications. Due to the
requirements of high positioning accuracy, small swing angle, short transportation time,
and high safety, both motion and stabilization control for an overhead crane system
becomes an interesting issue in the field of control technology development. Since the
overhead crane system is underactuated with respect to the sway motion, it is very difficult
to operate an overhead traveling crane automatically in a desired manner. In general,
human drivers, often assisted by automatic anti-sway system, are always involved in the
operation of overhead crane systems, and the resulting performance, in terms of swiftness
and safety, heavily depends on their experience and capability. For this reason, a growing
interest is arising about the design of automatic control systems for overhead cranes.
However, severely nonlinear dynamic properties as well as lack of actual control input for
the sway motion might bring about undesired significant sway oscillations, especially at
take-off and arrival phases. In addition, these undesirable phenomena would also make the
conventional control strategies fail to achieve the goal. Hence, the overhead crane systems
belong to the category of incomplete control system, which only allow a limited number of
inputs to control more outputs. In such a case, the uncontrollable oscillations might cause
severe stability and safety problems, and would strongly constrain the operation efficiency
as well as the application domain. Furthermore, an overhead crane system may experience
a range of parameter variations under different loading condition. Therefore, a robust and
delicate controller, which is able to diminish these unfavorable sway and uncertainties,
needs to be developed not only to enhance both efficiency and safety, but to make the
system more applicable to other engineering scopes.
The overhead crane system is non-minimum phase (or has unstable zeros in linear case) if a
nonlinear state feedback can hold the system output identically zero while the internal
dynamics become unstable. Output tracking control of non-minimum phase systems is a
highly challenging problem encountered in many practical engineering applications such as
aircraft control [1], marine vehicle control [2], flexible link manipulator control [3], inverted
pendulum system control [4]. The non-minimum phase property has long been recognized
to be a major obstacle in many control problems. It is well known that unstable zeros cannot

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be moved with state feedback while the poles can be arbitrarily placed (if completely
controllable). In most standard adaptive control as well as in nonlinear adaptive control, all
algorithms require that the plant to be minimum phase. This chapter presents a new
procedure for designing output tracking controller for non-minimum phase systems (The
overhead crane systems).
Several researchers have dealt with the modeling and control problems of overhead crane
system. In [5], a simple proportional derivative (PD) controller is designed to asymptotically
regulate the overhead crane system to the desired position with natural damping of sway
oscillation. In [6], the authors propose an output feedback proportional derivative controller
that stabilizes a nonlinear crane system. In [7], the authors proposed an indirect adaptive
scheme, based on dynamic feedback linearization techniques, which was applied to
overhead crane systems with two control input. In [8], Li et al attacked the under-actuated
problem by blending four local controllers into one overall control strategy; moreover,
experimental results delineating the performance of the controller were also provided. In [9],
a nonlinear controller is proposed for the trolley crane systems using Lyapunov functions
and a modified version of sliding-surface control is then utilized to achieve the objective of
cart position control. However, the sway angle dynamics has not been considered for
stability analysis. In [10], the authors proposed a saturation control law based on a
guaranteed cost control method for a linearized version of 2-DOF crane system dynamics.
In [11], the authors designed a nonlinear controller for regulating the swinging energy of
the payload. In [12], a fuzzy logic control system with sliding mode Control concept is
developed for an overhead crane system. Y. Fang et al. [13] develop a nonlinear coupling
control law to stabilize a 3-DOF overhead crane system by using LaSalle invariance theorem.
However, the system parameters must be known in advance. Ishide et al. [14] train a fuzzy
neural network control architecture for an overhead traveling crane by using
back-propagation method. However, the trolley speed is still large even when the
destination is arrived, which would result in significant residual sway motion, low safety,
and poor positioning accuracy. In the paper [15], a nonlinear tracking controller for the load
position and velocity is designed with two loops: an outer loop for position tracking, and an
inner loop for stabilizing the internally oscillatory dynamics using a singular perturbation
design. But the result is available only when the sway angle dynamics is much faster than
the cart motion dynamics. In the paper [16], a simple control scheme, based on second-order
sliding modes, guarantees a fast precise load transfer and swing suppression during the
load movement, despite of model uncertainties. In the paper [17], it proposes a stabilizing
nonlinear control law for a crane system having constrained trolley stroke and pendulum
length using the Lyapunovs second method and performs some numerical experiments to
examine the validity of the control law. In the paper [18], the variable structure control
scheme is used to regulate the trolley position and the hoisting motion towards their
desired values. However the input torques exhibit a lot of chattering. This chattering is not
desirable as it might shorten the lifetime of the motors used to drive the crane. In the paper
[19], a new fuzzy controller for anti-swing and position control of an overhead traveling
crane is proposed based on the Single Input Rule Modules (SIRMs). Computer simulation
results show that, by using the fuzzy controller, the crane can be smoothly driven to the

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On the Adaptive Tracking Control of 3-D Overhead Crane Systems

279

destination in a short time with low swing angle and almost no overshoot. D. Liu et al. [20]
present a practical solution to analyze and control the overhead crane. A sliding mode fuzzy
control algorithm is designed for both X-direction and Y-direction transports of the
overhead crane. Incorporating the robustness characteristics of SMC and FLC, the proposed
control law can guarantee a swing-free transportation. J.A. Mendez et al. [21] deal with the
design and implementation of a self-tuning controller for an overhead crane. The proposed
neurocontroller is a self-tuning system consisting of a conventional controller combined
with a NN to calculate the coefficients of the controller on-line. The aim of the proposed
scheme is to reduce the training-time of the controller in order to make the real-time
application of this algorithm possible. Ho-Hoon Lee et al. [22] proposes a new approach for
the anti-swing control of overhead cranes, where a model-based control scheme is designed
based on a V-shaped Lyapunov function. The proposed control is free from the
conventional constraints of small load mass, small load swing, slow hoisting speed, and
small hoisting distance, but only guarantees asymptotic stability with all internal signals
bounded. This paper also proposes a practical trajectory generation method for a near
minimum-time control, which is independent of hoisting speed and distance. In this paper
[23], robustness of the proposed intelligent gantry crane system is evaluated. The evaluation
result showed that the intelligent gantry crane system not only has produced good
performances compared with the automatic crane system controlled by classical PID
controllers but also is more robust to parameter variation than the automatic crane system
controlled by classical PID controllers. In this paper [24], the I-PD and PD controllers
designed by using the CRA method for the trolley position and load swing angle of
overhead crane system have been proposed. The advantage of CRA method for designing
the control system so that the system performances are satisfied not only in the transient
responses but also in the steady-state responses, have also been confirmed by the simulation
results.
Although most of the control schemes mentioned above have claimed an adaptive
stabilizing tracking/regulation for the crane motion, the stability of the sway angle
dynamics is hardly taken into account. Hence, in this chapter, a nonlinear control scheme
which incorporates both the cart motion dynamics and sway angle dynamics is devised to
ensure the overall closed-loop system stability. Stability proof of the overall system is
guaranteed via Lyapunov analysis. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed
control schemes, the overhead crane system is set up and satisfactory experimental results
are also given.
2. Dynamic Model of Overhead Crane
The aim of this section is to drive the dynamic model of the overhead crane system. The
model is dived using Lagrangian method. The schematic plotted in Figure 1 represents a
three degree of freedom overhead crane system. To facilitate the control development, the
following assumptions with regard to the dynamic model used to describe the motion of
overhead crane system will be made. The dynamic model for a three degree of freedom
(3-DOF) overhead crane system (see Figure 1) is assumed to have the following postulates.
A1: The payload and the gantry are connected by a mass-less, rigid link.
A2: The angular position and velocity of the payload and the rectilinear position and

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velocity of the gantry are measurable.

A3: The payload mass is concentrated at a point and the value of this mass is exactly
known; moreover, the gantry mass and the length of the connecting rod are exactly known.
A4: The hinged joint that connects the payload link to the gantry is frictionless.

Fig. 1. 3-D Overhead Crane System

The 3-D crane system will be derived based on Lagrange-Euler approach. Consider the
3-dimensional overhead crane system as shown in Figure 1. The cart can move horizontally
in x-y plane, in which the moving distance of the cart along the X-rail is denoted as x(t) and
the distance on the Y-rail measured from the initial point of the construction frame is
denoted as y(t). The length of the lift line is denoted as l. Define the angle between the lift
line and its projection on the y-z plane as (t ) and the angle between the projection line
and the negative axis as (t ) . Then the kinetic energy and potential energy of the system
can be found in Equation (1.1) and (1.2), respectively and be expressed as the following
equations.

K=

1
1
1
m1 x& 2 + (m1 + m2 ) y& 2 + mc ( x& c2 + y& c2 + z& c2 )
2
2
2

V = mgl cos cos

(1)

(2)

where x c , y c are the related positions of the load described in the Cartesian coordinate,
which can be mathematically written as

x c = x + l sin

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On the Adaptive Tracking Control of 3-D Overhead Crane Systems

y c = y + l cos sin

(4)

z c = l cos cos

(5)

The following equations express the velocities by taking the time derivative of above
equations

x& c = x& + l& cos

(6)

y& c = y& l& sin sin + l& cos cos

(7)

z& c = l& sin cos l& cos sin

(8)

By using the Lagrange-Euler formulation,

d L

dt q& i

L

= i , i = 1,2,3,4.
qi

(9)

where L = K V , q i is the element of vector q = [ x y ] and i is the

corresponding external input to the system, we have the following mathematical
representation which formulates the system motion
T

M (q )q&& + C (q, q& ) + G (q ) =

(10)

where M ( q ) R
is inertia matrix of the crane system, C ( q, q& ) R
is the
41
nonlinear terms coming from the coupling of linear and rotational motion, G ( q ) R
T
is the terms due to gravity, and = [u x u y 0 0] is the input vector.
As mentioned previously, the dynamic equation of motion described the overhead crane
system also have the same properties as follows
n
P1:The inertia matrix M (q ) is symmetric and positive definite for all q R .
4
P2:There exists a matrix B ( q, q& ) such that C ( q, q& ) = B ( q, q& ) q& , and x R
T
x ( M& 2 B) x = 0 , i.e., M& 2 B is skew-symmetric. B(q, q& x )q& y = B(q, q& y )q& x .
P3:The parameters of the system can be linearly extracted as
44

M (q)q&& + C (q, q& ) + G (q) = W f (q, q& , q&&) f

41

(11)

&&) is the regressor matrix and f is a vector containing the system

where W f ( q, q& , q
parameters.
Dynamic Model of Overhead Crane
In this section, an adaptive control scheme will be developed for the position tracking of an
overhead crane system.

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2.1 Model formulation

For design convenience, a general coordinate is defined as follows

q T = [q Tp
q Tp = [ x

where

qT ]

y ] , qT = [

and using the relations in P2, the dynamic equation of an overhead crane (10) is partitioned
in the following form

M p q&&p B pp
+
M q&& Bp

M pp
M T
p

B p q& p G p (q ) u p
+
=
B q& G (q ) 0

(12)

where M pp , M p , M , B pp , B p , Bp , B are 22 matrices partitioned from

the inertia matrix M (q ) and the matrix B ( q, q& ) , respectively, G p , G are 21
T
vectors, and u p = [u x u y ] . Before investigating the controller design, let the error
signals be defined as

e = q q d = [e Tp

eT ]T

(13)

and the stable hypersurface plane is defined as

e& + K p e p s p
s = e& + Ke = p
=
e& + K e s

(14)

where

e p = q p q pd = [ x x d

y y d ]T [e x

e = q qd = [ d

d ]T [e

k
Kp = 1
0

0
k 3
,
=
K

0
k 2

0
k 4

e y ]T ,
e ]T ,

and x d , y d , d and d are defined trajectories of x , y , and respectively,

and K p , K are some arbitrary positive definite matrices.
Then, after a lot of mathematical arrangements, the dynamics of the newly defined signal
vectors s p , s can be derived as

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On the Adaptive Tracking Control of 3-D Overhead Crane Systems

M PP
M T
P

M P s& p B PP
+
M s& BP

B P s p p + u P
=
B s

p = M pp (q&&pd + k p e& p ) + M p (q&& + k e& ) + Bpp (q& pd + k p ep ) + Bp (q& +k pe )

(15)

where

= Mp (q&&pd + k pe& p ) + M (q&& + k e& ) + Bp (q& pd + k pep ) + B (q& + k e )

(16)
(17)

Remark 1: The desired trajectories x d , y d , d and d should be carefully chosen so as

to satisfy the internal dynamics, as shown in the lower part of equation (15), when the
control objective is achieved, i.e.,

&
x&
&&
&x&
T
M P (qd ) d + M (qd ) &&d + BP (q, q&) d + B (q, q&) &d + G (q) = 0
d
y& d
d
&y&d

(18)

Without loss of generality, we always choose an exponentially-convergent trajectories with

final constant values for x d , y d and zero for d , d .
2.2 Adaptive Controller Design
In this subsection, an adaptive nonlinear control will be presented to solve the tracking
control problem.

q p , q& p , q , q&

q p , q& p , q , q&

Fig. 2. An Adaptive Self-tuning Controller Block Diagram

As indicated by property P3 in section 1.2, the dynamic equations of an overhead crane
have the well-known linear-in-parameter property. Thus, we define

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Adaptive Control

11 = M pp (q&&pd + k p e& p ) + M p (q&&d k e& ) + Bpp (q& pd + k p e p ) + Bp k pe p

(19)

2 2 = M p (q&&pd + k p e& p ) + M (k e& ) + Bp (q& pd + k p e p ) + B k e

(20)

where 1 , 2 are regressor matrices with appropriate dimensions, and 1 , 2 are their
corresponding vectors of unknown constant parameters, respectively. As a majority of the
adaptive controller, the following signal is defined

where

2( Z x a x (t ) + bx (t )),

Z& x = 2bx (t ), Z x (t ) = 0,
, Z (t ) = 0,
x x

Z x (t ) > 0
bx (t ) > 0
bx (t ) 0

(21)

is some small positive constant and

a x (t ) =
bx (t ) =

sp
sp

sp

+
+

T
T
( s 22 s K v s )

(22)

( s 22 s K v s )
T

(23)

Remark 2: Note that (21) is simply to define a differential equation of which its variable
Z x (t ) remains positive. Let another signal k(t) be defined to be its positive root, i.e.,
k = Z x , It can be shown that

1 k sp +
k&(t ) =
(
)( sT 22 sT K v s )
k (t ) s 2 +
p
2

k0

(24)

{}

In the sequel, we will first assume that there exists a measure zero set of time sequences

t i i =1 such that Z (t i ) = 0 or k (t i ) = 0 , i = 1,2,3,... , and then, verify the existence

assumption valid.
Now let the adaptive control law be designed as

u P = 11 v K vp s p

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On the Adaptive Tracking Control of 3-D Overhead Crane Systems

(k 1) s
p
T
T

( s 2 2 s K v s )
v =

s 2 +

285

(26)

where

11 = M pp (q&&pd + k p e& p ) + M p (k e& ) + B pp (q& pd + k p e p ) + B p k p e p

(27)

22 = M p (q&&pd + k p e& p ) + M (k e& ) + Bp (q& pd + k p e p ) + B k e

(28)

and 1 , 2 are the estimates of

obtained as

M PP M P s& p BPP
M T M s& + B
P
P

1 , 2 respectively,

BP s p K vp
+
B s 0

then the error dynamics can be

~
0 s p 11 v
=

K v s 22 + K v s

(29)

or more compactly as

~
11 v
M (q)s& + h(q, q& )s + Ks =

22 + K v s

where

~
1 1 1

~ =
2 2 2

(30)

(31)

Moreover, let the adaptation laws be chosen as

1 = k a 1 s p
&

&
2 = k b 2 s

(32)

where k a , k b are some positive definite gain matrices. In what follows we will show that
the error dynamics (30) along with the adaptive laws (32) constitutes an asymptotically
stable closed-loop dynamic system. This is exactly stated in the following theorem.

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Theorem : Consider the 3-D overhead crane system as mathematically described in (10) or (12) with
all the system parameters unknown. Then, by applying control laws (25)-(28) and adaptive laws (32),
the objective for the tracking control problem can be achieved, i.e., all signals inside the closed-loop
system (29) are bounded and e x , e , e y , e 0 asymptotically in the sense of Lyapunov.
Proof: Define the Lyapunov function candidate as

1~
1
~ 1~
~ 1
V (t ) = s T M (q)s + 1T k a11 + 2T kb12 + Z x
2
2
2
2
1~
1
~ 1
~ 1~
= s T M (q) s + 1T k a11 + 2T k b1 2 + k 2
2
2
2
2
It is obvious that, due to the quadratic form of system states as well as the definition of
Z x (t ) , V(t) is always positive-definite and indeed a Lyapunov function candidate. By
taking the time derivative of V we get

1
~& T 1 ~ ~& T 1 ~
V& (t ) = s T M (q ) s& + s T M& (q) s + 1 k a 1 + 2 k b 2 + kk&
2
~
11 v 1 T
~
~
T
T
= s ( B(q, q& ) s K vp s +
) + s M& (q ) s + s p 11 + s 2 2
2 2 + K v s 2
T

+(

k sp
sp

2
2

)( s 22 s K v s )
T

= sKs s p 11 (
T

+(

k sp
sp

2
2

(k 1) s p

sp +
2

~
T
T
T
T
)( s 22 s K v s ) + s 22 + s p 11

~
T
T
T
T
)( s 22 s K v s ) + s 2 2 + s K v s

= s T Ks

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On the Adaptive Tracking Control of 3-D Overhead Crane Systems

It is clear that V& (t ) < 0 as long as K > 0 , which then implies s, k , 1 , 2 L Now,
assume that k (t ) = 0 instantaneously at t i . Because the solution Z x (t ) of the equation
(21) is well defined and is continuous for all t 0 , k(t) is continuous at t i , i.e.,
k (t i ) = k (t i +) . Since V is a continuous function of k , it is clear that V (t) remains
to be continuous at t i , i.e. , V (t i ) = V (t i + ) . Form then hypothesis, V& (ti ) < 0 and
+
V& (t i ) < 0, we hence can conclude that V is nonincreasing in t including t i , which then
readily implies that s, k L . Therefore, e, v and L directly from equation
&

(13) and definitions of v and . It then follows from

t i i =1 (30) that s L . On the other
hand,
if
the
set
of
time
instants
is
measure
zero,
then
2
0 V&dt = V (0) V () < or equivalently that 0 s dt < so that s L2 .
Form the error dynamics, we can further conclusion that s& L . Then by Barbalats
lemma we readily obtain that s 0 as t asymptotically as t and therefore,
e, e& 0 as t Note that in the above proof we have used the property
( M& (q) 2 B(q, q& )) is skew- symmetric. Finally, to complete the proof in theory, we
need to show that the above hypothesis that the set of time instants t i i =1 is indeed
measure zero. However, it is quite straightforward to conclude the result from (21) by
simply using the fact that all signals are bounded. This completes our proof.

~ ~

{}

{}

Remark 3: From the robustness point of view, it would be better if additional feedback term
k q s is included in the control law (24). With such an inclusion, the sway stabilization
result subject to external disturbance can also be maintained as the cart arrived at its
destination. This can be easily checked from the stability proof given in the theorem.
Proof: Let the Lyapunov function candidate be chosen as

V (t ) =
=

1 T
1 ~ T 1 ~
1 ~ T 1 ~
1
s M ( q ) s + 1 k a 1 + 2 k b 2 + Z x
2
2
2
2
1 T
1 ~T
1 ~ T
1
1 ~
1 ~
s M (q )s + 1 k a 1 + 2 k b 2 +
k
2
2
2
2

and take the time derivative of V to get

1
~& T 1 ~ ~& T 1 ~
V& (t ) = s T M (q) s& + s T M& (q) s + 1 k a 1 + 2 k b 2 + kk&
2
~
11 v k q s 1 T &
~
~
T
T
= s (B(q, q&)s K vp s +
) + s M (q)s + s p 11 + s 22
22 + K v s 2
T

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+(

Adaptive Control

k sp +
2

sp +
2

T
T
)(s 22 s Kv s )

= s T Ks k q s s p
V& (t ) = s T K v s k q s s p

1
2
2
2
2
V& (t ) min ( K v )( s p + s ) + k q ( s p + s )
2
1
2
2
= (min ( K v ) k q )( s p + s )
2
Thus, the same conclusion can be made as preciously if

min ( K v ) >

1
kq
2

3. Computer Simulation
In this subsection, several simulations are performed and the results also confirm the
validity of our proposed controller. The desired positions for X and Y axes are 1 m. Figure 3
shows the time response of X-direction. Figure 5 show the time responses of Y-direction. It
can be seen that the cart can simultaneously achieve the desired positions in both X and Y
axes in approximately 6 seconds with the sway angles almost converging to zero at the same
time. Figure 4 and Figure 6 show the response of the sway angle with the control scheme.
Figure 7 and Figure 8 show the velocity response of both X-direction and Y-direction. Figure
9 and Figure 10 show the control input magnitude. In Figure 11~14, the parameter estimates
are seen to converge to some constants when error tends to zero asymptotically and the time
response of the tuning function k(t) is plotted in Figure 15.
The control gains are chosen to be

1.5 0
2.35 0
,
kp =
, k =

1
0 1
0

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On the Adaptive Tracking Control of 3-D Overhead Crane Systems

1.35 0
1.5 0
k vp =
, k v =

0 1.2
0 1.8
The corresponding adaptive gains are set to be

Fig. 3. Gantry Tracking Response

Fig. 4. Sway Angle Response

(t )

Fig. 5. Gantry Tracking Response

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x(t )

k a = kb = 1

with Adaptive Algorithm

with Adaptive Algorithm

y (t )

with Adaptive Algorithm

289

290

Fig. 6. Sway Angle Response

Adaptive Control

(t )

with Adaptive Algorithm

Fig. 7. Gantry Velocity Response

x& (t )

with Adaptive Algorithm

Fig. 8. Gantry Velocity Response

y& (t )

with Adaptive Algorithm

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On the Adaptive Tracking Control of 3-D Overhead Crane Systems

Fig. 9. Force Input

Fig. 10. Force Input

ux

uy

Fig. 11. Estimated Parameters 1 x (t )

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Fig. 12. Estimated Parameters

Fig. 13. Estimated Parameters

1 y (t )

Fig. 14. Estimated Parameters

2 (t )

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On the Adaptive Tracking Control of 3-D Overhead Crane Systems

Fig. 15. Response Trajectory of

293

k (t )

4. Experimental Verification
In this section, to validate the practical application of the proposed algorithms, a three
degree-of-freedom overhead crane apparatus, is built up as shown in Figure 16. Several
experiments are also performed and indicated in the subsequent section for demonstration
of the effectiveness of the proposed controller.

Fig. 16. Experimental setup for the overhead crane system

The control algorithm is implemented on a xPC Target for use with real time Workshop
manufactured by The Math Works, Inc., and the xPC target is inserted in a Pentium4

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2.4GHz PC running under the Windows operating system. The sensing system includes the
two photo encoders and two linear position sensors. The cart motion X-direction and
Y-direction motion measured by linear potentiometer. Two potentiometers are connected to
the travel direction and the traverse direction. An AC servo motor with 0.95 N-m maximum
torque and 3.8N-m maximum torque output is used to drive the cart motion X direction and
Y direction. The servomotors are set in torque control mode so as to output the desired
torques.
In the experimental study, the proposed control algorithms have been tested and compared
with the conventional PD controller. From the experimental results, it is found that our
proposed algorithms indeed outperform the conventional control scheme in all aspects. A
schematic description of the experimental system is draw in Figure 17.

Fig. 17. A Schematic Overview of the Experimental Setup

4.1 Experiments for Conventional PD control as a comparative study

In the experiments, a simple PD control scheme with only position and velocity feedback is
first tested for the crane control. Figure 18 and Figure 20 show the control responses. From
Figure 19 and Figure 21 it is observed that the sway oscillation can not be rapidly damped
by using only conventional PD control, although the tracking objective is ultimately
achieved.

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On the Adaptive Tracking Control of 3-D Overhead Crane Systems

Fig. 18. Gantry Tracking Response

x(t )

with Conventional PD Control

Fig. 19. Sway Angle Response

(t )

with Conventional PD Control

Fig. 21. Sway Angle Response

(t )

with Conventional PD Control

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Fig. 20. Gantry Tracking Response

y (t )

with Conventional PD Control

4.2 Experiments for the Proposed Adaptive Control Method with Set-point Regulation
In the subsection, the developed adaptive controller is applied. The following controlled
gains are chosen for experiments.

2
kp =
0
1.5
k vp =
0

0
3 0
, k =
,

1
0 1
0
1.35 0
, k v =

2
3
0

The corresponding adaptive gains are set to be 1 i.e., k a = k b = 1 . Figure 22~31 depict the
experimental results for the crane system with the adaptive control law. Figure 22 and
Figure 24 demonstrate the tracking performance in X and Y directions. It is experimentally
demonstrated that the sway angle can be actively damped out by using our proposed
adaptive schemes, as shown in Figure 23 and Figure 25 with maximum swing angle about
0.05 rad and 0.06 rad, respectively. Figure 26 and Figure 27 show the input torques from
each AC servo motors, whereas Figure 28~30 plot the associated adaptive gain turning
trajectories. The trajectory of coupling gain k(t) is also in Figure 31 with initial value 0.05.
The initial values of other state variable are all zero. Apparently the tracking and damping
performances by applying the adaptive control algorithm are much better than the ones
resulting from the PD control.

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On the Adaptive Tracking Control of 3-D Overhead Crane Systems

Fig. 22. Gantry Tracking Response with Adaptive Algorithm X(t)

Fig. 23. Sway Angle Response with Adaptive Algorithm

(t)

Fig. 24. Gantry Tracking Response with Adaptive Algorithm Y(t)

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297

298

Fig. 25. Sway Angle Response with Adaptive Algorithm

Fig. 26. Force Input Ux

Fig. 27. Force Input Uy

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Adaptive Control

(t)

On the Adaptive Tracking Control of 3-D Overhead Crane Systems

Fig. 28. Estimated Parameters

Fig. 30. Estimated Parameters

Fig. 29. Estimated Parameters

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1x (t)

2 (t) and 2 (t)

1 y (t)

299

300

Fig. 31. Trajectory of

Adaptive Control

k (t)

4.3 Experiments for the Proposed Adaptive Control with Square Wave Tracking
To prove the prevalence of our controllers, experiments on the tracking of square wave, as
shown in Figure 6, is also conducted. The gains are kept the same as in the previous
experiments. Figure 6(a) and Figure 6(c) demonstrate the tracking performance in X and Y
directions, respectively while Figure 6(b) and Figure 6(d) show the suppression results of
sway angles. It is found that good performance can still be preserved is spite of the sudden
change of desired position.

Fig. 32. Desired Trajectory

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On the Adaptive Tracking Control of 3-D Overhead Crane Systems

Fig. 33. Tracking Response

x(t )

Fig. 34. Sway Angle Response

Fig. 35. Tracking Response

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with Adaptive Algorithm

(t )

y (t )

with Adaptive Algorithm

with Adaptive Algorithm

301

302

Fig. 36. Sway Angle Response

Adaptive Control

(t )

with Adaptive Algorithm

Fig. 37. Trajectory of k(t)

5. Conclusion
In this chapter, a nonlinear adaptive control law has been presented for the motion control
of overhead crane. By utilizing a Lyapunov-based stability analysis, we can achieve
asymptotic tracking of the crane position and stabilization of payload sway angle for an
overhead crane system which is subject to both underactuation and parametric
uncertainties. Comparative simulation studies have been performed to validate the
proposed control algorithm. To practically validate the proposed adaptive schemes, an
overhead crane system is built up and experiments are also conducted. Both simulations
and experiments show better performance in comparison with the conventional PD control.

6. References
Philippe Martin, Santosh Devasia, and Brad Paden, 1996, A

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Different Look at Output

On the Adaptive Tracking Control of 3-D Overhead Crane Systems

303

Tracking: Control of a VTOL Aircraft. Automatica, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 101-107.
Yannick Morel, and Alexander Leonessa, 2003, Adaptive Nonlinear Tracking Control of an
Underactuated Nonminimum Phase Model of a Marine Vehicle Using Ultimate
Boundedness. Proc. of the 42nd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, Maui,
Hawaii USA, pp. 3097-3102.
Xuezhen Wang, and Degang Chen, 2006, Output Tracking Control of a One-Link Flexible
Manipulator via Causal Inversion. IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology,
Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 141-148.
Qiguo Yan, 2003, Output Tracking of Underactuated Rotary Inverted Pendulum by
Nonlinear Controller. Proc. of the 42nd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control,
Maui, Hawaii USA, pp. 2395-2400.
Y. Fang, E. Zergeroglu, W. E. Dixon, and D.M. Dawson, 2001, Nonlinear Coupling
Control Laws for an Overhead Crane System. Proc. of the 2001 IEEE International
Conference on Control Applications, pp. 639-644.
B. Kiss, J. Levine, and Ph. Mullhaupt, 2000, A Simple Output Feedback PD controller for
Nonlinear Cranes. Proc. of the 39th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, Sydney,
Australia, pp. 5097-5101.
F. Boustany, and B. dAndrea-Novel, 1992, Adaptive Control of an Overhead Crane Using
Dynamic Feedback Linearization and Estimation Design. Proc. of the 1992 IEEE
International conference on Robotics and Automation, pp. 1963-1968.
W. Li, and Q. Tang, 1993, Control Design for a Highly Nonlinear System. Proc. of the
ASME Annual Winter Meeting, Vol. 50, Symposium on Mechatronics, New Orleans, LA,
pp. 21-26.
Barmeshwar Vikramaditya, and Rajesh Rajamani, 2000, Nonlinear Control of a trolley
crane system. Proc. of the American Control Conference Chicago, Illinois, pp.
1032-1036.
Kazunobu Yoshida, and Hisashi Kawabe, 1992, A Design of Saturating Control with a
Guaranteed Cost and Its Application to the Crane Control System. IEEE
Transactions on Automatic Control, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 121-127.
Chung Choo Chung, and John Hauser, 1995, Nonlinear Control of a Swinging Pendulum.
Automatica, Vol. 31, No. 6, pp. 851-862.
Dian-Tong Liu, Jian-Qiang Yi, and Dong-Bin Zhao, 2003, Fuzzy tuning sliding mode
control of transporting for an overhead crane. Proc. the second International
Conference on Machine Learning and Cybernetics, Xian, China, pp. 2541-2546.
Y. Fang, W. E. Dixon, D. M. Dawson, and E. Zergeroglu, 2001, Nonlinear coupling control
laws for 3-DOF overhead crane system. Proc. the 40th IEEE Conference on Decision
and Control, Orlando, Florida, USA, pp. 3766-3771.
T. Ishide, H. Uchida, and S. Miyakawa, 1991, Application of a fuzzy neural network in the
automation of crane system. Proc. of the 9th Fuzzy System Symposium, pp. 29-33.
J. Yu, F. L. Lewis, and T. Huang, 1995, Nonlinear feedback control of a gantry crane. Proc.
of the American Control Conference, Seattle, Washington, USA, pp. 4310-4315.
Giorgio Bartolini, Alessandro Pisano, and Elio Usai, 2002, Second-order sliding-mode
control of container cranes. Proc. of the 38th Automatica, pp. 1783-1790.

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Kazunobu Yoshida, 1998, Nonlinear control design for a crane system with state
constraints. Proc. of the American Control Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pp.
1277-1283.
M. J. Er, M. Zribi, and K. L. Lee, 1988, Variable Structure Control of Overhead Crane. Proc.
of the 1998 IEEE International Conference on Control Applications, Trieste, Italy,
pp.398-402.
Jianqiang Yi, Naoyoshi Yubazaki, and Kaoru Hirota, 2003, Anti-swing and positioning
control of overhead traveling crane. Proc. of the Information Sciences 155, pp. 19-42.
Diantong Liu, Jianqiang Yi, Dongbin Zhao, and Wei Wang, 2004, Swing-Free Transporting
of Two-Dimensional Overhead Crane Using Sliding Mode Fuzzy Control. Proc. of
the 2004 American Control Conference, Boston, Massachusetts, pp. 1764-1769.
J.A. Mendez, L. Acosta, L. Moreno, A. Hamilton, and G.N. Marichal, 1998, Design of a
Neural Network Based Self-Tuning Controller for an overhead crane. Proc. of the
1998 IEEE International Conference on Control Applications, pp. 168-171.
Ho-Hoon Lee, and Seung-Gap Choi, 2001, A Model-Based Anti-Swing Control of
Overhead Cranes with High Hoisting Speeds. Proc. of the 2001 IEEE International
Conference on Robotics and Automation, Seoul, Korea, pp. 2547-2552.
Wahyudi, and J. Jalani, 2006, Robust Fuzzy Logic Controller for an Intelligent Gantry
Crane System. First International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems,
pp. 497-502.
Wanlop Sridokbuap, Songmoung Nundrakwang, Taworn Benjanarasuth, Jongkol
Ngamwiwit and Noriyuki Komine, 2007, I-PD and PD Controllers Designed by
CRA for Overhead Crane System. International Conference on Control, Automation
and Systems, COEX, Seoul, Korea, pp. 326-330.
APPENDIX A
Mathematical Description of The Dynamic Model
The dynamic equation of the 3D overhead crane system can be derived by using
Largrange-Euler formula and shown in the following

M (q)q&& + C (q, q& ) + G (q) =

where

0
m1 + mc

0
m1 + m2 + mc
M (q) =
mc l cos mc l sin sin

0
mc l cos cos

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mc l cos

mc l sin sin
mc l 2
0

mc l cos cos

mc l 2 cos 2
0

305

On the Adaptive Tracking Control of 3-D Overhead Crane Systems

m c l & 2 sin

2
2
&
&
m c l (& + ) cos sin 2 m c l & sin cos
C ( q , q& ) =

m c l 2 & 2 sin cos

2 m c l 2& & sin cos

G (q) =
mc gl sin cos

mc gl cos sin

= [u x u y
q = [x

]T

0 0

To satisfy property P2 as stated in section 2 the vector

C (q, q& ) = B(q& , q)q& where

0
B ( q , q& ) =
0

0
0
0
0

C (q, q& )

can be re-arranged as

m c l & 2 sin
m c l & cos sin m c l & sin cos
0

m c l & sin cos

2

m c l & sin cos m c l & cos sin

m c l 2 sin cos

2
m c l & sin cos

It can be easily checked that

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Adaptive Control

0
M& 2C =
mc l& sin

0
0
mc l& cos sin mc l& sin cos
0

mc l& sin
mc l& cos sin + mc l& sin cos
0
2 &
2mc l sin cos

2mc l 2 & sin cos

which is skew-symmetrical matrix.

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Adaptive Control

Edited by Kwanho You

ISBN 978-953-7619-47-3
Hard cover, 372 pages
Publisher InTech

Published online 01, January, 2009

Published in print edition January, 2009

Adaptive control has been a remarkable field for industrial and academic research since 1950s. Since more
and more adaptive algorithms are applied in various control applications, it is becoming very important for
practical implementation. As it can be confirmed from the increasing number of conferences and journals on
adaptive control topics, it is certain that the adaptive control is a significant guidance for technology
development.The authors the chapters in this book are professionals in their areas and their recent research
results are presented in this book which will also provide new ideas for improved performance of various
control application problems.

How to reference

In order to correctly reference this scholarly work, feel free to copy and paste the following:
Jung Hua Yang (2009). On the Adaptive Tracking Control of 3-D Overhead Crane Systems, Adaptive Control,
Kwanho You (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-7619-47-3, InTech, Available from:
http://www.intechopen.com/books/adaptive_control/on_the_adaptive_tracking_control_of_3d_overhead_crane_systems

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