Synchronous control of double-containers for overhead crane

The development and wide application of double spreaders overhead cranes have effectively improved the loading and unloading efficiency of the container terminals. However, due to the nonlinear time-varying characteristics and parameter perturbation of the lifting device of the double spreaders, the difficulty of synchronous and coordinated control of the double spreader overhead crane is increased. In order to solve the problem of synchronous control of double spreaders overhead cranes, this work establishes the mathematical model of the double spreaders overhead crane and proposes two main methods. The controller based on the fuzzy sliding mode method is established. Fuzzy logic control can effective estimate the parameters of the system, reduce the chattering of sliding mode control, and improve the performance of its control. Mean deviation coupling synchronization control combined with sliding mode control can effectively control the speed error between the two spreaders, so that they can keep working synchronously. The other controller is established which use fast non-singular terminal sliding mode control to ensure that the system can converge in a finite time. The combination of terminal sliding mode control and super twisting algorithm can enhance the stability of the system.O desenvolvimento e a vasta aplicação de pontes rolantes de duplo espalhamento tem melhorado a eficiência de carga e descarga dos terminais de contentores. No entanto devido ao facto das variações não lineares do tempo e a perturbação dos parâmetros do dispositivo de elevação de duplo espalhamento, é dificultado o controlo sincronizado e coordenado. Com o objetivo de resolver o problema do controlo síncrono das pontes rolantes de duplo espalhamento, este projeto usa o modelo matemático do guindaste de dupla propagação e propõe dois métodos de resolução. O controlo baseado no método do modo deslizante difuso. O controlo lógico difuso pode estimar eficazmente os parâmetros do sistema, reduzir a vibração do controlo do modo deslizante e melhorar o seu desempenho. O control de sincronização do acoplamento do desvio médio, combinado com o control do modo deslizante que pode controlar eficazmente o erro de velocidade entre os dois espalhadores, para que o seu trabalho possa continuar de forma síncrona. O outro controlador usa um controlo rápido e não singular do modo de deslizamento do terminal para garantir que o sistema possa convergir num tempo limitado. A combinação do control no modo deslizante do terminal e do algoritmo de super rotação pode melhorar a estabilidade do sistema

On two sequential problems : the load planning and sequencing problem and the non-normal recurrent neural network

The work in this thesis is separated into two parts. The first part deals with the load planning and sequencing problem for double-stack intermodal railcars, an operational problem found at many rail container terminals. In this problem, containers must be assigned to a platform on which the container will be loaded, and the loading order must be determined. These decisions are made with the objective of minimizing the costs associated with handling the containers, as well as minimizing the cost of containers left behind. The deterministic version of the problem can be cast as a shortest path problem on an ordered graph. This problem is challenging to solve because of the large size of the graph. We propose a two-stage heuristic based on the Iterative Deepening A* algorithm to compute solutions to the load planning and sequencing problem within a five-minute time budget. Next, we also illustrate how a Deep Q-learning algorithm can be used to heuristically solve the same problem.The second part of this thesis considers sequential models in deep learning. A recent strategy to circumvent the exploding and vanishing gradient problem in recurrent neural networks (RNNs) is to enforce recurrent weight matrices to be orthogonal or unitary. While this ensures stable dynamics during training, it comes at the cost of reduced expressivity due to the limited variety of orthogonal transformations. We propose a parameterization of RNNs, based on the Schur decomposition, that mitigates the exploding and vanishing gradient problem, while allowing for non-orthogonal recurrent weight matrices in the model.Le travail de cette thèse est divisé en deux parties. La première partie traite du problème de planification et de séquencement des chargements de conteneurs sur des wagons, un problème opérationnel rencontré dans de nombreux terminaux ferroviaires intermodaux. Dans ce problème, les conteneurs doivent être affectés à une plate-forme sur laquelle un ou deux conteneurs seront chargés et l'ordre de chargement doit être déterminé. Ces décisions sont prises dans le but de minimiser les coûts associés à la manutention des conteneurs, ainsi que de minimiser le coût des conteneurs non chargés. La version déterministe du problème peut être formulé comme un problème de plus court chemin sur un graphe ordonné. Ce problème est difficile à résoudre en raison de la grande taille du graphe. Nous proposons une heuristique en deux étapes basée sur l'algorithme Iterative Deepening A* pour calculer des solutions au problème de planification et de séquencement de la charge dans un budget de cinq minutes. Ensuite, nous illustrons également comment un algorithme d'apprentissage Deep Q peut être utilisé pour résoudre heuristiquement le même problème. La deuxième partie de cette thèse examine les modèles séquentiels en apprentissage profond. Une stratégie récente pour contourner le problème de gradient qui explose et disparaît dans les réseaux de neurones récurrents (RNN) consiste à imposer des matrices de poids récurrentes orthogonales ou unitaires. Bien que cela assure une dynamique stable pendant l'entraînement, cela se fait au prix d'une expressivité réduite en raison de la variété limitée des transformations orthogonales. Nous proposons une paramétrisation des RNN, basée sur la décomposition de Schur, qui atténue les problèmes de gradient, tout en permettant des matrices de poids récurrentes non orthogonales dans le modèle

A Data-driven and multi-agent decision support system for time slot management at container terminals: A case study for the Port of Rotterdam

Controlling the departure time of the trucks from a container hub is important to both the traffic and the logistics systems. This, however, requires an intelligent decision support system that can control and manage truck arrival times at terminal gates. This paper introduces an integrated model that can be used to understand, predict, and control logistics and traffic interactions in the port-hinterland ecosystem. This approach is context-aware and makes use of big historical data to predict system states and apply control policies accordingly, on truck inflow and outflow. The control policies ensure multiple stakeholders satisfaction including those of trucking companies, terminal operators, and road traffic agencies. The proposed method consists of five integrated modules orchestrated to systematically steer truckers toward choosing those time slots that are expected to result in lower gate waiting times and more cost-effective schedules. The simulation is supported by real-world data and shows that significant gains can be obtained in the system

The synergistic effect of operational research and big data analytics in greening container terminal operations: a review and future directions

Container Terminals (CTs) are continuously presented with highly interrelated, complex, and uncertain planning tasks. The ever-increasing intensity of operations at CTs in recent years has also resulted in increasing environmental concerns, and they are experiencing an unprecedented pressure to lower their emissions. Operational Research (OR), as a key player in the optimisation of the complex decision problems that arise from the quay and land side operations at CTs, has been therefore presented with new challenges and opportunities to incorporate environmental considerations into decision making and better utilise the ‘big data’ that is continuously generated from the never-stopping operations at CTs. The state-of-the-art literature on OR's incorporation of environmental considerations and its interplay with Big Data Analytics (BDA) is, however, still very much underdeveloped, fragmented, and divergent, and a guiding framework is completely missing. This paper presents a review of the most relevant developments in the field and sheds light on promising research opportunities for the better exploitation of the synergistic effect of the two disciplines in addressing CT operational problems, while incorporating uncertainty and environmental concerns efficiently. The paper finds that while OR has thus far contributed to improving the environmental performance of CTs (rather implicitly), this can be much further stepped up with more explicit incorporation of environmental considerations and better exploitation of BDA predictive modelling capabilities. New interdisciplinary research at the intersection of conventional CT optimisation problems, energy management and sizing, and net-zero technology and energy vectors adoption is also presented as a prominent line of future research

Exploring the resilience of uncertain nonlinear handling chain systems in container ports with a novel sliding mode control

Uncertain handling chain system (HCS) of container ports brings steady-state error to the original control decisions, and even worse, dramatically degrades the system performance. The steady-state error will cause unsatisfied freight requirement to be much higher than the expected value for a long time, resulting in the decrease of system robustness and resilience. In this work, a novel sliding mode control with power integral reaching law (SMC-P) is presented for nonlinear HCS of container ports under uncertainty. Specifically, the integral of system state variable, the exponential reaching law and the power of the switching function are integrated to the traditional reaching law. And it is proven that the eliminated steady-state error, the accelerated approach speed, and the reduced chattering can be effectively obtained by SMC-P. A nonlinear HCS in container ports with uncertain freight requirement and handling ability is considered. SMC-P is compared with traditional method, genetic algorithm, quasi-sliding mode control and integral sliding mode control. Simulation results show that SMC-P does not only balance both steady-state error reduction and chattering avoidance caused by uncertainty, but also optimize the performance, robustness, and resilience of the uncertain nonlinear HCS. This study also brings economic and sustainability contributions for port authorities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Integrated sensing, dynamics and control of a moble gantry crane

This thesis investigates the dynamics and control of a Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) crane which is commonly used in container handling operations. Both theoretical and experimental work has been undertaken to ensure the balance of this research. The concept of a Global Sensing System (GSS) is outlined, this being a closed loop automatic sensing system capable of guiding the lifting gear (spreader) to the location of the target container by using feedback signals from the crane's degrees of freedom. To acquire the crucial data for the coordinates and orientation of the swinging spreader a novel visual sensing system (VSS) is proposed. In addition algorithms used in the VSS for seeking the central coordinates of the clustered pixels from the digitised images are also developed. In order to investigate the feasibility of different control strategies in practice, a scaleddown, 1/8 full size, experimental crane rig has been constructed with a new level of functionality in that the spreader in this rig is equipped with multiple cables to emulate the characteristics of a full-size RTG crane. A Crane Application Programming Interface (CAPI) is proposed to reduce the complexity and difficulty in integrating the control software and hardware. It provides a relatively user-friendly environment in which the end-user can focus on implementing the more fundamental issues of control strategies, rather than spending significant amounts of time in low-level devicedependent programming. A control strategy using Feedback Linearization Control (FLC) is investigated. This can handle significant non-linearity in the dynamics of the RTG crane. Simulation results are provided, and so by means of the CAPI this controller is available for direct control of the experimental crane rig. The final part of the thesis is an integration of the analyses of the different subjects, and shows the feasibility of real-time implementation

Robust Control of Crane with Perturbations

In the presence of persistent perturbations in both unactuated and actuated dynamics of crane systems, an observer-based robust control method is proposed, which achieves the objective of trolley positioning and cargo swing suppression. By dealing with the unactuated and unknown perturbation as an augmented state variable, the system dynamics are transformed into a quasi-chain-of-integrators form based on which a reduced-order augmented-state observer is established to recover the perturbations appearing in the unactuated dynamics. A novel sliding manifold is constructed to improve the robust performance of the control system, and a linear control law is presented to make the state variables stay on the manifold in the presence of perturbations in unactuated dynamics. A Lyapunov function candidate is constructed, and the entire closed-loop system is proved rigorously to be exponentially stable at the equilibrium point. The effectiveness and robustness of the proposed observer-based robust controller are verified by numerical simulation results

Sequence-Based Simulation-Optimization Framework With Application to Port Operations at Multimodal Container Terminals

It is evident in previous works that operations research and mathematical algorithms can provide optimal or near-optimal solutions, whereas simulation models can aid in predicting and studying the behavior of systems over time and monitor performance under stochastic and uncertain circumstances. Given the intensive computational effort that simulation optimization methods impose, especially for large and complex systems like container terminals, a favorable approach is to reduce the search space to decrease the amount of computation. A maritime port can consist of multiple terminals with specific functionalities and specialized equipment. A container terminal is one of several facilities in a port that involves numerous resources and entities. It is also where containers are stored and transported, making the container terminal a complex system. Problems such as berth allocation, quay and yard crane scheduling and assignment, storage yard layout configuration, container re-handling, customs and security, and risk analysis become particularly challenging. Discrete-event simulation (DES) models are typically developed for complex and stochastic systems such as container terminals to study their behavior under different scenarios and circumstances. Simulation-optimization methods have emerged as an approach to find optimal values for input variables that maximize certain output metric(s) of the simulation. Various traditional and nontraditional approaches of simulation-optimization continue to be used to aid in decision making. In this dissertation, a novel framework for simulation-optimization is developed, implemented, and validated to study the influence of using a sequence (ordering) of decision variables (resource levels) for simulation-based optimization in resource allocation problems. This approach aims to reduce the computational effort of optimizing large simulations by breaking the simulation-optimization problem into stages. Since container terminals are complex stochastic systems consisting of different areas with detailed and critical functions that may affect the output, a platform that accurately simulates such a system can be of significant analytical benefit. To implement and validate the developed framework, a large-scale complex container terminal discrete-event simulation model was developed and validated based on a real system and then used as a testing platform for various hypothesized algorithms studied in this work

Data driven neuroendocrine pid controller for mimo plants based adaptive safe experimentation dynamics algorithm

This study focused on data-driven tools and controller structure in the data-driven control scheme. Data-driven tools are an optimization method to find the optimal controller parameters using the system’s input and output data. Meanwhile, the controller structure refers to the controller design that is highly dependent on the input and output system. The existing data-driven neuroendocrine-PID (NEPID) utilizes the simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation (SPSA) algorithm as the data-driven tool. However, this SPSA-based method is unable to find the optimal value of the design parameter due to unstable convergence obtained that degrades the controller performance in MIMO systems. Thus, a safe experimentation dynamics (SED) algorithm is selected to solve this unstable convergence but still not enough to achieve high accuracy because the update designed parameter only depends on the fixed step size gain. For the controller structure, the hormone secretion rate parameter of the existing NEPID is constant during the experimental time. However, control accuracy is insufficient because the secretion rate and control variable error are not able to interact directly and limits the controller capability. Besides, in the existing NEPID controller structure of the SISO system, only a single node of hormone regulation is used due to a single control variable. Meanwhile, in the MIMO systems, many control variables available that interact with each other, and the single node hormone regulation of NEPID is still inadequate in producing better control accuracy of nonlinear MIMO systems. Therefore, this study proposed the adaptive safe experimentation dynamics (ASED) algorithm to improve the SED algorithm performance accuracy by minimizing its objective function in terms of mean, best, worst, and standard deviation analysis. In order to increase the control accuracy of the existing NEPID controller, this study also established the sigmoid-based secretion rate neuroendocrine- PID (SbSR-NEPID) controller structure by varying the hormone secretion rate according to the change of error. Finally, this study also focused on developing a multiple node hormone regulation neuroendocrine-PID (MnHR–NEPID) controller structure to improve the control accuracy of existing NEPID by prioritizing the control regulation of each node from their level of error. The performance of PID and NEPID controllers was compared with those of SbSR-NEPID and MnHR-NEPID performances based on error and input tracking. The results show that the ASED- and SED-based methods produced stable convergence. The ASED-based method provided better tracking performance than the SED method by obtaining the objective function’s lower values. Besides, from the simulation work, the SbSR-NEPID and MnHR-NEPID designs provided better control accuracy in terms of lower objective function, total norm of error, and total norm of input compared to those of the PID and NEPID controllers. Moreover, the SbSR-NEPID controller achieved control accuracy improvement of 4.95% and 5.89% for the container gantry crane and TRMS systems, respectively. Besides, the MnHR-NEPID controller achieved control accuracy improvement of 5.7% and 5.1% for the container gantry crane and TRMS systems, respectively. The ASED-based method significantly improved the SED method’s accuracy by using adaptive terms based on changing the objective function in the updated procedure. Besides, the SbSR-NEPID was effective in reducing the error in a transient state, and MnHR-NEPID provided effective interaction between nodes available in MIMO systems which contributed to accuracy improvement