Patent ID: 9481553
Filing Date: 2016-11-01
CPC Classification: B66C,G06Q

Claim Text:
1. A system for controlling at least two automated rail mounted gantry cranes which cannot pass one another, the system comprising, for each of the cranes, a crane control unit including: a control input interface, configured to receive, from a scheduling system, at least one work order at a time, and configured to receive at least one sensor information reflecting execution of one of the work orders by the respective crane, wherein each work order specifies at least a start position and an end position of a target container to be moved by a respective crane; a control processing unit configured to process the at least one work order and the at least one sensor information to generate control information for ensuring execution of the at least one work order by the respective crane; a control output interface configured to transmit the control information towards at least one actuator of the respective crane; and a rescheduling unit including (i) an input interface configured to receive the at least one work order for all the cranes; (ii) a data processing module configured to perform a rescheduling by generating for each work order an expected trajectory along the rail between corresponding start and end positions, splitting at least one of the work orders into at least two new work orders through introduction of at least one intermediate position between the start and end positions, and determining a sequence and an allocation to the cranes for resulting new and unsplit work orders so as to reduce at least one of the (a) a number of situations, where an expected trajectory of one crane blocks the expected trajectory of another crane, (b) a duration of situations, where the expected trajectory of one crane blocks the expected trajectory of another crane, (c) a workload imbalance between the cranes; and (iii) an output interface configured to transmit new and unsplit work orders to the at least one control input interface of the crane control unit of the respective allocated crane, wherein the rescheduling unit operates in parallel with the crane control units executing the work orders, and wherein the control processing units regard the work orders received from the rescheduling unit as update of all previously received work orders.