|
Home > Products > SeeContainer product line > SeeCrane
SeeCrane is a fully integrated OCR system that automatically reads and records
the container ISO code number as it is handled by a crane. The system integrates
with the crane control system for triggering and data processing purposes, and reports the
resulting recognition information and image to the port's information network. This process
establishes real-time automatic tracking of all handled containers.
The systems are available for a wide range of crane makes and manufacturing year, crane types (such as: twin-20s, no-twins, back reach), crane interface types (various manufactures' drivers; TCP/IP or RS232 interface), and retrofits to old models.
The system includes an array of high-performance camera units mounted on the crane structure. The camera
configuration captures images for different combinations and sizes of containers as they
are handled by the crane. The following photo shows the cameras mounted on the
sillbeam of the quay crane.
This installation is also seen in the following photo. The container is lowered unto the waiting truck and the cameras on the sides take a series of images when the container passes their view.
An example of the container capturing process is shown below. While the container is off-loaded by the quay crane (as in the above example), a set of cameras capture the crane on different sides.
The Container Code Recognition (CCR) software analyzes the images, determines and verifies the resulting identification string ("TSGU1068635"), records the results and an image (selects the best image in the sequence), then transmits the results to a port computer. The entire process is automatic, and performed in real-time in a few seconds.
Example of main display: An example of the main display is shown in the following animated image. It shows snapshots of two cases: a 40 ft container and one of the 20/20 ft containers. The main display includes the display of the best image (top/left side), option to view the other images, a list of previous recognitions (with option to view the image by clicking on the item), list of events (on the right side) , and an overall status (bottom/left).
Exception Handling: SeeCrane includes a feature of exception handling. In case of a recognition failure a set of video clips are saved and are available for the clerk's view, and used to verify or edit the results. An example of such video clip can be played.
PLC status report: SeeCrane supports a TCP/IP socket interface which is used to report the trolley/hoist position and the crane status to remote workstations. This interface can be used as an on-line crane status viewer. It is also useful for preparing an automatic stow plan of the containers in the vessel (for vessel-side tracking), or for correlating the processed containers to the trucks in order to maintain an updated yard stowing status (yard-side tracking). These systems increase the efficiency of tracking the goods in the marine terminals.
As part of the software development kit (SDK) - A crane viewer is supplied in VC++ source code. A sample animation in one of the installations can be seen on the right side. The viewer lists the connected cranes, displays their status, and graphically illustrates the position of the spreader. This sample application may be used to create various applications.
|
|
SeeCrane system:
|
|
Copyright Hi-Tech Solutions. |
Last Update: Nov-21-2004 |
