Input shaping and VSC of container cranes

A dual-stage control strategy for container cranes is investigated. The first stage control is a modified input shaping control to reduce residual vibrations at the target position and to limit the sway angle of the payload during the traveling. The second stage control is a nonlinear control for the quick suppression of the residual sway while lowering the container at the target trolley position. The secondary control combines the partial feedback linearization to account for the unknown nonlinearities as much as possible and the variable structure control to account for the unmodeled dynamics and disturbances. Computer simulation results are provided.