Measurement of Relative Position of Container with Image Processing for Automatic Container Cranes

This paper describes a measurement method of the relative position between the spreader of a quayside container crane and a container for an automatic container handling system. It is essential to realize an efficient loading and unloading task of quayside container cranes. First we describe our basic strategy of measurement method in order to realize an efficient loading and unloading task. Next we explain a fast and reliable measurement method of the relative position concretely. The measurement method is realized with an image processing method based on a template matching. Then we consider the adjustment method of prepared template by taking some images. Finally we confirm the validity of our proposed method with some experiments.