AWAY WITH SWAY.

Crane operators in Port Freeport, Texas, will no longer need to worry about sway affecting suspended loads. An anti-sway system, which the manufacturer calls the world's first on a heavy lift rotating boom, will be going into a crane there made by Gottwald of Dusseldorf.

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According to Discenza, unloading a ship with a rotating boom has, until now, taken two steps: one to move the container from ship to pier and another to place it on the truck trailer. The new anti-sway control is able to align the container precisely with the trailer, thus eliminating the second step.

The system makes use of sensors already available on the crane that transmit boom position to an operator. It adds a sensor for slew, Discenza said. A camera at the boom's tip verifies ship and truck position through a visual recognition system.

Discenza proved the software mathematics on a scale-model crane that used an 8-foot boom.