Background
It is a very complex task to control the crane arm of a forest
harvester. At the research center
IFOR,
techniques for aiding the human operator are developed, e.g.,
the possibility to control a crane arm remotely and using any
type of interface.
In the Smart
Crane Lab at the Department of applied physics and
electronics, there is a physical installation of a
hydrualically actuated crane. The research in the
Control Systems Group is devoted to
control systems
to relieve the operator and simplify the control of hydraulic
cranes.
Currently, the crane can be controlled remotely
over internet with a simple interface and visual display system.
At Skogforsk
in Uppsala, studies are performed in harvester simulator. These
studies are focused on enhanced productivity by operator
training in simulators and by introducing automation, remote
control and more effective user interfaces. A possibility is to
control the crane in Umeå remotely over internet using the
simulator environment in Uppsala as an interface.
Scope
A
Master’s thesis project may focus on
-
Visualization
system for the crane at IFOR’s Smart Crane Lab
-
Design a user interface for smarter control of the crane
-
3D model of the
crane and its environment, trees, obstacles
etc
-
Real-time visualization of
the crane and environment using
the signals (from
sensors
and cameras) from the real crane.
If time permits, extend to include collisions and dynamic
simulation.
-
Adaptation of harvester
simulator at Skogforsk in Uppsala for visualization and remote
control of crane in Umeå
-
Image analysis and virtual
environment map building from camera viewing the crane
environment
Previous
experience
Student
should have good knowledge from the field visualization
and maybe human-machine interaction or
interactive simulation.
Contact
For further information, a full specification and references,
contact Martin
Servin
(Department of physics).
The thesis project will run in
collaboration between Umeå university,
Skogforsk and
Oryx Simulation. Depending on
the students wishes, more or less time can be spent in Uppsala. |
