A Local Positioning System for Loader Cranes Based on Wireless Sensors—A Feasibility Study

This paper presents a feasibility study that deals with a local positioning system for a loader crane based on battery-powered wireless sensors and consists of two joint angular sensors and one telescopic boom length ranger. The practical challenges associated with using conventional sensors are described in order to provide the motivation behind the choice to use the sensing methods proposed in this paper. A novel method is tested using microelectromechanical system inertial sensors mounted around the crane joints to indirectly measure the joint angles, as well as an ultrasound time-of-flight ranging method to measure the telescopic boom length. The local positioning system's wireless sensor prototype designs are described in detail. Data from the angular sensor experiments conducted on a loader crane and the ultrasound ranging experiments conducted both in the laboratory and on the loader crane are presented and analyzed. The preliminary results from these experiments show that the performance of the new sensors is promising. The conclusion is drawn from the experimental results, and future work for this local positioning system is also described.