Control of an Overhead Crane with the Controlled Lagrangian Method

A nonlinear controller structure for an overhead crane is designed and implemented on a crane plant. The energy based stabilizing controller part is derived by the method of Controlled Lagrangians. In that framework, kinetic and potential shaping is performed and so-called general matching conditions are employed. Control parameters well suited for the practical implementation are found by optimization using the linearization of the closed loop system. Nonlinear damping effects are counteracted in the overall controller structure by feedforward compensation and a reduced nonlinear disturbance observer.