Sensors, Vol. 19, Pages 5389: Matching Detection of Crane Hook and Ladle Lug before Ladle Hoisting (Sensors)

Reliable matching between the crane hook and ladle lug is a key requirement for the safe hoisting of a ladle in steelmaking. A novel method is proposed to detect the matching between the hook and lug using surface acoustic wave radio frequency identification (SAW RFID) localization. SAW RFID tags are attached to the surface of the lug and the hook. The position of the lug is estimated via a geometric mapping approach with a special position of the tag and the reader’s antenna, and the position of the hook is estimated by a synthetic aperture approach with the hook’s movement pattern. Afterwards, the matching judgement is determined based on the relative position between the hook and lug. The proposed method employs only two SAW tags and two reader antennas, facilitating installation and routine maintenance. Numerical simulation and physical experiments demonstrate that the proposed method works effectively for matching detection.