ROLL CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A SUSPENDED BOOM

摘要

A roll control system is provided for controlling a roll position of a boom rotatably coupled to a support frame, the boom comprising left and right wing sections (where the roll of the boom refers to a clockwise or counterclockwise rotation of said boom relative to the support frame). A roll control mechanism is configured for rotating the boom relative to the support frame in response to a roll control signal. Wing section position measuring apparatus is configured for producing a right wing signal correlatable to a distance between the right wing section and a right wing reference position and a left wing signal correlatable to a distance between the left wing section and a left wing reference position. Boom roll position measuring apparatus is configured for producing a boom roll signal correlatable to a roll position of the boom relative to a boom roll reference position. A controller is configured for: (i) identifying a wing section differential value and a boom roll value derived from the right and left wing signals and the boom roll signal, respectively; (ii) identifying a boom roll control error value derived from the wing section differential value and the boom roll value, the boom roll error control value being configured for deriving therefrom the roll control signal. Advantageously, the roll control system of the invention takes into account both the height differential (relative to a ground reference) between the left and right wings and the boom roll position relative to a neutral (reference) position.