SHIP-TO-SHORE GANTRY CRANE SIMULATOR DESIGN: CRANE OPERATOR PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS AND ASSESSMENT TOOL OF CAGLIARI UNIVERSITY

This paper describes the ship-to-shore gantry crane simulator developed by authors at Cagliari University. The simulator has been designed and constructed as a means for reducing quayside crane operator error through virtual reality training and investigations, using a physical simulation model. Quayside crane operators in container terminals are increasingly exposed to latent sources of stress because of the continuing advances in crane functionality. This has led to an increasing demand for highly skilled operators in container shipping, a sector that has been experiencing exponential growth for many years now. This work describes the main features and components of the simulator, a transportable containerized facility provided with a 6 degrees-of-freedom motion platform. The simulator has been designed to provide a full immersion environment for high performance training, but also and above all for basic and applied research, monitoring and analysing operator performance by means of electromedical instruments.. The specific activities conducted with the Cagliari simulator (training, research, technological advance) aim to reduce the possibility of accident occurrence, which are largely caused by the onset of fatigue..