CROPPING CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR HOT MILL OPERATIONS

1 . A cropping system for cropping a metal slab, the cropping system comprising a slab positioning system, the slab positioning system comprising:

an optical sensor configured to measure a position of an end of the metal slab relative to a cropping device of the cropping system; and

a controller communicatively coupled to the optical sensor and configured to generate a position control response based on the measured position of the end of the metal slab by the optical sensor.

2 . The cropping system of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is a first optical sensor configured to measure the position of the end of the metal slab upstream from the cropping device, and wherein the slab positioning system further comprises a second optical sensor configured to measure the position of the end of the metal slab downstream from the cropping device.

3 . The cropping system of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is positioned above a passline for the metal slab through the cropping system, and wherein the optical sensor is configured to measure the metal slab in a plane extending in a direction parallel to a processing direction of the metal slab.

4 . The cropping system of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is a laser-based optical sensor.

5 . The cropping system of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is a thermal camera.

6 . The cropping system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to position the metal slab relative to the cropping device or generate a display on a human machine interface as the position control response.

7 . The cropping system of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is a machine vision camera positioned above a passline for the metal slab through the cropping system.

8 . A cropping system for cropping a metal slab, the cropping system comprising a slab positioning system, the slab positioning system comprising:

an optical sensor configured to detect an end of the metal slab; and

a controller communicatively coupled to the optical sensor and configured to:

receive visual data from the optical sensor comprising the detected end of the metal slab;

measure a length of a target region of the end of the metal slab based on the received visual data; and

generate a position control response based on the measured length of the target region of the end of the metal slab.

9 . The cropping system of claim 8 , wherein the optical sensor is a machine vision camera positioned above a passline for the metal slab through the cropping system.

10 . The cropping system of claim 8 , wherein the optical sensor is a thermal camera.

11 . The cropping system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to position the metal slab relative to a cropping device or generate a display on a human machine interface as the position control response.

12 . The cropping system of claim 8 , further comprising a cropping device for cropping the metal slab.

13 . A cropping system for cropping a metal slab, the cropping system comprising a cropping length system, the cropping length system comprising:

an optical sensor configured to detect a defect in an end of the metal slab; and

a controller communicatively coupled to the optical sensor and configured to determine a cropping location in the metal slab based on the detected defect by the optical sensor.

14 . The cropping system of claim 13 , wherein the optical sensor is a laser-based optical sensor.

15 . The cropping system of claim 13 , wherein the optical sensor is mounted at an angle between a rolling direction and a width direction defined by the cropping system for cropping the metal slab.

16 . The cropping system of claim 15 , wherein the angle is from 45° to less than 90°, inclusive, relative to the width direction.

17 . The cropping system of claim 13 , wherein the optical sensor is configured to detect the defect in a thickness direction of the metal slab.

18 . The cropping system of claim 13 , wherein the optical sensor is a first optical sensor, wherein the cropping length system further comprises a second optical sensor, wherein the first optical sensor and the second optical sensor are each configured to detect the defect in a thickness direction of the metal slab, wherein the first optical sensor is at a first angle between a rolling direction and a width direction defined by the cropping system for cropping the metal slab, and wherein the second optical sensor is at a second angle different from the first angle and between the rolling direction and the width direction.

19 . The cropping system of claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the cropping location by determining an overall length of the defect, wherein the controller is configured to determine the overall length of the defect by:

determining a measured length of the defect based on the detection by the optical sensor; and

adding a hidden length of the defect to the measured length of the defect to determine the overall length of the defect.

20 . The cropping system of claim 19 , wherein the hidden length of the defect is a predetermined, estimated hidden length.