It’s tough being a crane operator in the shipbuilding industry. When loading cargo, operators face the back-and-forth motion caused by momentum, the sway of the sea under the ship, and the wind. That can cause mayhem.

To combat this problem, SmartCrane, a Hampton-based mathematics and operations research consulting firm, developed software that modulates operator demands.

In the past, a crane operator would judge how fast to move an object and then control sway through trial and error. With SmartCrane’s anti-sway software program, the operator presses a button that tells the computer where he or she wants the cargo to go, and the computer system calculates the appropriate velocity for moving the cargo with minimum sway.

SmartCrane has patented the software for use on mobile harbor cranes, a type of two-dimensional rotating boom crane that can turn the crane and change the angle of the boom. (The boom is the long arm of the crane that goes up and down.)

The company, a division of Malvern, Pa.-based Wagner Associates, began in April. Coast Guard retiree Joe Discenza, SmartCrane’s vice president and manager, says he is "presently discussing funding with a venture capital firm." He anticipates that in the next five years, SmartCrane will generate $20 million a year in gross revenues.

Are crane operators embracing this new technology? Discenza says it’s too soon to tell. He adds that cranes used in the shipbuilding industry are a hot market for the technology. Eventually, he wants the company to tailor the program toward cranes used on construction sites as well as for general-purpose uses such as lifting. For now, SmartCrane is concentrating on expansion, including the recent opening of an office in San Francisco, and plans to extend growth into Europe. One of its biggest breaks so far is a deal with Mannesmann Dematic AG Gottwald. The Dusseldorf, Germany-based crane distributor plans to install SmartCrane software as standard equipment for its products, paying the company for every one sold. Gottwald manufactures approximately 50 cranes per year.