Abstract: A LIDAR device is positioned on a crane and is moved along a track to collect 3D image data of the area below the crane. The resulting image data is sent to a computing device that applies or more filtering algorithms to the image data and searches for known image shapes therein through a comparison of the image data and one or more 3D object models based on known shapes or geometric primitives. If an object is identified in the image data and is determined to be accessible, position information for that object may be sent to a device configured to control movement of the crane to grab/pick up the object.