Algorithm for Mobile Crane Walking Path Planning in Congested Industrial Plants

On-site construction of industrial projects relies heavily on large mobile cranes for the lifting of prefabricated modules, which over the years have become heavier and more voluminous. Industrial construction sites are frequently congested, a condition that reduces the area where cranes can freely maneuver. As a result, in some cases mobile cranes may not have sufficient clearance to perform the lifts and thus need to pick and walk with loads to a point from which the modules can ultimately be set in their resting positions. Since this type of crane operation presents higher risks of failure or accident in comparison to the traditional scenario, in which the location of the crane does not change for the duration of the lifting, a detailed analysis of these operations is paramount to ensure safety and efficiency. Paradoxically, many practitioners still rely on their best judgment for crane walking planning, which in the case of highly congested and complex construction sites is likely to lead to inefficiencies and errors since numerous obstacles may interfere with the crane body and the load. Furthermore, manual analysis is tedious, time-consuming and cannot respond rapidly to changes in work orders or project scope, especially considering the large number of lifts involved in modern industrial projects. In this paper, a generic algorithm is proposed for mobile crane walking path planning, which considers the typical site constraints, the geometry of lifted modules, and crane configuration. The proposed algorithm calculates the pick area and crane collision-free operation area, based upon which the crane’s walking paths are determined. A case study, based on an actual industrial project, is presented to validate the developed algorithm.