Automation in Construction 22 (2012) 468480

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Automation in Construction
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon

A fast path planning method for single and dual crane erections
Yu-Cheng Chang, Wei-Han Hung, Shih-Chung Kang
Department of Civil Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taiwan

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Accepted 27 November 2011
Available online 2 January 2012
Keywords:
Crane
Erection
Dual crane
Path planning
Robotic

a b s t r a c t
This research aims to develop a method for planning the erection path automatically and efciently. The proposed method is comprised of two steps. The rst step is to convert the scene of the crane erection into a conguration space, in which the crane's load capacity and the obstacles in the environment have been included.
The second step is to nd a collision-free path in the conguration space by using the probabilistic road map
(PRM) method. Three tests were conducted to validate the action, crane placproposed method in this research. The results show that the proposed method is efcient, and can generate effective erection paths
for operating in near real-time scenarios. The method is appropriate for both single and dual crane erection,
and can help engineers plan more easily, and verify erection-planning decisions such as crane seleement, and
logistcs.
2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
In addition to the usual single crane erection, dual-crane cooperative erection has become more common in modern construction projects in recent years. Particularly, in industrial construction, it is often
necessary to transport large facilities; this requires cranes with a capacity of 5001000 t. Although available large cranes can move
weights of up to 1300 t, their operation may be restricted by the limited space on site, while the construction costs will increase if a larger
and more expensive crane is rented. A useful, often used alternative is
to utilize two less expensive cranes to perform a cooperative crane
erection [10,17]. However, in the cooperative dual crane erection process, the two cranes need to work together to maintain the equilibrium of heavy loads. The complexity of cooperative dual crane erection
is far higher than that of single crane operation, and this can lead to
high risk situations during construction [26]. If a feasible and safer
erection path can be pre-planned for cooperative dual crane erection,
then such high risk situations can be reduced to a minimum; further
justifying the importance of erection path planning.
Erection path planning is a complex topic, and there are three major
difculties involved. Firstly, the load of the crane should be within its lifting capacity during the erection process; the upper limit of the capacity
varies with the angle of the boom, which makes planning more difcult.
Secondly, collisions among the crane, the lifting object, and any obstacle
should be avoided. This makes the planning difcult when there are numerous obstacles on site, and the volume of the lifting object is large.
Thirdly, the cable of the crane must be kept vertical plumbed during a cooperative dual crane erection in order to avoid increased tension from

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sckang@caece.net (S.-C. Kang).
0926-5805/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.autcon.2011.11.006

when the cable is inclined, as increased tension would increase the

load on the crane.
Erection path planning in the past was limited by computational
efciency, and was applied only to path planning for moving in a simple environment [19] or motion planning with low degrees of freedom [15]. However, due to the rapid development in computing
technology, computational performance has improved, and path
planning, which was not possible in the past is becoming feasible
now. Path planning includes planning for motions of high degrees of
freedom [12], instantaneous avoidance of obstacles [13], and cooperative dual crane erection [22].
Due to advances in the path planning method, many studies have
focused on erection path planning. Computers are used to create 3D
models of construction sites and cranes; check collision in a virtual
construction site; and estimate the lifting capacity of the crane.
Thus, a feasible collision free erection path can be planned [25,2,11].
The method proposed in Refs. [11] and [25] effectively planned the
erection path, but it can only be used for single crane operations.
Wang et al. [31] proposed a sampling-based method for real-time
motion planning of cranes in order to improve construction safety.
Zhang et al. [28] utilized the Ant Colony algorithm to nd a
collision-free-path for a mobile crane with consideration for both efciency and safety. These studies have demonstrated the potential
and value of utilizing path-planning technique for single crane erection. The method mentioned in Ref. [2] is applicable to cooperative
dual crane erection planning. It is computationally the most effective
method at present for cooperative dual crane erection planning, but it
still takes between 3 and 12 min to calculate each plan.
Therefore, this research aims at developing a near real-time and
automated method for erection path planning. The method can be applied for both single crane and cooperative dual crane erection operations, and can be used to nd the most suitable erection path in the

Y.-C. Chang et al. / Automation in Construction 22 (2012) 468480

given environment. This method allows crane operators to complete

the job with higher efciency, thereby increasing the value of automation in the erection path planning process.

2. Method for path planning

In the study of path panning, the most commonly used methods
are Potential Field, Cell Decomposition, Genetic Algorithm, Visibility
Graph, and Probabilistic Roadmap.
In the Potential Field method [9], a force eld is constructed around
the workspace of the robot, and its planned path to be planned. Attractive and repulsive forces exist in this force eld. The nal position of the
load is the center of the attractive forces, and the obstacles in space are
the center of the repulsive forces. By using this method, the robot can
move to the targeted position. Although it is easy to nd the path
using this method and it is also applicable to paths with narrow spaces,
a disadvantage is that this method can fall into a local-optimum solution. Applications of the Potential Field method include path planning
of multiple robots [27], danger avoidance of robots [13], and path planning for high-speed vehicles [6].
The Cell Decomposition method [4] divides the space into several
subspaces, and nds the boundary conditions among the subspaces to
obtain a connectivity map. The method then looks for subspaces and
decides the order in which it will proceed from the starting point to
the goal. The machine then follows this order to change from one subspace to the next in order to arrive safely at the destination. For the
solution of non-polygonal obstacles and 3D space problems, Morse
Decomposition was proposed [1]. Another method is VisibilityBased Decomposition [8]; it is designed especially for solving the pursuitevasion problem.
The Genetic Algorithm method [7,21] is mainly based on Darwin's
theory of evolution; based on the law of nature i.e. the principle of
the survival of the ttest. The method considers the path of the gene
and uses the biological procedure of evolution to obtain a solution for
an optimal path. The algorithm comprises three steps: reproduction,
crossover, and mutation. The good genes can be retained by reproduction, which is followed by crossover and probabilistic mutation. These
three steps are repeated until the termination condition is satised.
The disadvantages of this method include the large volume of computation required, the fact that the termination condition may be satised
before an optimal solution is found. However, it is easier to apply the
Genetic Algorithm method to solve other optimization problems than
for path planning. Examples of such problems are circuit design [29],
control system design [16], and time-history design.
The Visibility Graph method [24,18] considers the vertex of the
obstacle as a path node, and considers all possible paths between
the starting and end point. In other words, it considers all possible
paths that do not go through the obstacles, and connects the starting
point, the nodes, and the end point to nd the shortest path. To avoid
the problem of having too many nodes, once an obstacle is not on the
path with the shortest length, it is excluded from consideration. However, a drawback of this method is that it is hard to decide whether to
use the vertex of that obstacle as a node if the path with shortest
length was not calculated. In addition, this method cannot work
with smooth obstacles.
Probabilistic Roadmap Methods (PRM) [12,5] are a widely used set
of methods for robotic action design and path design. The main approach is to sample within the space in order to make a node, and
to connect all nodes without obstacles in between in order to create
the path; thus producing a roadmap. Then, from the roadmap, we
must nd all possible paths from the starting point to the end point,
and the shortest path is then selected as the path for the robot. If
such a path does not exist, more nodes are sampled until a path can
be identied. PRM has been proven to be relatively complete [14],
as long as the probability of nding a path between the starting and

469

end point is not nil. If the computational time is not limited, PRM
can certainly be used to nd a feasible path.
The PRM method is based on probability, where the basic process
is to repeatedly guess the collision-free points and try to link them
into a collision-free path. The computation time for PRM depends
on the number of path nodes. The fewer nodes there are, the shorter
is the computation time. However, the probability of nd a feasible
path is also lower, and vice-versa, having more nodes leads to longer
computation time and a higher probability of nding a feasible path.
The PRM method is suitable for erection path planning. Erection
path planning is different from the maze problem of robotics, which
involves guring out where the corner is and how to navigate
through narrow paths. In construction practice, we usually maximize
the working space for cranes. This means PRM can compute (or
guess) a collision-free path in a very short amount of time, and only
a few nodes are sufcient to plan an erection path. For a more complicated erection operation, more nodes can be used to nd a feasible
path. Furthermore, regarding efciency, a crane operator may be
more interested in obtaining a feasible path quickly rather an optimal
path slowly. This is consistent with the main concept of the PRM
method. Therefore, this research makes use of the PRM method for
erection path planning, making it possible to nd a feasible erection
path in near real-time automatically.
3. Erection path planning for single crane erection
In this section we will introduce how a Conguration Space (C-Space)
is built for the single crane erection procedure, and nding a collision free
path from the C-space as the erection path for single crane operations.
3.1. Assumptions
The method for erection path planning presented in this research
is valid only under the following assumptions:
1. For the calculation of path planning, all the obstacles are assumed
to be static during the erection operation, except for the crane and
the lifting object.
2. There is no change in the location where the crane is set up during
the erection operation. In almost all erection operations, the crane
is set up at a xed location and the crane cannot move during the
erection operation.
3. The sway of the lifting object during the erection process is
accounted for using a larger boundary for the lifting object
model. We can measure the possible sway range and set an outer
boundary. Then we use the boundary to computer the collisionfree path. This avoids virtually all possible collisions due to the
sway. Crane operators are asked to minimize the cable sway to reduce risks. They usually stop moving the lifting object when it is
swinging until the object becomes static. However, the problem
of whether the dimensions of the lifting object model are enough
is beyond the scope of this research.
3.2. Procedure of erection path planning
For the erection path planning method presented here, the ow is
divided into three parts as shown in Fig. 1. Before planning an erection path, the user must provide information about the selected
crane including its lifting capacity and initial location. A C-space is
then constructed for the selected crane, and path planning is then
conducted in the C-space. Finally, operation planning is performed
for the hoisting, and a collision free and feasible erection path is
planned. If a feasible erection path cannot be found, users then can alternate the crane with other cranes that have better capacity or adjust
the initial location of the selected crane until they can nd a feasible
erection path.

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Y.-C. Chang et al. / Automation in Construction 22 (2012) 468480

Fig. 1. Flow chart for crane path planning.

3.3. Building the C-space for single crane

We consider the crane's base-swing angle and its boom-luff
angle as coordinates in order to construct a 2D C-space for the
crane. Construction of the C-space comprises three steps: rst, the
range of the space has to be dened; then the C-obstacle region is dened; and nally, we record the limits of hoist height and the heights
of obstacles for all collision free congurations in the space.
To dene the region of C-space, we need to rst nd the extent of
possible changes in the boom-luff angle . According to crane's table
of loading capabilities and considering the weight W of the lifting object, the maximum rotation angle max(W) and the minimum rotation angle min(W) can be identied; and thus the range of the Cspace coordinates can be determined. For safety considerations, the
load in the boom hold not exceed S% of the upper safety limit during
the erection operation, the weight of the object is considered as W/S,
and the table of loading capabilities should be used to nd max(W/S)
and min(W/S). in the planning process.
After the C-space is dened, we investigate the collision problem between the crane, the lifted object, and the obstacles for all congurations
[, ] to establish a C-obstacle region. We propose the cObstacleCheck
method to check whether the conguration is a C-obstacle. This method
determines whether there is a collision between the crane and the obstacle when base-swing is and boom-luff angle is . If there is a collision,
then the conguration [, ] is within the C-obstacle region. If there is no
collision, then proceed to the getHoistHeightRange method for calculation, which separately examines the collisions between the lifting object
and the crane, and between the lifting object and obstacles. From this,
we nd the range of hoist height hmin and hmax. When the hoist height
increases (with increment h) and reaches a state where the lifting object and the boom are not in contact with each other, the hoist height is
hmin. When the hoist height increases (by h) and reaches a state where
the lifting object collides with any one of the three (Building, oor, or
the body of the crane), the hoist height at the time is hmax, as shown
in Fig. 2. If hmin hmax, it indicates that the obstacle is too high and the
lifting object cannot pass through, or that the luff angle is too large
and the lifting object is too close to the crane. In this case, the conguration [, ] is within the C-obstacle region. When hmin b hmax, the conguration [, ] is a collision free conguration. The cObstacleCheck
and getHoistHeightRange algorithm are shown in Tables 1 and 2,
respectively.
After dening the C-obstacle region, the values for hoist height region hmin, hmax, and the heights hob of obstacles are recorded. This information is subsequently used for the planning of the erection path.
After completing the above steps, a 2D C-space can be constructed
for the crane, as shown in Fig. 3.

nodes in C-space, and then connect all possible nodes to form different paths. Finally, we select the optimal path from all possible paths
connecting the starting point to the end point, which forms the erection path for the crane.
To calculate the optimal path from found paths, we use the variation in angle of the crane base-swing, the variation in angle of the
crane boom-luff, and variation in length of the hoist height as the
basis for evaluation, and for developing a Pcost function to calculate
the costs for the erection path In , as shown in Eq. (1). The reason
we do not use the length of the path for evaluation is that the position
of the lifting object is the end-point result of the three degrees of freedom (base-swing angle, boom-luff angle, and the hoist height). The
shortest path (e.g. a straight path in the 3-dimension space) is usually
more difcult to follow for the crane operators because they have to
simultaneously control these three degrees of freedom with changing
velocities. For a human being, it is easier, safer, and more stable to
control only one or two degrees of freedom with the same velocity.
Therefore, we use the variation of these three degrees of freedom
for the cost measurement. Fig. 4 shows an example of cost estimation
by the variation of base-swing angle and boom-luff angle.
In order to have the same evaluation criterion for angle (baseswing angle and boom-luff angle) and length (hoist height), the developed cost function uses the time of operation to reach the vibration as shown in Eq. (2), where t represents the total time of
operation needed for the total variation of base-swing angle , t represents the total time of operation needed for the total variation of
boom-luff angle , and th represents the total time of operation needed
for the variation of hoist height Hob _ max. The reason we use Hob _ max instead of in=11|hi| will be discussed in the next section. Therefore,
Eq. (2) can be transformed into Eq. (3), where is the angular speed
of the base-swing, is the angular speed of the boom-luff, and Vh is
the speed of hoisting. Then we can use Eq. (3) as the cost function to

3.4. Path planning for single crane

In this study, we perform path planning by using the PRM method
of path planning. First, we randomly sample a sufcient amount of

Fig. 2. The range of hoist height within hmin and hmax.

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471

Table 1
Algorithm of cObstacleCheck.
Algorithm cObstacleCheck(, ): determine the conguration(, ) is C-obstacle or not
: base-swing angle.
: boom-luff angle.
IF obstacle collided with boom(, ) or base() THEN
the conguration(, ) is C-obstacle
ELSE
getHoistHeightRange(, )
IF hmin hmax THEN
the conguration(, ) is C-obstacle
ELSE the conguration(, ) is not C-obstacle

Fig. 4. Cost estimation of a feasible path.

Table 2
Algorithm of getHoistHeightRange.
Algorithm getHoistHeightRange(, ): nd hoist height range hmin and hmax
: base-swing angle.
: boom-luff angle.
h: hoist height
h: hoist height increase in each interaction
hmin: minimal hoist height for (, )
hmax: maximal hoist height for (, )
LET h = 0
REPEAT:
IF hmin not found THEN
IF object(, ) does not collided with boom(, ) THEN
hmin = h
ELSE
h = h + h
ELSE
IF object(, ) collided with obstacle, ground, or base() THEN
hmax = h
ELSE
h = h + h
UNTIL hmax found
RETURN hmin and hmax

the erection path may tend to cross the obstacle from the top. However the retract/release action of the cable costs more time and make
the erection more inefcient. Therefore the cost function can be dened as Eq. (1), where the W represents 1, the W represents
1, and Wh represents a Vh 1.
n1

P cost In t t t h

P cost In

n1

i1 ji j
1

V h

n
Hob _ max

Vh

W
W
Wh
Fig. 3. Layout of a crane's 2D C-space.

P cost In

In
measure the path. The larger the calculated result of the Pcost function,
the longer it will take to execute the path, and the harder it will be to
operate the crane. The path with the smallest calculated result of the
Pcost function is the optimal path.
However in practice, sometimes we may multiply the time cost of
each degree-of-freedom by a weight coefcient (W, W, and Wh) before summing together as shown in Eq. (4). These coefcients can signicantly inuence the erection path chosen. For example if we lower
the weight of the crane base-swing angle, the method tends to nd a
solution that needs fewer operations on the other parts. The erection
path found then is easier and faster to execute for crane operators.
However, it may increase the working area of the crane and therefore
raise the risk when lifting, making it unsuitable for a narrow working
space. Conversely, if we lower the weight of hoist height variation,

n1

P cost In W i1 ji j W i1 ji j W h H obm ax

n1

i1 ji j

H obm ax

n1

i1 ji j V h
1

H obm ax

n1

i1 ji j
4

Erection path represented by connecting n node congurations where the 1-st node is the starting conguration and
the n-th node is the end conguration;
Variation in angle of the crane base-swing angle during
the path section connecting the i-th node to the (i + 1)-th
node in degrees;
Variation in angle of the crane boom-luff angle during the
path section connecting the i-th node to the (i + 1)-th node
in degrees;
Number of nodes for the path;
The highest obstacle among congurations along the path; in
meters (m). Fig. 5 shows an example of a path with four
nodes, and where Hob _ max is the maximum value of the Hob
in the Fig. 5. Since the 2D C-space method in this investigation
does not include a parameter for the hoist height, we use the
maximum height of obstacle that the lifting object needs to
move past as a rough estimate for the change in hoist height.
Angular speed of base-swing, in (degrees/s).
Angular speed of boom-luff, in (degrees/s).
Speed of hoisting, in (meter/s).
The weight of the crane base-swing angle change in the cost
estimation for the path.
The weight of the crane boom-luff angle change in the cost
estimation for the path.
The weight of the hoist height change in the cost estimation
for the path.
The factor of the crane base-swing change in the cost estimation for the path.
The factor of the crane boom-luff change in the cost estimation for the path.
The factor of hoist height change in the cost estimation for
the path.

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Y.-C. Chang et al. / Automation in Construction 22 (2012) 468480

3.6. Features of the proposed erection path planning

Fig. 5. The maximum obstacle height along the erection path.

3.5. Hoisting planning for single crane

Since the 2D crane C-space in this investigation does not include
hoist height as a coordinate in space, the obtained path does not contain information regarding the hoisting operation. Thus, we need to
perform hoisting planning on the path obtained in Section 3.4.
Initially, we may take the maximum hoist height hmax of all congurations along the path as the hoisting parameter. However, this
leads to unnecessary hoist operation during the erection operation,
as can be seen from the solid black line in Fig. 6. To avoid this situation, an additional optimization process is required on the hoisting
parameter, starting from the initial conguration and before the
cable elongation reaches the minimum value of hmax. If the present
hoist height is greater than hmax, then we reduce the elongation to
hmax; and if the hoist height is less than hmax, then the hoist height remains unchanged. After the hoist height has become the smallest
value of hmax, the hoist height is not adjusted until the goal is reached
and the lifting object is set down. The resulting hoisting parameter
after optimization is shown in Fig. 6 in gray.
Even though unnecessary change in hoist height can be avoided
effectively after adjusting the hoisting parameters, it is possible for
the load and boom to collide with each other because the hoist height
will no longer be adjusted after the hoist height has reached the minimum hmax along the path, and the boom-luff angle may keep increasing. Therefore, we need to inspect the hoisting parameter after the
hoist height has reached its minimum value. If the hoist height is
less than hmin in the current congurations, then the hoist height
should be increased to hmin, and the adjusted hoist height for the
path is shown as a dashed line in Fig. 6. After the adjustment, the
path conguration and the hoisting parameter form the optimal erection path.

In the existing research on erection path planning [26], the operation of crane is expressed by a 3D C-space under the condition that
the crane does not move during the erection operation. The coordinates
of C-space are the crane base-swing angle , the boom-luff , and the
hoist height h. All crane operations are expressed in the C-space by
[, , h].
In this research, we have found that it is not necessary to consider
the hoist height as one of the coordinates in the C-space. This is because in the erection operation, we change the hoist height to lift
the load higher in order to avoid collisions between the load and
the ground or obstacles. In fact, we only need to know the extent of
hoist height reduction during the erection operation to enable the
load to clear the obstacles. After the load is lifted during the erection
operation, the load must be raised to a height above the obstacles in
the planned path to ensure that the load does not collide with either
the ground or the obstacles. Therefore, in this investigation, we have
found the minimum hoist height hmin, the maximum hoist height
hmax, and the height of obstacle Hob corresponding to each conguration in the C-space, we have also simplied the 3D crane C-space to a
2D conguration space [, ]. This method signicantly reduces the
computational time and complexity of path planning, and thus we
are able to achieve a faster erection path planning procedure.
4. Erection path planning for dual cooperative crane
This study extends the aforementioned method for single crane
erection path planning to a method for a dual, cooperative crane.
The path planning ow chart is still the same as in Fig. 1, except
that in order to model the dual crane system, two 2D C-spaces are
used. A method was developed to connect the two C-spaces constructed for each crane, and nd all possible path nodes so that erection path planning can be conducted for dual cooperative cranes.
4.1. Building the C-space for dual cranes
In order to describe the dual crane system, we built the individual
C-space for each of the two cranes, and address them as two cranes,
crane A and crane B. The C-space for crane A is CA and that for crane
B is CB.
We rst dene the coordinate ranges for CA and CB. The weight of
the object is W. For the object, since the dual crane cooperative operation is evenly divided between the two cranes, the weight of W/2 is
separately substituted into the weight tables of crane A and crane B to
nd crane booms largest luff angle max(W) and its smallest luff angle
min(W). Conguration CA represents a possible connection point between crane A and the object, and Conguration CB represents a possible connection point between crane B and the object.
We then use the method given in Section 3.3 to separately determine the regions for CA-obstacle and CB-obstacle. However, unlike the
case of single crane operation, the inspection of object collision is performed by the use of the object and a partial crane model at the end of
each connection. Since the purpose of the dual crane C-space is to nd
the connectable congurations for the crane and the object, collision
inspection between the object and obstacles is carried out at the
stage of path planning. After completing the C-obstacle region determination, we record the cable extension range and heights of obstacles for each conguration.
4.2. Path planning for dual cranes

Fig. 6. Optimization of the cable operations.

This research extends the method of single crane path planning

presented in Section 3.4 to dual crane planning. We begin by selecting
one of the two cranes to be the reference crane, and then we randomly
sample the congurations from the C-space to serve as the

Y.-C. Chang et al. / Automation in Construction 22 (2012) 468480

connection point between the reference crane and the load. Next, we
search from the other crane's corresponding connection point, and
use the connection congurations between the two cranes and object
as a set of path nodes. This process continues until an adequate number of nodes have been obtained and then the nodes are connected to
form the path. Finally, we select the optimal solution from all possible
paths that connect the starting point to the goal as the erection path
for dual cooperative crane operation. The ow chart for dual cooperative crane path planning is shown in Fig. 7.
To explain the method of the dual crane path planning proposed in
this research further, we present a simple case of dual cooperative crane
path planning as an example, as shown in Fig. 8. First, we enter the roadmap into a path node taken from the connecting point (CA _ s,CB _ s) between the object and the two cranes at the starting position. Then, we
enter the roadmap into a path node taken from the connecting point
(CA _ g,CB _ g) between the object and the two cranes at the goal position.
We then advance into the process of path node sampling.
During the path node sampling process, cranes A and B take turns
to serve as the reference node for sampling. When crane A is the reference node, a sample is arbitrarily taken from CA (indicated as CA _ n)
that is not within the region of C-obstacle. CA _ n then act as the connection point between the load and crane A. The next step is to nd
a possible connection point CB _ n, corresponding to CA _ n, which connects crane B and the object. Consider CA _ n as the center of a circle
and use the height of obstacle Hob corresponding to CA _ n as the height

473

Fig. 8. Example of cooperative dual crane operation.

to be lifted. Then, on the XY plane of the workspace with XYZ coordinate system, rotate the object so that it is parallel to the line C A C B ,
which connects the centers of rotation of the booms of the two cranes
as shown in Fig. 8. If at this time, the object in the XYZ coordinate system does not collide with either the obstacle or the cranes and CB _ n
and CB are not in the region of C-obstacle, then we use (CA _ n, CB _ n)
as a node and insert it into the roadmap.
However, if the object collides with the obstacle, then subsequently we take CA _ n as the center of the circle and rotate the object in the
XY plane both clockwise and counterclockwise until there is no further collision. If the rotation angle of the load is 1 b 2 or 2 b 2 and
CB _ n is not C-obstacle, then we use (CA _ n, CB _ n) as a node and insert
it to the roadmap as shown in Fig. 9.
The reason for alternatively selecting cranes A and B as the reference node is to provide a variety of paths. In theory, the more diverse
the sampling points, the higher the possibility of nding collision-free
paths. Since the PRM method is based on probability where we randomly sample the nodes in the conguration space and try to arrive
at a feasible solution instead of checking all possible solutions and
choose the optimum one. Therefore, alternative selection of the reference point can increase the randomness without adding to computational cost. Since this study uses the connection point of the load and
the end of the crane as the center of the circle, the boom is turned in
order to avoid the obstacle so that when a different crane is used as
the reference-sampling node, various nodes will be possible.
When connecting the collision-free path, we connect the nodes
along with the connection point between the object and crane using
straight lines to form the path in the working space with the XYZ coordinate system, as shown in Fig. 10. To judge whether the path between the nodes is a collision-free path, the following three-step
process is needed. First, we nd the height Hobject to lift the object
over the obstacle without collision for the section of erection path between the two nodes. Secondly, we inspect the connection points between the object and crane in the trajectory of path to see whether
they will go past the C-obstacle in the spaces between CA and CB. If

CB_n

CA_n

CB_n

Fig. 7. Flow chart for dual cooperative crane path planning.

Fig. 9. Node sampling in cooperative dual crane path planning, when an object collides
with an obstacle.

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they do pass the C-obstacle, then this shows that collision will occur
at the loading point of the path so that this section between nodes
will not be a part of the path. Finally, we inspect the amount of
cable extension needed to raise the height to Hobject and see if the
length exceeds what is permitted. If it exceeds the length limit, it
means that it is not possible to lift the object over the obstacle by
using the path, and therefore the section between these nodes cannot
be a part of the path. If the section between two nodes is judged to be
a collision-free path, then record the height Hobject, which will be used
in the calculation for optimal path and in planning for hoist height.
After completing the collision-free path connection, those paths
that successfully go from the starting point to the end point through
the nodes are designated as allowable erection paths. If no such
path can be found, then further sampling of nodes should be performed and they should be added to the roadmap. The process continues until a path can be found that connects the starting point to
the end point.
For calculation for the optimal path, we make use of the Pcost function proposed in Section 3.4 to calculate the costs for the erection
path. The costs for the paths of crane A and crane B are then separately estimated by using the Pcost function in which results are then combined. The larger the resulting value is, the more time it will take to
execute the path and the harder it will be to operate the cranes.

Fig. 11. Taking required height that ensure the object avoids an obstacle as the erection
path.

path planning. The main function of Erection Planner is to provide a

visualization of a virtual construction site. Using the software, the
user can plan the erection path by providing the starting and end
points for the object to be lifted and by selecting the type of erection
operation. The system will show the planned erection path and the
erection process in the virtual environment.

4.3. Hoisting planning for dual cranes

In the cooperative dual crane operation, due to differences in the
obstacle heights encountered by the connection point between the
crane and the load end of the two cranes, dual crane operation cannot
use the largest hoist height hmax as we do for the hoisting parameter
in the case of single crane erection. From the recorded value of Hobject
during the stage of collision-free path connection, we then obtain the
required height for the object in order to avoid an obstacle, as shown
in Fig. 11. Using this height, we can calculate crane A's hoisting parameter hA and modify it through the method of parameter modication used in Section 3.5. This will minimize the hoist height change
for crane A and make it fall within the safety limits hminA hA hmaxA
as shown in Fig. 12. Finally, based on the corrected parameter hA, we
nd the hoisting parameter hB of crane B for the same load height,
and then a complete erection path can be found. After we calculate
the hoisting parameter for crane B based on the height of object and
make corrections to the hoisting parameter, we can nd the hoisting
parameter hA of crane A for the same object height, and obtain a different erection path. On comparing hoist height changes in the aforementioned two paths, we found that the path with the smaller hoist
height change is the optimal path for cooperative dual crane operation as obtained using the planning method of this research.
5. Implementation

5.1. The development environment

Erection Planner was developed based on Microsoft's XNA Framework [20]. It renders the virtual construction site by using the graphics
software DirectX. In addition, PhysX developed by NVIDIA is used to detect collisions and to help build the C-space for the crane [23].
The following hardware conguration was used for the tests: CPU
Intel Core2 Duo E7300 2.66 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce8600GT
screen. The operation system used was Windows XP SP3 32 bits.
5.2. The software architecture
Fig. 13 shows the software architecture of the Erection Planner. It includes ve parts: Erection Project Information Input, C-Space Builder,
Path Planner, Hoisting Planner, and Scene Visualization.
5.2.1. Erection project information input
In order to provide a visualization of a virtual erection scene and
to check for any collisions that occur, we rst use the Autodesk 3ds
Max 2009 3D software [3] to build 3D models for the crane
e3DSMAX, the object, and the obstacles and import them into the
program. In order to work in the XNA Framework, we convert the
model les in the FBX format and import them into the program
which other necessary information for erection path planning, such

We introduce the computer software Erection Planner in this section and its architecture and development environment for erection

Fig. 10. Trajectory for cooperative dual crane operation.

Fig. 12. Correction method for the cable operation parameter.

Y.-C. Chang et al. / Automation in Construction 22 (2012) 468480

as the load capacity table of the crane, the weight of the object, and
coordinates of starting and end points for the object.
5.2.2. C-space builder
The purpose of this part is to build the C-space. The C-space is built
based on the method for building the C-space presented in Sections 3.3
and 4.1, and is built according to the type of erection operation. To implement the collision detection needed in the C-space building procedure,
we use PhysX to build simple physical models for the crane, the object,
and the obstacles. In the PhysX physical action simulation, the baseswing angle, the boom-luff angle, and the position of object are changed
if any collisions occur.
5.2.3. Path planner
The purpose of this part is to implement the method of path planning proposed in Sections 3.4 and 4.2, and essentially carry out erection planning to obtain path information including the base-swing
angle and the boom-luff angle.
5.2.4. Hoisting planner
This part plans the hoisting operation for the erection path by the
method of hoisting planning described in Sections 3.5 and 4.3, and
sends out the completed erection path information.
5.2.5. Scene visualization
In this part, a virtual erection scene is built using XNA, and the trajectory of the object is shown in the erection scene. Fig. 5.4 shows the
resulting erection path using the current method. The visualization
part can be integrated with other 3D simulation tools for more advanced and graphically detailed visualization e.g. Maya, 3ds Max and
Blender. Users can retrieve the project information from the Erection
Project Information Input and combine it with the planned output of
the Hoisting Planner (which contains the crane congurations in the
path) and then adapt it to their visualization or simulation tool.
6. Experiment result and discussion
In order to verify the method of erection path planning proposed
in this research, we have conducted a series of erection scene experiments to test if the proposed method can be applied to both single
crane erection operation, and dual cooperative erection operation.

Fig. 13. Software architecture of Erection Planner.

475

6.1. Experiment 1: Validation test of path planning for single crane

Experiment 1 uses the example of a single crane erection path planning that took place in an oil renery (CPC Dalin), and its erection scene
is shown in Fig. 14. The crane was required to lift a cylindrical oil storage
tank (radius= 4.8 m, length = 30 m) and put it on top of a 37 m high
supporting frame. In the erection scene, the obstacles around the oil
storage tank were an eleven-story high structure (height = 61 m), and
two oil storage tanks already located on the supporting frame
(height= 42 m). The body of the crane was 20 m long and 12 m wide,
with a boom length of 90 m. It had a base-swing angular velocity of
4/s, a boom-luff angular velocity of 1/s, and a hoist height change
speed of 1 m/s. By using the planning method presented in this research, an erection path was successfully identied. The object did not
collide with the aforementioned obstacles and the supporting frame
at the end point. The path is shown in Fig. 15.
6.2. Experiment 2: Validation test of path planning for dual cooperative
cranes
In Experiment 2, we use no.2 of dual cooperative erection operation from [2] as an example. The erection scene is shown in Fig. 16.
The object was a horizontal beam (length = 10 m, width = 1 m,
height = 1 m). Each crane was connected to one end of the beam.
There were three obstacles between the starting and end points
(the height of obstacle A was 5 m, the height of obstacle B was
12 m, and the height of obstacle C was 5 m). Collisions with obstacles
had to be avoided when moving the object from one side of the obstacles to the other. The body of the crane had a length of 10 m, and
width of 6 m. The boom length was 45 m, with a base-swing angular
speed of 4/s, boom-luff angular speed of 1/s, and hoist height
change speed of 1 m/s. By using the planning method presented in
this research, an erection path was successfully identied and the object did not collide with the aforementioned obstacles. The path is
shown in Fig. 17.
In addition to the problems of collision and managing the weight
of object during the erection path planning, the interference and inuence of the erection operation on other engineering activities
should be also be considered. The result of erection path planning,
shown in Fig. 17, required additional planning if there were workers
around the obstacles even though the plan was able to successfully
lift the object over the obstacle without any collision. To avoid interference with the object, the possibility of parts falling and hurting the
workers on the ground, and for the purpose of engineering safety, a
more time consuming and harder to operate substitute erection
path was required. The strategy was to move the object around the
obstacles. Therefore, we tested the substituting erection paths under
various constrained conditions. First, we hoped to nd an erection
path that did not pass through obstacle B in the middle. The test results are shown in Figs. 18 and 19 (The yellow part shows the starting

Fig. 14. Erection scene of Experiment 1.

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Y.-C. Chang et al. / Automation in Construction 22 (2012) 468480

Fig. 15. Erection path of Experiment 1 (The goal position of the object is visualized using translucent yellow color).

position of the object and the red part shows the end position). Two
different paths were found: one went around obstacle B from the
left side, while the other from the right side. Afterwards, we hoped
to nd paths that did not go past any obstacles but passed through
the narrow space between the cranes and obstacles. The results are
shown in Figs. 20 and 21.
6.3. Experiment 3: Efciency test
In Experiment 3, we tested using the same two erection scenes
from Ref. [2]. We imitated the method of building the 3D C-space
and also made use of Genetic Algorithm based method of erection
planning, both reported in Ref. [2], and compared it with the method
presented in this research. In addition, we also compared results
obtained by using the proposed PRM and the planning conducted either in both 3D and 2D C-spaces.
6.3.1. Erection Scene 1
Erection Scene 1 used the scene 1 from the dual cooperative crane
erection of [2] as shown in Fig. 22. The object was a beam (10 m in
length, and with height and width equal to 1 m), and the two cranes
were connected to either end of the beam. The two cranes were required to lift the object together from the ground and place it on
the platform on top of an obstacle 6 m high. The body of the crane
was 10 m long, 6 m wide, and the length of the boom was 45 m,
with base-swing angular speed of 4/s, boom-luff angular speed of
1/s, and hoist height change speed of 1 m/s. Fig. 23(a) shows the

Fig. 16. Erection scene of Experiment 2.

path planned using 3D C-space with the Genetic Algorithm.

Fig. 23(b) shows the erection path planned using PRM in the 3D Cspace, and Fig. 23(c) shows the erection path planned using PRM in
the 2D C-space.
6.3.2. Erection Scene 2
Erection Scene 2 uses scene 2 from the dual cooperative crane erection of [2] as an example, and its erection scene was the same as that
in Experiment 2. The site arrangement is shown in Fig. 16, please refer
to Experiment 2 for details about the site. Fig. 24(a) shows the path
planned using 3D C-space with the Genetic Algorithm. Fig. 24(b)
shows the erection path planned using PRM in the 3D C-space, and
Fig. 24(c) shows the erection path planned using PRM in the 2D C-space.
6.4. Discussion of experimental results
The path planning result of Experiment 1 for single crane erection
obtained using the proposed method, shown in Fig. 15, successfully
avoided the obstacles and found feasible collision-free erection
paths. The computation time for planning was 0.27 s. Thus, it took a
very small amount of time to complete the planning.
The path planning result obtained in Experiment 2 for cooperative
dual crane erection using the proposed method, shown in Fig. 17, successfully avoided the obstacles and found feasible collision-free erection paths. The computation time for the planning was 0.52 s. Again,
the time taken to complete the planning was very short. In addition
to nding an erection path based on the strategy of lifting the object
high enough to avoid collision with obstacles, a feasible path can
also be found based on the strategy of moving the object around the
obstacle. Thus, feasible paths can be found under different conditions
of constraints, as shown in Figs. 1821.
In Experiment 3, we planned the erection path for different site
conditions using different methods of erection path planning. We
used 3D C-space with the Genetic Algorithm, the proposed PRM in
the 3D C-space, and the proposed PRM in the 2D C-space. The results
are shown in Figs. 23 and 24. The above methods successfully found
feasible collision-free erection paths for cooperative dual crane erection. Tables 3 and 4 compare the results of path planning, where
data was obtained from an average of 100 path-planning operations.
The values compared are the planning time, change in angle of the
base-swing, change in angle of the boom-luff, and the change in the
hoist height. By comparing the results, we nd that the average planning time using the proposed PRM method in the 2D C-space was
much less than the other two methods. In the comparison of crane
operation parameter, no apparent differences could be found in the

Y.-C. Chang et al. / Automation in Construction 22 (2012) 468480

477

Fig. 17. Experiment 2 Erection path with no constrained conditions.

base-swing angle change among the three methods. This is because

during an erection operation, the base-swing angle usually started
from the initial angle and gradually rotated to the nal angle; there
was not much change in angle during the operation. In the comparison of boom-luff angle change, the PRM in the 2D C-space managed
the least changes and obtained the easiest operate erection path. 3D
C-space with the Genetic Algorithm could nd the approximated optimal result. However, it was harder to use PRM in the 3D C-space to
nd the optimal path compared to PRM in the 2D C-space as it was
difcult to have path nodes evenly distributed in the C-space. The
PRM method in this investigation used probabilistic sampling to obtain path nodes and tried to calculate collision-free paths among all
nodes. If the PRM method is improved, it should be possible to obtain
better results. In addition, a planning method for hoisting operation
has been presented in this study for the 2D C-space, reducing unnecessary hoist height changes.
7. Benets and contributions
In this research, a method of automated erection path planning
has been developed. The main contributions of this research are:
1. Development of a method of 2D C-space, which reduces the complexity of planning and reduced the path planning time.
2. Development of a exible method of erection path planning, which
could be applied to both single crane operation and cooperative
double crane operation.
3. Development of a near real-time method of erection path planning. This could be used to quickly alter the path during the erection operation and plan a new feasible path if, just before or
during operation, it is found that the actual site environment was
differs from the conditions originally planned for.
4. Development of a costs estimation function with the weight coefcients for each degree of freedom of crane operation. Planners

can adjust the weight values to generate feasible and suitable erection paths for different specications and site environments.
The developed method can potentially benet many aspects of
current construction practice. The possible benets of this research
are summarized in the following paragraphs:
Crane selection: Rather than having a qualitative crane selection, the
methods and tools developed in this research can be used to provide
quantitative information about the differences from using the various candidate cranes. Similarly, for large or high-rise construction
projects, this research developed tools that provide data to enable
proper evaluation of the compromises and benets of using of multiple cranes at the site as opposed to using a single crane.
Crane placement: The methods developed in this research enable
computers to simulate the erection processes automatically by
utilizing the planned erection path. They can also be extended to
obtain erection times produced by placing the crane at different
locations and searching for an optimum location within the site
that will minimize erection times.
Logistics for scheduling material deliveries to the site: This study can
be used to improve various aspects of the logistics at construction
sites. In particular, the generation of a precise and detailed erection plan prior to construction can minimize onsite storage requirements by delivering only the materials that will be erected
soon to the site. For example, structural elements can be delivered
only one day prior to their erection, or for a site where no onsite
temporary storage is available, they can be delivered just a few
hours prior to erection. Furthermore, elements to be lifted by the
crane can be delivered to the site and even placed in the delivery
truck in accordance with the plan for lifting them using the crane.
Planning and visualization of erection virtually prior to actual erection
activities: This research provides tools for planning and visualizing

Fig. 18. Experiment 2 Substituting path 1 when the path did not go through the middle obstacle.

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Y.-C. Chang et al. / Automation in Construction 22 (2012) 468480

Fig. 19. Experiment 2 Substituting path 2 when the path did not go through the middle obstacle.

Fig. 20. Experiment 2 Substituting path 1 when the path did not go through any obstacle.

Fig. 21. Experiment 2 Substituting path 2 when the path did not go through any obstacle.

Fig. 22. Erection scene of Experiment 3 Site arrangement of the example.

Y.-C. Chang et al. / Automation in Construction 22 (2012) 468480

479

Fig. 23. Scene 1 of Experiment 3 Erection path planned: (a) Genetic Algorithm in 3D C-space; (b) by PRM in 3D C-space; and (c) by PRM in 2D C-space.

Fig. 24. Scene 2 of Experiment 3 Erection path planned: (a) Genetic Algorithm in 3D C-space; (b) by PRM in 3D C-space; and (c) by PRM in 2D C-space.

erection processes on the computer before actual construction. This

provides an excellent planning and management tool for superintendents, construction managers, erection crews and crane operators to
allow them to fully understand the planned erections next week,
next day, next three days, next hour, etc. Being able to visualize
these erection activities prior to actual construction can help identify
and eliminate many otherwise unforeseen problems ahead of time.
Computer-assisted cranes erections: Methods and tools developed in
this research do not just provide benets to conventional cranes, they
provide the basis for developing computer-assisted cranes. In the
Table 3
Scene 1 of Experiment 3. Efciency comparison for different methods of path planning.
Planning method

Average planning time (sec)

Variation of base-swing angle (deg)
Variation of boom-luff angle (deg)
Variation of hoist height (m)

Problem 1
GA
(3D C-space)

PRM
(3D C-space)

PRM
(2D C-space)

36.33
71.47
12.29
31.51

11.26
69.81
13.15
32.77

0.51
67.64
10.32
26.69

near future, this research could be used to provide information for

operators in real time to assist them in manipulating construction
cranes more efciently and more safely. For example, a computerassisted crane could prevent operators from coming in contact with
power lines or in preventing the crane from colliding with obstacles
or with other cranes. They may integrate the Augmented Reality
and tele-operation to visualize computer-generated collision-free
(safe) and time-optimized paths to be followed by crane operators,
and even auto-pilot capabilities for portions of the erection cycle
or for entire erection cycles.
Autonomous robotic crane erections: Many of the methods and algorithms developed in this research, together with new sensor
technology, and the development of new types of structural connections, can provide the basis for autonomous robotic cranes.
These robotic cranes could rst be used for construction in dangerous environments (e.g., erection of containment structures in
environments contaminated by hazardous chemicals or radioactivity, erection of a bridge during armed conict, etc.), but could
eventually be used in more standard constructions.
8. Conclusion

Table 4
Scene 2 of Experiment 3. Efciency comparison for different methods of path planning.
Planning method

Average planning time (sec)

Variation of base-swing angle (deg)
Variation of boom-luff angle (deg)
Variation of hoist height (m)

Problem 2
GA
(3D C-space)

PRM
(3D C-space)

PRM
(2D C-space)

59.42
144.96
24.81
106.11

11.32
143.55
23.22
109.78

0.52
142.93
19.14
93.06

In this research, we developed a fast path-planning method for

single and dual crane erections. This method replaces the use of
hoist height as a coordinate of the C-space, which can signicantly reduce computation time needed during the planning process. The
hoist height is determined after the path-planning processes. This
can ensure minimal changes in the hoist height, fullling the needs
of construction practices. To validate the usability of the proposed
method, we conducted three experiments: (1) path planning for single crane, (2) path-planning for dual crane and (3) efciency test. The

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results of rst two tests show that the proposed method can help nd
a collision-free erection path that satises safety requirements, and
can assist engineers in solving the path-planning problem. From the
third experiment, we found that the proposed method of erection
path planning is time efcient when used to nd a feasible erection
path compared to existing methods. The obtained path by the proposed method is also easier to operate. The method is also exible
in being able to nd suitable erection paths under different conditions, as required on the erection site.
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