Constraint-free crane path re-planning

Abstract

Lack of constraint-free crane path planning is one of the critical concerns in the dynamic on-site assembly process of prefabrication housing production (PHP). For decades, researchers and practitioners have endeavored to improve both the efficiency and safety of crane path planning from either static environment or re-planning the path when colliding with constraints or periodically updating the path in the dynamic environment. However, there is a lack of approach to the in-depth exploration of the nature of dynamic constraints and assist the crane operators in making adaptive path re-planning decisions by treating these constraints in different categories. To address this issue, this study develops a simulation-based service which embraces the core characteristics of adaptivity, sociability, and autonomy to achieve autonomous initial path planning, networked constraints classification, and adaptive decisions on path re-planning. This service is verified in the BIM environment, and it is found that it can generate the constraint-free path when it is necessary.