This paper presents a robotic tower-crane system using encoder and gyroscope sensors as path tracking devices. Tower crane work is often associated with falling accidents and industrial disasters. Such problems often incur a loss of time and money for the contractor. For this reason, many studies have been done on an automatic tower crane. As a part of 5-year 23-million-dollar research project in Korea, we are developing a robotic tower crane which aims to improve the safety level and productivity. We selected a luffing tower crane, which is commonly used in urban construction projects today, as a platform for the robotic tower crane system. This system comprises two modules: the automated path planning module and the path tracking module. The automated path planning system uses the 3D Cartesian coordinates. When the robotic tower crane lifts construction material, the algorithm creates a line, which represents a lifting path, in virtual space. This algorithm seeks and generates the best route to lift construction material while avoiding known obstacles from real construction site. The path tracking system detects the location of a lifted material in terms of the 3D coordinate values using various types of sensors including adopts encoder and gyroscope sensors. We are testing various sensors as a candidate for the path tracking device. This specific study focuses on how to employ encoder and gyroscope sensors in the robotic crane These sensors measure a movement and rotary motion of the robotic tower crane. Finally, the movement of the robotic tower crane is displayed in a virtual space that synthesizes the data from two modules: the automatically planned path and the tracked paths. We are currently field-testing the feasibility of the proposed system using an actual tower crane. In the next step, the robotic tower crane will be applied to actual construction sites with a following analysis of the crane's productivity in order to ascertain its economic efficiency.
This work was supported by the Korean Institute of Construction & Transportation Technology Evaluation and Planning (KICTEP) with the program number of "06-Unified and Advanced Construction Technology ProgramD01." We are grateful to Jong-Sun Kim at M Technology for his help in the fabrication and experiment of the encoder device.