Multitask Motion Planning for Material Handling in Construction

This paper describes a proposed system, Multi-Task Motion Planning (MTMP) for planning and modeling operations of large material-handling equipment typically found in construction. The system will provide the capability to effectively plan conflicting multiple tasks to be performed concurrently and also provide a mechanism to directly output code to automate the overall process. MTMP aims at integrating structural dynamic behavior of the equipment at the path-planning stage to resolve conflicts. A geometric/graphical approach is proposed that considers equipment constraints and degrees of freedom. The system is conceived within a three-dimensional computer-aided design (CAD) animation and simulation graphics package, which allows modeling of the environment and provides an interactive tool for motion planning. A capability to store motion variables for individual objects will allow for automatically generating code for automation. The system has been envisioned to meet the demand for automation to improve planning and operational safety in the construction industry. However, the underlying concepts can be useful for a variety of material-handling operations and off-line programming of robots.