Chassis attitude and outrigger load coupling control for the arbitrarily-redundant outrigger system in mobile crane operations

Implementing active outrigger control during mobile crane operations, to maintain its foundation stability, should be extremely attractive, but the redundant outrigger systems’ force-deformation coupling nature greatly hinders its realization. In this article, a chassis attitude and outrigger load coupling control methodology for arbitrarily-redundant outrigger systems is originally constructed, including three progressive and advanced calculation models of “center of gravity (CoG) migration; attitude and load perturbation; outrigger compensation” and a parallel control strategy of upper operation and outrigger compensation. Comprehensive tests from initial stage leveling to service state active control are performed on an electromechanical test bench configured with 4, 6, and 10 outriggers. The results confirm that the methodology achieved synchronous and stable control of both chassis attitude and outrigger load across multiple outrigger configurations and typical upper operations. Compared to the uncontrolled approach, it enhances attitude stability by over 93% and improves average load stability by at least 30% (even reaching 70% for the 10-legged system). The results validate the methodology’s significant improvements in the foundation stability maintenance, thus providing core capabilities for mobile crane’s full-cycle safe operation and even autonomous operation in the future.