Determining a crane tilt angle

1. A method for determining a tilt angle of a crane, said method comprising:

rotating a portion of said crane about a pivot point, wherein a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver antenna is disposed on said portion of said crane;

determining, by a GNSS receiver, at least three locations of said GNSS receiver antenna in a geo-referenced coordinate system during said rotating;

calculating, by a processor, a plane of rotation based on said at least three locations of said GNSS receiver antenna; and

determining, by said processor, a tilt angle of said crane based on an angular difference between said plane of rotation and a horizontal plane, wherein said tilt angle includes an angular displacement from a first vector normal to said horizontal plane to a second vector normal to said plane of rotation about said pivot point.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said GNSS receiver antenna is disposed on a location on said crane selected from a group consisting of: a cab, a working arm, a counterweight, a boom and a trolley.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said crane is selected from a group consisting of: a tower crane, a luffing crane, a level luffing crane, a fixed crane, a self-erecting crane, a crawler crane, and a telescopic crane.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

providing said tilt angle for use in leveling said crane.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

accounting for said tilt angle during operation of said crane.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

confirming levelness of said crane based on said tilt angle.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said determining a tilt angle of said crane based on said at least three locations of said GNSS receiver antenna comprises:

determining a plane which encompasses said at least three locations in said geo-referenced coordinate system; and

calculating an angle of said plane with respect to a notional level plane in said geo-referenced coordinate system.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

determining a normal vector of said plane.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a direction of said tilt angle in said geo-referenced coordinate system.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions embodied therein that when executed cause a computer system to perform a method for determining a tilt angle of a crane, said method comprising:

accessing data from a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver antenna at three positions of a rotatable portion of a crane as said rotatable portion of said crane rotates about a pivot point;

determining three locations of said GNSS receiver antenna in a geo-referenced coordinate system for said three positions of said rotatable portion of said crane;

calculating a plane of rotation based on said three positions of said rotatable portion of said crane; and

determining a tilt angle of said crane based on an angular difference between said plane of rotation and a horizontal plane, wherein said tilt angle includes an angular displacement from a first vector normal to said horizontal plane to a second vector normal to said plane of rotation about said pivot point.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , further comprising:

displaying said tilt angle.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , further comprising:

accounting for said tilt angle during operation of said crane.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , further comprising:

adjusting a building information modelling (BIM) based on said tilt angle.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , further comprising:

confirming levelness of said crane based on said tilt angle.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein said determining a tilt angle of said crane based on said three locations of said GNSS receiver antenna comprises:

determining a plane which encompasses said three locations in said geo-referenced coordinate system; and

calculating an angle of said plane with respect to a notional level plane in said geo-referenced coordinate system.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , further comprising:

determining a normal vector of said plane.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , further comprising:

determining a direction of said tilt angle in a geo-referenced coordinate system.

18. A crane system comprising:

a crane, wherein a portion of said crane is configured to rotate about a pivot point;

a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver comprising a GNSS antenna, said GNSS antenna disposed on said portion of said crane; and

a processor for:

receiving data from said GNSS receiver antenna while said GNSS receiver antenna is located at three positions as said portion of said crane rotates about a pivot point;

determining three locations of said GNSS receiver antenna in a geo-referenced coordinate system of said three positions for said three positions of said portion of said crane;

calculating a plane of rotation based on said three positions of said portion of said crane; and

determining a tilt angle of said crane based on an angular difference between said plane of rotation and a horizontal plane, wherein said tilt angle includes an angular displacement from a first vector normal to said horizontal plane to a second vector normal to said plane of rotation about said pivot point.

19. The crane system of claim 18 , wherein said processor is further configured for:

controlling display of said tilt angle.

20. The crane system of claim 18 , wherein said processor is further configured for:

accounting for said tilt angle during operation of said crane.

21. The crane system of claim 18 , wherein said determining a tilt angle of said crane based on said three locations of said GNSS receiver antenna further comprises:

determining a plane which encompasses said three locations in said geo-referenced coordinate system; and

calculating an angle of said plane with respect to a notional level plane in said geo-referenced coordinate system.

22. The crane system of claim 18 , wherein said processor is further configured for:

determining a normal vector of said plane which encompasses said three location in said geo-reference coordinate system.

23. The crane system of claim 18 , wherein said processor is further configured for:

determining a direction of said tilt angle in said geo-referenced coordinate system.

24. The crane system of claim 18 , wherein said portion of said crane is selected from a group consisting of: a cab, a working arm, a counterweight, a boom and a trolley.

25. The crane system of claim 18 , wherein said crane is selected from a group consisting of: a tower crane, a luffing crane, a level luffing crane, a fixed crane, a self-erecting crane, a crawler crane, and a telescopic crane.

26. A method for determining levelness of a crane, said method comprising:

rotating a portion of said crane at least one-halfway about a pivot point, wherein a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver antenna is disposed on said portion of said crane;

determining, by a GNSS receiver, at least a first location and a second location of said GNSS receiver antenna in a geo-referenced coordinate system during said rotating;

determining, by a processor, a first height of said GNSS receiver antenna at said first location and a second height of said GNSS receiver antenna at said second location; and

determining, by said processor, a height differential between said first height and said second height.

27. The method of claim 26 , further comprising:

confirming levelness of said crane based on said height differential.