EP0049697A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method for steering a steerable vehicle along a guide line marking
Assignee: Volvo AB
•
Filing: 1981-10-01
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2001-10-01
Abstract
Abstract In steering a wheeled vehicle along a path (L) marked on the supporting surface, a single linear detector (D) is used which is rigidly mounted in the vehicle perpendicular to the principal direction of movement of the vehicle. As the vehicle moves, the position of the path (L) in the transverse field of view of the detector (D) is measured repeatedly, in the form of lateral deviations (Ax), simultaneously with the distances (s 1 , s 2 ...) in the direction of movement between successive lateral deviation measurements. The deviation between the direction of the path (L) marked and the path (T) actually travelled by the vehicle is thus obtained, in the form of a lateral deviation (Ax), and an attitude deviation (ϕ=(Δx 2 -Δx 1 )/s 1 ). These two deviation variables will make possible corrective steering of the vehicle to the marked path (L).
Inventors
- 👤 Sten Hugo Nils Ahlbom
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 08:54
CPC Classifications
G; G05; G05D; G05D1/00; G05D1/02; G05D1/021; G05D1/0231; G05D1/0259; G05D1/0268; G05D1/0272
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 7
Claim 1
Independent Claim
159 words
Method of steering a steerable wheeled vehicle, there being arranged, on the surface supporting the vehicle at least somewhere along its intended path, a linear path marking (1), and there being arranged in the vehicle detector means (3) for detecting the path marking, as well as means for measuring distance (s) travelled, characterized in that a single linear detector, rigidly mounted in the vehicle essentially perpendicular to the principal direction of movement of the vehicle, is used to determine the deviation of the linear marking from an index point in the linear detector, constituting a lateral deviation, and in that as the vehicle moves there are measured firstly, at least two lateral deviations, and secondly, a distance between the positions of the vehicle at the points in time of the measurement of lateral deviation, whereafter an attitude deviation for the-vehicle in relation to the path marking is computed from the difference between the lateral deviations and said distance travelled.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
159 words
Method of steering a steerable wheeled vehicle, there being arranged, on the surface supporting the vehicle at least somewhere along its intended path, a linear path marking (1), and there being arranged in the vehicle detector means (3) for detecting the path marking, as well as means for measuring distance (s) travelled, characterized in that a single linear detector, rigidly mounted in the vehicle essentially perpendicular to the principal direction of movement of the vehicle, is used to determine the deviation of the linear marking from an index point in the linear detector, constituting a lateral deviation, and in that as the vehicle moves there are measured firstly, at least two lateral deviations, and secondly, a distance between the positions of the vehicle at the points in time of the measurement of lateral deviation, whereafter an attitude deviation for the-vehicle in relation to the path marking is computed from the difference between the lateral deviations and said distance travelled.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
46 words
Method according to claim 1, characterized in that at least three successive lateral deviations are measured, as well as the distances travelled between the positions of the vehicle, whereby two different attitude deviations are obtained, and whereby the difference between the two attitude deviations is computed.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
26 words
Method according to claim 2, characterized in that a steering variable is computed as a linear function of the latest attitude deviation and latest lateral deviation.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
41 words
Method according to claim 3, characterized in that the steering variable is also a linear function of the values, corrected for normalized roll-off distances, of both the difference between two attitude deviations (f) and the difference between two lateral deviations (Ax).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
27 words
Method according to claim 1, characterized in that said attitude deviation replaces an attitude deviation computed by means of dead reckoning in the steering of the vehicle.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
140 words
Steerable wheeled vehicle for use in the method according to claim 1, and which comprises steering means, means for determining distance travelled, computing means and detecting means for detecting a path marking, characterized in that the detector means comprise a linear detector arranged perpendicular to the principal forward direction of the vehicle, means for computing a distance between an index point in the detector and the point of intersection between the path marking and the detector, memory means for storing this distance as a lateral deviation, means for storing the distance between two positions of the vehicle, at which lateral deviation measurements are carried out, means for computing the difference between two lateral deviations, and mcans for normalizing this difference with respect to the two respective positions of the vehicle, to obtain a value for the attitude of the vehicle.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.