EP0213939A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Mobile vehicle controller utilization of delayed absolute position data for guidance and navigation
Assignee: Texas Instruments Inc
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Filing: 1986-08-29
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2006-08-29
Abstract
Abstract A controllable mobile apparatus travels to a commanded destination under the control of a dead reckoning navigation procedure 329 for navigating the controllable mobile apparatus along the commanded path in response to position data. The mobile apparatus determines its position and provides the position data. Additionally, there is a software filter system which filters the speed and direction commands. A vision system provides the absolute position to the mobile apparatus. The dead reckoning position data is periodically modified 331, 328 with the absolute position. The dead reckoning procedure is synchronized with the vision system.
Inventors
- 👤 Martin A. Wand
- 👤 Donald J. Christian
- 👤 Joe D. Woodall
- 👤 John P. Williston
- 👤 Jay H. Rice
- 👤 David F. Summerville
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 06:43
CPC Classifications
G; G05; G05D; G05D1/00; G05D1/02; G05D1/021; G05D1/0276; G05D1/028; G05D1/0231; G05D1/0234; G05D1/0242; G05D1/0246; G05D1/0268; G05D1/0272; G05D1/0212; G05D1/0225
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 30
Claim 1
Independent Claim
91 words
A mobile vehicle controller for controlling a mobile apparatus that travels along a commanded path, the mobile vehicle controller comprising: navigation means for navigating the mobile apparatus along the commanded path in response to positions data; position means for determining the position of the mobile apparatus and to provide the position data to the navigation means; absolute means for determining the absolute position of the mobile apparatus; correction means for periodically modifying the position data with the absolute position; and synchronization means for synchronizing the position means with the absolute means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
91 words
A mobile vehicle controller for controlling a mobile apparatus that travels along a commanded path, the mobile vehicle controller comprising: navigation means for navigating the mobile apparatus along the commanded path in response to positions data; position means for determining the position of the mobile apparatus and to provide the position data to the navigation means; absolute means for determining the absolute position of the mobile apparatus; correction means for periodically modifying the position data with the absolute position; and synchronization means for synchronizing the position means with the absolute means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
39 words
The mobile vehicle controller according to Claim 1 wherein the absolute means comprises: visual navigation means for obtaining the location of the mobile apparatus in definable coordinates; and communication means for communicating the definable coordinates to the mobile apparatus.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
61 words
The mobile vehicle controller according to Claim 2 wherein the synchronization means comprises: time means for time stamping the definable coordinates; time offset means for determining the time offset between the time stamp and the time the correction means modifies the position data and to additionally modify the position data according to the position difference that results from the time offset.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
41 words
The mobile vehicle controller according to Claim 2 where the visual navigation means comprises: means for obtaining an image of the mobile apparatus; means for converting the image to spatial position; means for generating absolute position data from the spatial position.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
56 words
The mobile vehicle controller according to Claim 4 wherein the means for obtaining an image of the mobile apparatus comprises: means for providing a predefined patter of lighted points associated with the mobile apparatus, the lighted points being separated from one another by predefined distances; and imaging means for obtaining an image of the lighted points.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
67 words
The mobile vehicle controller according to Claim 5 wherein the imaging means comprises: a raster scan camera means for converting light from the lighted points to an electrical signal that represents light intensity in relationship to raster scan position of the raster scan camera means, the raster scan position being identified by frame, row and column coordinates, the raster scan camera means having a spatial plumbed point.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
35 words
The mobile vehicle controller according to Claim 6 wherein the identifying means comprises: means for transforming the electrical signal from an analog signal in the temporal domain to a digital signal in the spatial domain.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
51 words
The mobile vehicle controller according to Claim 7 where transformation means comprises: means for identifying clusters of pixels of light from the electrical signal and providing coordinates of the clusters of pixels of light thereby; and means for transforming the clusters of pixels representing light intensity into centroids having identifiable coordinates.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
96 words
The mobile vehicle controller according to Claim 8 wherein the transformation means comprises: means for digitizing the electrical signal to obtain a first digital signal; means for dividing the first digital signal into a row digital signal and a column digital signal that correspond to the raster coordinates; summation means for performing a vector summation of the row and column digital signals to obtain a first and second integrated signal; and comparator means for comparing the first and second integrated signals to a predefined threshold to obtain a first ordinate signal and second ordinate signal thereby.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
46 words
A mobile apparatus dead reckoning guidance system comprising: a control and navigation system for formulating an absolute position of the mobile apparatus and a sensor reference time stamp; and a wireless communication system for transmitting the absolute position of the mobile apparatus to the mobile apparatus.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
46 words
A mobile apparatus dead reckoning guidance system comprising: a control and navigation system for formulating an absolute position of the mobile apparatus and a sensor reference time stamp; and a wireless communication system for transmitting the absolute position of the mobile apparatus to the mobile apparatus.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
28 words
The dead reckoning guidance system of Claim 10 further comprising means for storing the absolute position of the mobile apparatus and for saving the sensor reference time stamp.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
33 words
The dead reckoning guidance system of Claim 11 further comprising means on board the mobile apparatus for generating an extrapolated position of the mobile apparatus and for generating a vehicle reference time stamp.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
39 words
The dead reckoning guidance system of Claim 12 further comprising means on board the mobile apparatus for comparing the sensor reference time stamp with the vehicle reference time stamp to determine whether a preselected time limit has been exceeded.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
49 words
The dead reckoning guidance system of Claim 13 further comprising means on board the mobile apparatus for determining an extrapolated position at the time the absolute position was formulated, and for finding the difference between the extrapolated and absolute positions to determine whether the difference is larger than expected.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
39 words
A method for controlling a plurality of mobile apparatuses, the method comprises: identifying the mobile apparatus requiring navigational data. communicating the navigational data to the plurality of mobile apparatuses; and generating the navigation data for the identified mobile apparatus.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
39 words
A method for controlling a plurality of mobile apparatuses, the method comprises: identifying the mobile apparatus requiring navigational data. communicating the navigational data to the plurality of mobile apparatuses; and generating the navigation data for the identified mobile apparatus.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
48 words
The method according to claim15 wherein the step of identifying comprises: generating a request for identification of the mobile apparatus requiring navigation data; and connecting the request for identification to the communication means; and synchronizing the communication of the request for identification to the plurality of mobile apparatuses.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method according to claim 16 wherein the step of generating the navigation data comprises: determining the absolute position of each member of the plurality of mobile apparatuses.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
53 words
The method according to Claim 17 wherein the step of determining the absolute position comprises: obtaining the location of each member of the plurality of mobile apparatuses in definable coordinates; and transferring the definable coordinates to the communication means for communicating the definable coordinates to each member of the plurality of mobile apparatuses.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method according to Claim 18 wherein the the step of synchronizing comprises: time stamping the definable coordinates prior to communicating them to the plurality of mobile apparatuses.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
109 words
A controllable mobile apparatus for traveling to a commanded destination comprising: guidance means for providing velocity and direction commands to the controllable mobile apparatus for guiding the controllable mobile apparatus to the commanded destination; servo means for moving the controllable mobile apparatus to the commanded destination in response to velocity and direction commands from the guidance means; position means for determining a dead reckoning position of the controllable mobile apparatus and to provide the dead reckoning position to the guidance means from which the guidance means derives the velocity and direction commands; and filter means for filtering the velocity and direction commands prior to application to the servo means.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
109 words
A controllable mobile apparatus for traveling to a commanded destination comprising: guidance means for providing velocity and direction commands to the controllable mobile apparatus for guiding the controllable mobile apparatus to the commanded destination; servo means for moving the controllable mobile apparatus to the commanded destination in response to velocity and direction commands from the guidance means; position means for determining a dead reckoning position of the controllable mobile apparatus and to provide the dead reckoning position to the guidance means from which the guidance means derives the velocity and direction commands; and filter means for filtering the velocity and direction commands prior to application to the servo means.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
89 words
The controllable mobile apparatus according to claim 20 wherein filter means comprises: speed means for measuring the rate of change of the position data and of the direction data to obtain an unfiltered velocity thereby; measuring means for measuring rate of change of the absolute position to obtained an old velocity thereby; and summation means for obtaining the sum of the product of a first constant times the old velocity plus the product of the first constant minus one times the unfiltered velocity where the first constant is predetermined.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
60 words
A control system for controlling a plurality of mobile apparatuses, the control system comprises: controller means for generating commands for controlling the members of the plurality of mobile apparatuses; communication means for communicating the commands to the plurality of mobile apparatuses; and navigation means for navigating the members of the plurality of the mobile apparatuses in response to the commands.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
60 words
A control system for controlling a plurality of mobile apparatuses, the control system comprises: controller means for generating commands for controlling the members of the plurality of mobile apparatuses; communication means for communicating the commands to the plurality of mobile apparatuses; and navigation means for navigating the members of the plurality of the mobile apparatuses in response to the commands.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
42 words
The control system according to claim 22 wherein the members of the plurality of mobile apparatuses are battery powered and the control system further comprises: battery changing means for periodically changing the batteries of the members of the plurality of mobile apparatuses.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
101 words
A control system according to claim 22 wherein the navigation means comprises: moving means for moving each member of the plurality of mobile apparatuses along a commanded path in response to positions data and the commands; position means for determining the position of each member of the plurality of mobile apparatuses and to provide the position data to the moving means; absolute means for determining the absolute position of each member of the plurality of mobile apparatuses; correction means for periodically modifying the position data with the absolute position; and synchronization means for synchronizing the position means with the absolute means.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
92 words
The control system according to Claim 24 wherein the navigation means comprises: a plurality of wheels for providing mobility to the members of the plurality of mobile apparatuses ; means for rotating the plurality of wheels at a controllable speed of rotation: means for controlling the trajectory of each member of the plurality of mobile apparatuses by varying the angle of the direction of rotation that predetermined members of the plurality of wheels make with the mobile apparatuses ; and means for controlling the speed of rotation of the plurality of wheels.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
FR2526181A1
Cited
GB2129161A
Cited
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