Patent US6479843B2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent EP0304342A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0304342A2
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EP
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Method and apparatus for autonomous vehicle guidance
Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp
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Filing: 1988-08-22
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2008-08-22
Abstract
Abstract A system that allows a vehicle (8) to autonomously move toward an arbitrary destination over an irregular surface where home base can be out of sight. During the outward bound journey, a robot (18) or the vehicle (8) places path markers (10) along the route. A tracking system tracks the most recently placed marker (10) and records outbound movement of the vehicle (8) relative to the marker (10). Each marker (10) includes flashing colored lights (42) that allow the marker (10) to produce a unique identification signal. When a marker (10) goes out of sight for a predetermined distance and cannot be found by side to said and up/down camera scans, the robot (18) places another marker on the ground. During a return trip in an inward bound direction toward home base, the tracking system tracks the most recently placed marker (10) and guides the vehicle (8) to the marker (10). When the most recently placed marker (10) is reached, the robot (18) can pick up the marker (10) or bypass the marker (10) and then the vehicle (8) tracks the next most recently placed marker (10).
Inventors
- 👤 Robert Francis Barry
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 16:41
CPC Classifications
G; G05; G05D; G05D1/00; G05D1/02; G05D1/021; G05D1/0212; G05D1/0225; G05D1/20; G05D1/24; G05D1/244; B; B25; B25J; B25J5/00; B25J5/007; G05D1/0231; G05D1/0234; G05D1/0246; G05D1/243; G05D1/247; G05D1/0268; G05D1/027; G05D2101/00; G05D2101/10
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
120 words
A method of autonomous vehicle guidance comprising the steps of (a) controlling the vehicle in an outward bound direction, and (b) coontrolling the vehicle in an inward bound direction toward home; characterized by step (a) including the steps of: (a1) tracking (62) a fixed position marker positioned in an inward bound direction while moving (68) in an outward bound direction, and (a2) placing (144) a new marker (10) when the marker (10) is out of sight for a predetermined distance; and step (b) including the steps of: (b1) tracking (172) a most recently placed marker (10) while moving (176) toward the most recently placed marker (10), and (b2) retrieving (178) the most recently placed marker (10) when it is reached.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
120 words
A method of autonomous vehicle guidance comprising the steps of (a) controlling the vehicle in an outward bound direction, and (b) coontrolling the vehicle in an inward bound direction toward home; characterized by step (a) including the steps of: (a1) tracking (62) a fixed position marker positioned in an inward bound direction while moving (68) in an outward bound direction, and (a2) placing (144) a new marker (10) when the marker (10) is out of sight for a predetermined distance; and step (b) including the steps of: (b1) tracking (172) a most recently placed marker (10) while moving (176) toward the most recently placed marker (10), and (b2) retrieving (178) the most recently placed marker (10) when it is reached.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
91 words
A method as recited in claim 1, characterized by step (a1) including the steps of: (i) stopping (74) the vehicle when the marker (10) is not in the image field of a camera (14); (ii) sweep scanning (76) the camera (14) over a camera range of movement while looking for the marker (10); (iii) moving (88) the vehicle (8) a predetermined distance; (iv) performing steps (ii) - (iii) a predetermined number of times (90); and (v) restarting (68) vehicle movement in the outward bound direction if the marker (10) is found.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
75 words
A method as recited in claim 1, characterized by step (a2) including the steps of: (i) placing (114) the new marker (10) on the ground; (ii) testing (146, 148) to determine if the new marker (10) is upright; (iii) picking up (154) the new marker (10) and moving (156) the vehicle (8) a predetermined distance if the new marker is not upright; and (iv) repeating steps (i) - (iii) a predetermined number of times (138).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
176 words
A method as recited in claim 1, characterized by step (b2) including the steps of: (i) moving toward (222) the most recently placed marker (10) and recording first (224) and second (228) times at which the marker (10) is at first and second predetermined angular positions; (ii) stopping (230) the vehicle (8) when the most recently placed marker (10) passes the second angular position; (iii) determining (232) a marker distance between the most recently placed marker (10) and the vehicle (8) from a traveling distance the vehicle (8) traveled between the first and second times; (iv) comparing (234) the marker distance with the reach of a robot (18) mounted on the vehicle (8); (v) picking (252) up the most recently placed marker (10) if within reach of the robot (18); and (vi) backing (238) up the vehicle (8) a predetermined distance, turning the vehicle (8) toward the most recently placed marker (10) a predetermined angle and performing steps (i) (iv) again if the most recently placed marker (10) is not within reach of the robot (18).
Claim 6
Independent Claim
75 words
An apparatus for autonomous guidance of a vehicle (8), characterized in that comprising: a marker detector-tracker (14, 50, 52 and 54) for identifying one among several markers (10); a vehicle controller (56) for moving the vehicle (8)away from a marker (10) in a predetermined direction or toward a marker (10); and a placement and retrieval device (58) for placing markers (10) in an outward bound direction and retrieving markers (10) in an inward bound direction.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
75 words
An apparatus for autonomous guidance of a vehicle (8), characterized in that comprising: a marker detector-tracker (14, 50, 52 and 54) for identifying one among several markers (10); a vehicle controller (56) for moving the vehicle (8)away from a marker (10) in a predetermined direction or toward a marker (10); and a placement and retrieval device (58) for placing markers (10) in an outward bound direction and retrieving markers (10) in an inward bound direction.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
59 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 5, characterized by said marker detector-tracker (14, 50, 52 and 54) being adapted to actuate said vehicle controller (56) to move the vehicle (8) a predetermined distance when a marker (10) being tracked goes out of sight and being further adapted to scan for the out-of-sight marker (10) while traveling the predetermined distance.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
58 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 5, characterized by said placement and retrieval device (58) including a robot (18) mounted on the vehicle (8); said detector-tracker being adapted to actuate said vehicle controller to back the vehicle (8) up and move toward a to-be-retrieved marker (10) when said marker (10) is out of reach of said robot (18).
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
32 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 7, wherein said robot (8) includes tilt sensors (32) for detecting when the marker (10) is tilted after the marker (10) is placed on the ground.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
58 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 5, characterized by said marker (10) comprising: a signal (42) for signaling an identification of said marker (10); a stabilizer (34) for stabilizing said signal (42) in an upright position on uneven ground; and a telescoping mast (40) for raising said signal (42) when said marker (10) is placed on the ground.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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