Travel controlling apparatus of unmanned vehicle

• US 20020099481A1
• Filed: 01/18/2002
• Published: 07/25/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Komatsu Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Komatsu Ltd.
• Inventors: Mori, Masaki
• Granted Patent: US 6,751,535 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/23
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/12 executed aboard the object being navigated; Dead reckoning
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/86 Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/14 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/23 Testing, monitoring, correcting or calibrating of receiver elements
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/40 Correcting position, velocity or attitude
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/485 whereby the further system is an optical system or imaging system
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/49 whereby the further system is an inertial position system, e.g. loosely-coupled
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/50 whereby the position solution is constrained to lie upon a particular curve or surface, e.g. for locomotives on railway tracks
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/497 Means for monitoring or calibrating
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/024 in combination with a laser lasers per se H01S
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/027 comprising intertial navigation means, e.g. azimuth detector inertial navigation G01C21/16; inertial navigation combined with non-inertial navigation instruments G01C21/165
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0278 using satellite positioning signals, e.g. GPS

Abstract

The invention provides a travel controlling apparatus of an unmanned vehicle which can maintain a high accuracy of travel guiding even in the case that an accuracy of positioning of a GPS navigation or an autonomous navigation is deteriorated and a state that a positioning can not be executed is invited. In a travel controlling apparatus of an unmanned vehicle provided with a GPS receiver (13) receiving a GPS signal so as to position a position of a vehicle, an autonomous navigation computing device (14) positioning a position and an azimuth of the vehicle on the basis of a traveling direction and distance of the vehicle, a position measuring portion (11) calculating a present position and azimuth on the basis of the respective measured results of the GPS receiver (13) and the autonomous navigation computing device (14), and a travel controlling portion (17) controlling the vehicle travel on the basis of a result of comparison between a previously set traveling path (4) and the calculated position and azimuth the travel controlling apparatus is provided with a roadside zone distance measuring device (15) for measuring a distance from the vehicle to a roadside zone (5) provided in a side of the traveling path (4), and the position measuring portion (11) compensates at least one of a position positioned by the GPS receiver (13) and/or a position and an azimuth positioned by the autonomous navigation computing device (14) on the basis of the roadside zone distance measured by the roadside zone distance measuring device (15) so as to determine the present position and azimuth.

Claims

1. A travel controlling apparatus of an unmanned vehicle comprising:

a GPS receiver receiving a GPS signal so as to position an absolute coordinate position of a vehicle;

an autonomous navigation computing device measuring a traveling direction and a traveling distance of the vehicle so as to position a relative coordinate position and azimuth of the vehicle from a specific position on the basis of the measured result;

a position measuring portion calculating a present position and azimuth of the vehicle on the basis of the respective measured results of the GPS receiver and the autonomous navigation computing device; and

a travel controlling portion relatively comparing a position and an azimuth of a previously set traveling path with the present position and azimuth calculated by the position measuring portion so as to control the vehicle travel in such a manner as to make respective deviation values small wherein the travel controlling apparatus is provided with a roadside zone distance measuring device for measuring a distance from the vehicle to a roadside zone provided in a side of the traveling path, and said position measuring portion compensates at least one of a position positioned by said GPS receiver and/or a position and an azimuth positioned by the autonomous navigation computing device on the basis of the roadside zone distance measured by the roadside zone distance measuring device so as to determine the present position and azimuths.

2. A travel controlling apparatus of an unmanned vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said position measuring portion judges a stability of the roadside zone from the measured value of the roadside zone distance, and compensates on the basis of said roadside zone distance at a time when the stability is normal.

3. A travel controlling apparatus of an unmanned vehicle as claimed in claim 2, wherein the compensation of said position measuring portion on the basis of the roadside zone distance is executed by a sensor fusion in correspondence to a positioning accuracy estimating value of the GPS receiver and/or a positioning accuracy estimating value of the autonomous computing device, and a positioning accuracy estimating value of the roadside zone distance measuring device.

4. A travel controlling apparatus of an unmanned vehicle comprising:

a GPS receiver receiver a GPS signal so as to position an absolute coordinate position of a vehicle;

an autonomous navigation computing device measuring a traveling direction and a traveling distance of the vehicle so as to position a relative coordinate position and azimuth of the vehicle film a specific position on the basis of the measured result;

a position measuring portion calculating a present position and azimuth of the vehicle on the basis of the respective measured results of the GPS receiver and the autonomous navigation computing device; and

a travel controlling portion relatively comparing a position and an azimuth of a previously set traveling path with the present position and azimuth calculated by the position measuring portion so as to control the vehicle travel in such a manner as to make respective deviation values small,

wherein the travel controlling apparatus is provided with a roadside zone distance measuring device for measuring a distance from the vehicle to a roadside zone provided in a side of the traveling path, and said position measuring portion compensates at least one of a position positioned by said GPS receiver and/or a position and an azimuth positioned by the autonomous navigation computing device on the basis of the roadside zone distance measured by the roadside zone distance measuring device so as to determine the present position and azimuth, and

wherein the compensation of said position measuring portion on the basis of the roadside zone distance is executed by a sensor fusion in correspondence to a positioning accuracy estimating value of the GPS receiver and/or a positioning accuracy estimating value of the autonomous computing device, and a positioning accuracy estimating value of the roadside zone distance measuring device.