Spatial avoidance method and apparatus
First Claim
1. A method of maneuvering a vehicle towards a destination in the presence of at least one obstacle, comprising the steps of:
- establishing a nominal guidance direction for said vehicle;
establishing a nominal obstacle avoidance direction based on said obstacle;
determining a vehicle steering direction based on said guidance direction and said obstacle avoidance direction.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An obstacle avoidance system, apparatus, and method is described suitable for use on autonomously guided or man-in-the-loop guided vehicles such as aircraft, missiles, cars, and other types of vehicles. The system provides guidance instructions in the situation where the vehicle encounters an obstacle either directly or indirectly in its path while traveling to a desired destination or where vehicles are traveling in formation. The system can be applied not only to obstacle avoidance but also to trajectory shaping by defining obstacles, operational boundaries and/or threats which influence the trajectory of the vehicle.
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Citations
77 Claims
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1. A method of maneuvering a vehicle towards a destination in the presence of at least one obstacle, comprising the steps of:
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establishing a nominal guidance direction for said vehicle;
establishing a nominal obstacle avoidance direction based on said obstacle;
determining a vehicle steering direction based on said guidance direction and said obstacle avoidance direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of maneuvering a vehicle towards a destination in the presence of at least one obstacle, comprising the steps of:
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establishing a nominal guidance direction for said vehicle;
establishing a geometric boundary surrounding said obstacle;
determining a distance between said vehicle and said obstacle;
determining whether said vehicle is inside of said geometric boundary or outside of said geometric boundary;
based on said step of determining whether said vehicle is inside of said geometric boundary or outside of said geometric boundary, establishing;
in the case where said vehicle is inside of said geometric boundary, said nominal guidance direction for said vehicle is a direction substantially towards the destination, and in the case where said vehicle is inside of said geometric boundary, said nominal guidance direction for said vehicle is an anti intercept direction between said vehicle and said obstacle; and
determining a vehicle steering direction based on said guidance direction, an applicable one of said nominal guidance direction based on a direction substantially towards said destination and said nominal guidance direction based on an anti-intercept direction, said distance, and any distance-based field element. - View Dependent Claims (24, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68)
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23. An apparatus for maneuvering a vehicle towards a destination in the presence of at least one obstacle, comprising:
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a controller having a memory;
a means for inputting a nominal guidance direction for said vehicle into said memory;
a computer for computing a nominal obstacle avoidance direction based on said obstacle, and for computing a vehicle steering direction based on said guidance direction and said obstacle avoidance direction.
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25. A method for maneuvering a first vehicle in the presence of a second vehicle, comprising the steps of:
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establishing a nominal guidance direction for each of said first and said second vehicles;
establishing a nominal obstacle avoidance direction for said first vehicle with respect to said second vehicle;
determining a steering direction for said first vehicle based on said guidance direction of said first vehicle and said obstacle avoidance direction.
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26. A method for maneuvering a first vehicle in relation to a second vehicle, comprising the steps of:
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establishing a first repulsive boundary around said second vehicle;
establishing a first attractive boundary around said first repulsive boundary, said first repulsive boundary and said first attractive boundary defining an interactive region therebetween;
computing a steering direction for said first vehicle such that when said first vehicle is outside said first attractive boundary, said first vehicle is directed toward said second vehicle, when said first vehicle is within said first repulsive boundary, said first vehicle is directed away from said second vehicle, and when said first vehicle is within said interactive region, said first vehicle is directed either toward or away from said second vehicle based on a weighted function.
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27. A guidance processor for maneuvering a vehicle towards a destination in the presence of at least one obstacle, comprising:
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a device for determining a nominal guidance direction for said vehicle;
a device for determining a nominal obstacle avoidance direction based on said obstacle;
a device for determining a vehicle steering direction based on said guidance direction and said obstacle avoidance direction.
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48. A memory device for use with a guidance processor for maneuvering a vehicle towards a destination in the presence of at least one obstacle, said memory device comprising encoded instructions executable by the guidance processor for:
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establishing a nominal guidance direction for said vehicle;
establishing a nominal obstacle avoidance direction based on said obstacle;
determining a vehicle steering direction based on said guidance direction and said obstacle avoidance direction.
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69. Computer executable software for use with a guidance processor for maneuvering a vehicle towards a destination in the presence of at least one obstacle, comprising:
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means for determining a nominal guidance direction for said vehicle;
means for determining a nominal obstacle avoidance direction based on said obstacle;
means for determining a vehicle steering direction based on said guidance direction and said obstacle avoidance direction.
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70. An autopilot controller for maneuvering a vehicle towards a destination in the presence of at least one obstacle, comprising:
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a device for determining a nominal guidance direction for said vehicle;
a device for determining a nominal obstacle avoidance direction based on said obstacle;
a device for determining a vehicle steering direction based on said guidance direction and said obstacle avoidance direction. - View Dependent Claims (71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77)
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Specification