Optical laser guidance system apparatus and method
First Claim
1. An optical laser guidance system for use with a vehicle, comprising:
- a laser sensor to sense a position of a laser beam and responsively generate a position signal;
a vehicle drive actuator; and
a controller, linked to the laser sensor and linked to the vehicle drive actuator, to receive the position signal and control the vehicle drive actuator in response to the laser beam being greater than a predetermined distance from the reference position.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical laser guidance system includes a laser sensor, a controller and a plurality of actuators. The laser sensor detects a projected laser beam and sends an electrical signal representative of the position of the laser beam to the controller. The controller interprets the representative signal and uses the position of the laser beam relative to a predetermined reference position to generate a control signal to control an actuator in order to control the direction of travel of a vehicle or robot with respect to a predetermined guidepath. The laser sensor may also receive additional control messages that result in the controller generating additional control signals to control additional actuators in order to perform additional functions. The optical laser guidance system may also include a laser projection system capable of projecting a two- or three-dimensional guidepath and additional control messages.
45 Citations
32 Claims
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1. An optical laser guidance system for use with a vehicle, comprising:
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a laser sensor to sense a position of a laser beam and responsively generate a position signal;
a vehicle drive actuator; and
a controller, linked to the laser sensor and linked to the vehicle drive actuator, to receive the position signal and control the vehicle drive actuator in response to the laser beam being greater than a predetermined distance from the reference position. - 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 guiding a vehicle with a laser beam, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a signal from a laser sensor, the signal being representative of a position of the laser beam;
interpreting the representative signal;
generating a control signal in response to the laser beam being greater than a predetermined distance from the reference position, the control signal being configured to control a vehicle to track the position of the laser beam; and
sending the control signal to the vehicle drive actuator. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. A method for creating a vehicle guidepath, comprising the steps of:
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determining a sequence of directions in which sequentially to point a laser beam in order to dynamically create a vehicle guidepath;
generating a control signal for sequentially pointing a laser source in a sequence of directions to dynamically create the vehicle guidepath;
sending the control signal to the laser source; and
sequentially pointing the laser beam in the sequence of directions so as dynamically to create the vehicle guidepath. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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27. An optical laser guidance system, comprising:
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means for determining a sequence of directions in which sequentially to point a laser beam in order to dynamically create a vehicle guidepath;
means for generating a first control signal for sequentially pointing a laser source in a sequence of directions to dynamically create the vehicle guidepath;
means for sending the first control signal to the laser source;
means for sequentially pointing a laser beam in a sequence of directions so as dynamically to create the vehicle guidepath;
means for receiving a signal from a laser sensor, the signal being representative of a position of the laser beam;
means for interpreting the representative signal;
means for generating a second control signal to control a vehicle to track the position of the laser beam; and
means for sending the second control signal to a vehicle drive actuator. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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29. A computer program product for enabling a controller to guide a vehicle with a laser beam, comprising:
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software instructions for enabling a controller to perform predetermined operations; and
a computer readable medium bearing the software instructions;
the predetermined operations including the steps of;
receiving a signal from a laser sensor, the signal being representative of a position of the laser beam, interpreting the representative signal, generating a control signal in response to the laser beam being greater than a predetermined distance from the reference position, the control signal being configured to control the vehicle to track the position of the laser beam, and sending the control signal to a vehicle drive actuator. - View Dependent Claims (30)
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31. A computer program product for enabling a computer to control a laser source to create a vehicle guidepath, comprising:
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software instructions for enabling a computer processor to perform predetermined operations; and
a computer readable medium bearing the software instructions;
the predetermined operations including the steps of;
determining a sequence of directions in which sequentially to point a laser beam in order to dynamically create a vehicle guidepath, generating a control signal for sequentially pointing the laser source in a sequence of directions to dynamically create the vehicle guidepath, and sending the control signal to the laser source. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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Specification