Inertial navigational guidance system for a driverless vehicle utilizing laser obstacle sensors
First Claim
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1. A navigational control system comprising:
- a vehicle travel path;
at least one object in readable proximity to the travel path; and
a vehicle having a steering mechanism and a drive mechanism, said vehicle movable along said travel path, said vehicle further having a visual object detection system for generating data relating to the position of said vehicle relative to said at least one object, said vehicle further having an inertial guidance system for controlling operation of said steering and drive mechanisms to direct said vehicle substantially along said travel path, said inertial guidance system further having means for correcting deviation from said travel path based upon data generated by said visual object detection system.
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Abstract
A navigational control system for, and method of controlling the operation of, a driverless vehicle. The system includes a vehicle travel path and a visual object detection system for generating data relating to the position of the vehicle relative to objects in readable proximity to the travel path. The system includes an inertial guidance system for controlling operation of steering and drive mechanisms to direct the vehicle substantially along the travel path, and for correcting deviation from said travel path based upon data generated by said visual object detection systems, and for detecting impending obstacle contact.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A navigational control system comprising:
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a vehicle travel path;
at least one object in readable proximity to the travel path; and
a vehicle having a steering mechanism and a drive mechanism, said vehicle movable along said travel path, said vehicle further having a visual object detection system for generating data relating to the position of said vehicle relative to said at least one object, said vehicle further having an inertial guidance system for controlling operation of said steering and drive mechanisms to direct said vehicle substantially along said travel path, said inertial guidance system further having means for correcting deviation from said travel path based upon data generated by said visual object detection system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 18)
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8. A driverless vehicle a having:
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a steering mechanism and drive mechanism to move said vehicle along a travel path;
at least one visual object detection system for generating data relating to the position of said vehicle relative to at least one object near said travel path;
an inertial guidance system for controlling operation of said steering mechanism and said drive mechanism to direct said vehicle substantially along a travel path, said inertial guidance system further having means for correcting deviation from said travel path based upon data generated by said visual object detection system. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 19)
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13. A method of controlling the operation of a driverless vehicle using an inertial guidance system to control operation of the steering mechanism and the drive mechanism of said driverless vehicle to direct said vehicle substantially along a travel path, said method comprising;
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repeatedly collecting data from at least one visual object detection system relating to the position of said vehicle relative to at least one object near said travel path;
correcting deviation from said travel path based upon data collected from said visual object detection system. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 20)
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Specification