CONTROL APPARATUS FOR AUTONOMOUS OPERATING VEHICLE
First Claim
1. An apparatus for controlling an autonomous operating vehicle having a prime mover, a driven wheel connected to the prime mover, an operating machine, and a magnetic sensor adapted to produce an output indicative of magnetic field generated at an electric wire laid along a border of a travel-scheduled area, the vehicle being driven by the prime mover to autonomously travel in the travel-scheduled area defined by the border detected based on the output of the magnetic sensor, while performing operation using the operating machine, comprising:
- a geomagnetic sensor adapted to produce an output indicative of geomagnetism acting in the travel-scheduled area;
an angular velocity sensor adapted to produce an output indicative of angular velocity generated about a vertical axis in center of gravity of the vehicle;
a wheel speed sensor adapted to produce an output indicative of a speed of the driven wheel of the vehicle;
a direction and distance calculator adapted to calculate a traveling direction based on the output of the angular velocity sensor and a traveled distance based on the output of the wheel speed sensor;
a travel trajectory generator adapted to drive the prime mover based on the calculated traveling direction so that the vehicle is traveled around from a predetermined start point along the border of the travel-scheduled area in accordance with the output of the magnetic sensor and during the vehicle'"'"'s round travel, to sequentially record the calculated traveling directions and the calculated traveled distances on a bitmap, defining the travel-scheduled area and comprising a plurality of divided bits, to generate a travel trajectory with respect to the border of the travel-scheduled area;
a map information transformer adapted to transform the generated travel trajectory to map information composed of the bitmap; and
a travel and operation controller adapted to determine a position of the vehicle using the bits of the bitmap of the transformed map information, and control the vehicle to, as traveling straight, perform the operation using the operating machine based on the calculated traveling direction, the calculated traveled distance and the determined position, utilizing a primary reference direction obtained from the output of the geomagnetic sensor as a reference.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In an apparatus for controlling an autonomous operating vehicle having an operating machine and a magnetic sensor adapted to detect a border of a travel-scheduled area, the vehicle is controlled to travel around the area from a start point along the border to sequentially record traveling directions and traveled distances on a bitmap. The generated travel trajectory is transformed to map information. A position of the vehicle is detected using bits of the bitmap of the transformed map information, and the vehicle is controlled to, as traveling straight in the north-south directions, while perform the operation with the operating machine based on the calculated traveling direction, the calculated traveled distance and the determined position, utilizing a primary reference direction obtained from a geomagnetic sensor as a reference.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An apparatus for controlling an autonomous operating vehicle having a prime mover, a driven wheel connected to the prime mover, an operating machine, and a magnetic sensor adapted to produce an output indicative of magnetic field generated at an electric wire laid along a border of a travel-scheduled area, the vehicle being driven by the prime mover to autonomously travel in the travel-scheduled area defined by the border detected based on the output of the magnetic sensor, while performing operation using the operating machine, comprising:
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a geomagnetic sensor adapted to produce an output indicative of geomagnetism acting in the travel-scheduled area; an angular velocity sensor adapted to produce an output indicative of angular velocity generated about a vertical axis in center of gravity of the vehicle; a wheel speed sensor adapted to produce an output indicative of a speed of the driven wheel of the vehicle; a direction and distance calculator adapted to calculate a traveling direction based on the output of the angular velocity sensor and a traveled distance based on the output of the wheel speed sensor; a travel trajectory generator adapted to drive the prime mover based on the calculated traveling direction so that the vehicle is traveled around from a predetermined start point along the border of the travel-scheduled area in accordance with the output of the magnetic sensor and during the vehicle'"'"'s round travel, to sequentially record the calculated traveling directions and the calculated traveled distances on a bitmap, defining the travel-scheduled area and comprising a plurality of divided bits, to generate a travel trajectory with respect to the border of the travel-scheduled area; a map information transformer adapted to transform the generated travel trajectory to map information composed of the bitmap; and a travel and operation controller adapted to determine a position of the vehicle using the bits of the bitmap of the transformed map information, and control the vehicle to, as traveling straight, perform the operation using the operating machine based on the calculated traveling direction, the calculated traveled distance and the determined position, utilizing a primary reference direction obtained from the output of the geomagnetic sensor as a reference. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An apparatus for controlling an autonomous operating vehicle having a prime mover, a driven wheel connected to the prime mover, an operating machine, and a magnetic sensor adapted to produce an output indicative of magnetic field generated at an electric wire laid along a border of a travel-scheduled area, the vehicle being driven by the prime mover to autonomously travel in the travel-scheduled area defined by the border detected based on the output of the magnetic sensor, while performing operation using the operating machine, comprising:
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geomagnetism output producing means for producing an output indicative of geomagnetism acting in the travel-scheduled area; angular velocity output producing means for producing an output indicative of angular velocity generated about a vertical axis in center of gravity of the vehicle; wheel speed output producing means for producing an output indicative of a speed of the driven wheel of the vehicle; traveling direction and distance calculating means for calculating a traveling direction based on the output of the angular velocity output producing means and a traveled distance based on the output of the wheel speed output producing means; travel trajectory generating means for driving the prime mover based on the calculated traveling direction so that the vehicle is traveled around from a predetermined start point along the border of the travel-scheduled area in accordance with the output of the magnetic sensor and during the vehicle'"'"'s round travel, and for sequentially recording the calculated traveling directions and the calculated traveled distances on a bitmap, defining the travel-scheduled area and comprising a plurality of divided bits, to generate a travel trajectory with respect to the border of the travel-scheduled area; map information transforming means for transforming the generated travel trajectory to map information composed of the bitmap; and travel and operation controlling means for determining a position of the vehicle using the bits of the bitmap of the transformed map information, and for controlling the vehicle to, as traveling straight, perform the operation using the operating machine based on the calculated traveling direction, the calculated traveled distance and the determined position, utilizing a primary reference direction obtained from the output of the geomagnetic sensor as a reference. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for controlling an autonomous operating vehicle having a prime mover, a driven wheel connected to the prime mover, an operating machine, and a magnetic sensor adapted to produce an output indicative of magnetic field generated at an electric wire laid along a border of a travel-scheduled area, the vehicle being driven by the prime mover to autonomously travel in the travel-scheduled area defined by the border detected based on the output of the magnetic sensor, while performing operation using the operating machine, comprising the steps of:
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obtaining a sensor output indicative of geomagnetism acting in the travel-scheduled area; obtaining a sensor output indicative of angular velocity generated about a vertical axis in center of gravity of the vehicle; obtaining a sensor output indicative of a speed of the driven wheel of the vehicle; calculating a traveling direction based on the sensor output indicative of the angular velocity and a traveled distance based on the sensor output of indicative of the wheel speed; driving the prime mover based on the calculated traveling direction so that the vehicle is traveled around from a predetermined start point along the border of the travel-scheduled area in accordance with the output of the magnetic sensor and during the vehicle'"'"'s round travel, and sequentially recording the calculated traveling directions and the calculated traveled distances on a bitmap, defining the travel-scheduled area and comprising a plurality of divided bits, to generate a travel trajectory with respect to the border of the travel-scheduled area; transforming the generated travel trajectory to map information composed of the bitmap; and determining a position of the vehicle using the bits of the bitmap of the transformed map information, and controlling the vehicle to, as traveling straight, perform the operation using the operating machine based on the calculated traveling direction, the calculated traveled distance and the determined position, utilizing a primary reference direction obtained from the sensor output of the geomagnetism as a reference. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification