Obstacle data processing system for unmanned vehicle
First Claim
1. An obstacle data processing system for self-controlled unmanned vehicle having a position and heading measuring means for measuring the position and heading of said unmanned vehicle and a running course memory means for storing position data of the position of said vehicle along a course so as to enable said vehicle to run along said course, said system comprising:
- obstacle detecting means for detecting an obstacle and for outputting position data of the position of said obstacle in terms of coordinate values on a coordinate system fixed to said vehicle;
absolute position computing means for converting, in accordance with the position and heading measured by said position and heading measuring means at the time when said obstacle is detected, said position data derived from said obstacle detecting means into absolute position data in terms of coordinate values on an absolute coordinate system which is set to the ground where said vehicle runs and which constitutes a reference for the control of running of said vehicle;
obstacle position memory means for storing the position data of specific obstacles which have been detected, whose coordinate values are converted into the absolute coordinate values, said absolute coordinate values being stored and outputted;
comparison means for comparing position of an obstacle which has been converted by said position computing means with the positions of said specific obstacles the position data which have been stored in said obstacle memory means; and
storage obstacle position position computing means for judging, in accordance with the result of the comparison performed by said comparison means, the position data of a specific obstacle to be stored in said obstacle position memory means and for outputting this position data, on the basis of the position data of the specific obstacles stored in said obstacle position memory means or the obstacle position data converted by said absolute position computing means.
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Abstract
An obstacle data processing system for an unmanned self-controlled vehicle, capable of enabling the vehicle to automatically avert any obstacle which lies in the course of running of the vehicle. The system has obstacle position memory device capable of accumulating position data concerning specific obstacles and, hence, forming data concerning the distribution of the obstacles. The vehicle therefore can conduct appropriate averting operation in accordance with the distribution of a plurality of obstacles.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. An obstacle data processing system for self-controlled unmanned vehicle having a position and heading measuring means for measuring the position and heading of said unmanned vehicle and a running course memory means for storing position data of the position of said vehicle along a course so as to enable said vehicle to run along said course, said system comprising:
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obstacle detecting means for detecting an obstacle and for outputting position data of the position of said obstacle in terms of coordinate values on a coordinate system fixed to said vehicle; absolute position computing means for converting, in accordance with the position and heading measured by said position and heading measuring means at the time when said obstacle is detected, said position data derived from said obstacle detecting means into absolute position data in terms of coordinate values on an absolute coordinate system which is set to the ground where said vehicle runs and which constitutes a reference for the control of running of said vehicle; obstacle position memory means for storing the position data of specific obstacles which have been detected, whose coordinate values are converted into the absolute coordinate values, said absolute coordinate values being stored and outputted; comparison means for comparing position of an obstacle which has been converted by said position computing means with the positions of said specific obstacles the position data which have been stored in said obstacle memory means; and storage obstacle position position computing means for judging, in accordance with the result of the comparison performed by said comparison means, the position data of a specific obstacle to be stored in said obstacle position memory means and for outputting this position data, on the basis of the position data of the specific obstacles stored in said obstacle position memory means or the obstacle position data converted by said absolute position computing means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An obstacle data processing system for a self-controlled unmanned vehicle having a position and heading measuring means for measuring the position and heading of said unmanned vehicle and a running course memory means for storing position data of the position of said vehicle along a course so as to enable said vehicle to run along said course, said system comprising:
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obstacle detecting means for detecting an obstacle and for outputting position data of the position of said obstacle in terms of coordinate values on a coordinate system fixed to said vehicle; absolute position computing means for converting, in accordance with the position and heading measured by said position and heading measuring means at the time when said obstacle is detected, said position data derived from said obstacle detecting means into absolute position data in terms of coordinate values on an absolute coordinate system based on the position of said vehicle and which constitutes a reference for the control of running of said vehicle; obstacle position memory means for storing the position data of specific obstacles which have been detected and converted into said absolute coordinate system.
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8. An obstacle data processing system for a self-controlled unmanned vehicle, having position and heading measuring means for measuring the position and heading of said unmanned vehicle and for outputting position and heading data corresponding to the detected position and heading, running course memory means for storing data concerning a running course which determines the movement of said unmanned vehicle, driving means for driving and steering said unmanned vehicle, and running control means for comparing said position and heading data with said data of said course stored in said running course memory means and for computing the controlled variable for controlling said driving means, thus enabling said unmanned vehicle to run along said course in a self-controlled manner, said system comprising:
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obstacle detecting system for detecting the positions of obstacles and for outputting the obstacle position data including obstacle detecting means for detecting an obstacle and for outputting position data of the position of said obstacle in terms of coordinate values on a coordinate system fixed to said vehicle; absolute position computing means for converting, in accordance with the position and heading measured by said position and heading measuring means at the time when said obstacle is detected, said position data derived from said obstacle detecting means into absolute position data in terms of coordinate values on an absolute coordinate system based on the position of said vehicle and which constitutes a reference for the control of running of said vehicle; obstacle position memory means for storing the position data of specific obstacles which have been detected and converted into said absolute coordinate system; obstacle criticalness judging means for computing, on the basis of the data of said course stored in said running course memory means and the obstacle position data derived from said obstacle detecting means, the distance between an obstacle and said running course, said obstacle criticalness judging means being further adapted to judge whether it is necessary for said unmanned vehicle to conduct any averting operation, through comparison between the computed distance and a threshold value; and averting operation determining means for determining, when said obstacle criticalness judging means has judged that an averting operation is necessary, an averting operation which will enable said unmanned vehicle to detour the point where said obstacle exists, in accordance with said obstacle position data derived from said obstacle detecting means and said position and heading data obtained from said position and heading measuring means, while taking into account the distance between said obstacle and the position at which said vehicle will commence said averting operation, said averting operation determining means being further adapted for renewing the data of said running course stored in said running course memory means in accordance with said averting operation determined by said averting operation determining means, thereby enabling said unmanned vehicle to execute said averting operation.
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Specification