Autonomous vehicle guidance on or near airports
First Claim
1. A method for operating an autonomous vehicle at an airport, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing (18) a first set of navigation signals for general purpose use;
(b) providing (26) a second set of navigation signals (28), being supplementary to the first navigation signals, for guiding aircraft to land at the airport;
(c) receiving (400), in the vehicle, the first set of navigation signals;
(d) receiving (402), in the vehicle, the second set of navigation signals;
(e) receiving (304;
404) constraint data representing a permitted area of operation;
(f) calculating (406,310) a present position of the vehicle;
(g) comparing (312) the calculated present position of the vehicle with the constraint data, thereby to determine whether the vehicle'"'"'s present position lies within the permitted area; and
(h) producing a signal (313;
315) indicative of the result of said comparing step; and
(i) operating the vehicle in accordance with a predefined strategy (314) in response to the status of the signal (313;
315) of step (h).
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for operating an autonomous vehicle at an airport comprises the steps of: receiving a set of general purpose navigation signals; receiving a supplementary set of navigation signals; receiving constraint data representing a permitted area of operation; calculating a present position of the vehicle; comparing the calculated present position of the vehicle with the constraint data, thereby to determine whether the vehicle'"'"'s present position lies within the permitted area; and producing a signal indicative of the result of said comparing step. The autonomous vehicle for use at an airport, comprising: a navigation processor for calculating a present position of the vehicle; a constraint store for storing constraint data indicating a permitted area of operation; navigation receivers for receiving general purpose navigation signals and supplementary navigation signals, for guiding aircraft to land at the airport; and a comparator for comparing the constraint data with the present position.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method for operating an autonomous vehicle at an airport, comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing (18) a first set of navigation signals for general purpose use; (b) providing (26) a second set of navigation signals (28), being supplementary to the first navigation signals, for guiding aircraft to land at the airport; (c) receiving (400), in the vehicle, the first set of navigation signals; (d) receiving (402), in the vehicle, the second set of navigation signals; (e) receiving (304;
404) constraint data representing a permitted area of operation;(f) calculating (406,310) a present position of the vehicle; (g) comparing (312) the calculated present position of the vehicle with the constraint data, thereby to determine whether the vehicle'"'"'s present position lies within the permitted area; and (h) producing a signal (313;
315) indicative of the result of said comparing step; and(i) operating the vehicle in accordance with a predefined strategy (314) in response to the status of the signal (313;
315) of step (h). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An autonomous vehicle for use at an airport, comprising:
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electrical and mechanical subsystems (414) to enable the vehicle to move and to perform an allotted function; a traction control subsystem (412) for controlling the electrical and mechanical subsystems to operate the vehicle in a required manner; a path management system (410) for calculating a required path for the motion of the vehicle to follow; a navigation processor (406) for calculating a present position of the vehicle; a constraint store for storing constraint data indicating a permitted area of operation; a comparator for comparing the constraint data with the present position; a first navigation receiver (400) for receiving a first set of navigation signals, being general purpose navigation signals; an operator interface (404) for communicating with an operator; and a second navigation receiver (402) for receiving a second set of navigation signals, being supplementary to the first navigation signals, for guiding aircraft to land at the airport.
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Specification