Traffic management system for a passageway environment
First Claim
1. A traffic management system for one or more vehicles located in a passageway environment comprising:
- a) one or more vehicles, each equipped with one or more odometric sensors, one or more range-sensing devices, and a microprocessor including memory storage, said one or more odometric sensors and one or more range-sensing devices being connected to said microprocessor, said microprocessor being programmed to acquire data from said one or more odometric sensors and said one or more range-sensing devices, and based on said data, said microprocessor being programmed for estimating global position and orientation of the vehicle on which it is located in said passageway environment; and
b) a central microprocessor that executes said route planning and vehicle monitoring, said central microprocessor being connected to said one or more vehicles by way of a wireless data communications system, and based on said estimated global position and orientation of each of said one or more vehicles, said central microprocessor being programmed forgenerating strategic route plans for said one or more vehicles located in said passageway environment; and
monitoring the global position and orientation of said one or more vehicles in said passageway environment as said one or more vehicles progress along said strategic route plans.
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Abstract
The present invention provides a system for coordinating multiple vehicles in a passageway environment (e.g., in underground mines). The system includes methods and apparatus for determining the global position and orientation of a vehicle in said passageway environment, and methods for planning routes and monitoring the travels of multiple vehicles in said passageway environment. A global position and orientation estimation system employs one or more odometric sensors and one or more range sensing devices. It works in three basic steps. In the first step, it records and processes sensor data that is descriptive of the passageway environment by moving the system through said passageway environment. In the second step, it generates a globally consistent map of said passageway environment. Finally, real-time localization is provided by employing odometric sensors and range sensing devices to determine the system'"'"'s global position and orientation with respect to said globally consistent map, both initially and as it travels through the passageway environment. A route planning method accepts higher-level goals for a set of multiple vehicles in said passageway environment and generates a route plan for each vehicle that minimizes the travel time for the group of vehicles, while at the same time avoiding collisions between vehicles. Route plans are sent to the vehicles for implementation and a monitoring method tracks the global positions and orientations of the vehicles and ensures that both safety and efficiency are maintained.
106 Citations
127 Claims
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1. A traffic management system for one or more vehicles located in a passageway environment comprising:
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a) one or more vehicles, each equipped with one or more odometric sensors, one or more range-sensing devices, and a microprocessor including memory storage, said one or more odometric sensors and one or more range-sensing devices being connected to said microprocessor, said microprocessor being programmed to acquire data from said one or more odometric sensors and said one or more range-sensing devices, and based on said data, said microprocessor being programmed for estimating global position and orientation of the vehicle on which it is located in said passageway environment; and b) a central microprocessor that executes said route planning and vehicle monitoring, said central microprocessor being connected to said one or more vehicles by way of a wireless data communications system, and based on said estimated global position and orientation of each of said one or more vehicles, said central microprocessor being programmed for generating strategic route plans for said one or more vehicles located in said passageway environment; and monitoring the global position and orientation of said one or more vehicles in said passageway environment as said one or more vehicles progress along said strategic route plans. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 126)
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41. A global position and orientation estimation system for a passageway environment comprising
one or more odometric sensors, one or more range-sensing devices, and a microprocessor including memory storage, said one or more odometric sensors and one or more range-sensing devices being connected to said microprocessor; - and
means for moving the system throughout said passageway environment, said microprocessor being programmed for i) simultaneously logging raw data from sensors including scans from said one or more range-sensing devices and said one or more odometric sensors, determining the acquisition times of all raw data, and storing said raw data and acquisition times in said microprocessor memory storage as said system is simultaneously moved throughout said passageway environment ii) pre-processing said logged data to obtain estimates of the system'"'"'s positions and orientations during the logging process iii) storing said logged and pre-processed data to a log file in said microprocessor memory storage iv) creating a globally consistent map of said passageway environment from said logged and pre-processed data and storing said globally consistent map in said microprocessor memory storage, and v) repeatedly determining the global position and orientation of the system, in real time, as it is propelled through said passageway environment, using said one or more range-sensing devices, said one or more odometric sensors, said microprocessor, and said globally consistent map of said passageway environment stored in said microprocessor memory storage. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
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66. A traffic management method for one or more vehicles located in a passageway environment, the vehicles each being equipped with one or more odometric sensors, one or more range-sensing devices, and a microprocessor including memory storage, said one or more odometric sensors and one or more range-sensing devices being connected to said microprocessor, a central microprocessor being connected to said one or more vehicles by way of a wireless data communications system, and said method comprising the steps of:
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a) generating strategic route plans for said one or more vehicles; b) estimating global positions and orientations of said one or more vehicles in said passageway environment, wherein said step of estimating the global position and orientation of a vehicle in a passageway environment includes the steps of i) moving the vehicle throughout said passageway environment while simultaneously logging raw data from sensors including scans from said one or more range-sensing devices and said one or more odometric sensors, determining the acquisition times of all raw data, and storing said raw data and acquisition times in said microprocessor memory storage ii) pre-processing said logged data to obtain estimates of the vehicle'"'"'s positions and orientations during the logging process iii) storing said logged and pre-processed data to a log file in said microprocessor memory storage iv) creating a globally consistent map of said passageway environment from said logged and pre-processed data and storing said globally consistent map in said microprocessor memory storage, and v) repeatedly determining the global position and orientation of the vehicle, in real time, as it is propelled through said passageway environment, using said one or more range-sensing devices, said one or more odometric sensors, said microprocessor, and said globally consistent map of said passageway environment stored in said microprocessor memory storage; and c) monitoring the global position and orientation of said one or more vehicles in said passageway environment as said one or more vehicles progress along said strategic route plans. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103)
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104. A method for estimating the global position and orientation of a vehicle in a passageway environment, the vehicle being equipped with one or more odometric sensors, one or more range-sensing devices, and a microprocessor including memory storage, said one or more odometric sensors and one or more range-sensing devices being connected to said microprocessor, and said method including the steps of
a) estimating the global position and orientation of the vehicle in a passageway environment by the steps of i) moving the vehicle throughout said passageway environment while simultaneously logging raw data from sensors including scans from said one or more range-sensing devices and said one or more odometric sensors, determining the acquisition times of all raw data, and storing said raw data and acquisition times in said microprocessor memory storage ii) pre-processing said logged data to obtain estimates of the vehicle'"'"'s positions and orientations during the logging process iii) storing said logged and pre-processed data to a log file in said microprocessor memory storage iv) creating a globally consistent map of said passageway environment from said logged and pre-processed data and storing said globally consistent map in said microprocessor memory storage, and v) repeatedly determining the global position and orientation of the vehicle, in real time, as it is propelled through said passageway environment, using said one or more range-sensing devices, said one or more odometric sensors, said microprocessor, and said globally consistent map of said passageway environment stored in said microprocessor memory storage.
Specification