Navigation and control system for autonomous vehicles
First Claim
1. A method for navigation and control of an autonomous vehicle, comprising:
- producing three dimensional images in a field of view in a direction of travel of the vehicle by scanning repeatedly an emitted beam from the vehicle about a first predetermined axis and through a first angular sector and panning the emitted beam about a second predetermined axis different from the first predetermined axis and through a second angular sector;
detecting at the vehicle a returned part of the emitted beam scattered by an object;
determining by a processor in the vehicle a geospatial coordinate of the vehicle, a speed of the vehicle, and a heading of the vehicle,determining from the returned part of the emitted beam scattered by the object, by the processor in the vehicle, geospatial coordinates and a size of the object existing in the repeatedly produced 3D images; and
controlling movement of the vehicle to avoid collision with the object based at least in part on at least one of the geospatial coordinates of the object, the size of the object, the geospatial coordinate of the vehicle, and the speed of the vehicle.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A navigation and control system including a sensor configured to locate objects in a predetermined field of view from a vehicle. The sensor has an emitter configured to repeatedly scan a beam into a two-dimensional sector of a plane defined with respect to a first predetermined axis of the vehicle, and a detector configured to detect a reflection of the emitted beam from one of the objects. The sensor includes a panning mechanism configured to pan the plane in which the beam is scanned about a second predetermined axis to produce a three dimensional field of view. The navigation and control system includes a processor configured to determine the existence and location of the objects in the three dimensional field of view based on a position of the vehicle and a time between an emittance of the beam and a reception of the reflection of the emitted beam from one of the objects.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method for navigation and control of an autonomous vehicle, comprising:
-
producing three dimensional images in a field of view in a direction of travel of the vehicle by scanning repeatedly an emitted beam from the vehicle about a first predetermined axis and through a first angular sector and panning the emitted beam about a second predetermined axis different from the first predetermined axis and through a second angular sector; detecting at the vehicle a returned part of the emitted beam scattered by an object; determining by a processor in the vehicle a geospatial coordinate of the vehicle, a speed of the vehicle, and a heading of the vehicle, determining from the returned part of the emitted beam scattered by the object, by the processor in the vehicle, geospatial coordinates and a size of the object existing in the repeatedly produced 3D images; and controlling movement of the vehicle to avoid collision with the object based at least in part on at least one of the geospatial coordinates of the object, the size of the object, the geospatial coordinate of the vehicle, and the speed of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A method for navigation and control of an autonomous vehicle, comprising:
-
producing three dimensional images in fields of view in a direction of travel of the vehicle by scanning repeatedly an emitted beam from the vehicle about a first predetermined axis and through a first angular sector and panning the emitted beam about a second predetermined axis different from the first predetermined axis and through a second angular sector; detecting at the vehicle a returned part of the emitted beam scattered by an object determining by a processor in the vehicle a geospatial coordinate of the vehicle, a speed of the vehicle, and a heading of the vehicle, producing a contour map of the object based on the returned part of the emitted beam scattered by the object; determining from the contour map a first point on the contour map of the object that is farther away from the vehicle than a second point on the contour map of the object; identifying by the processor in the vehicle the object as an obstacle to be avoided if a slope between the first point and the second point is greater than a predetermined slope and if a height between the first point and the second point is greater than a predetermined height.
-
Specification