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Semi-autonomous route compliance navigation system and method

  • US 9,217,646 B2
  • Filed: 03/15/2013
  • Issued: 12/22/2015
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2012
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method for detecting that an object, person or vehicle which receives a travel assignment for travel remote from the supervisory control of a controlling authority has deviated from its prescribed route in space or time and guiding it back to the prescribed route according to predefined criteria of strictness established by the controlling authority, comprising the following steps:

  • (a) operating a mobile client device used in association with the object, person or vehicle to obtain or determine an origin location and obtain a destination location for the object person or vehicle from a controlling authority server computer;

    (b) obtaining or determining at the mobile client device a prescribed route to be traversed by the object, person or vehicle, the prescribed route defined in accordance with a graph of travel routes representing a network which may be traversed by the object person or vehicle, said prescribed route determined by minimizing the impedance from the origin location to the destination location, and setting at the mobile device the current route to be traversed equal to the prescribed route;

    (c) receiving at the mobile client device proximity criteria and a return-to-route criteria, each selectively assigned by the controlling authority in accordance with at least one variable which can change in accordance with the travel assignment;

    (d) determining the current location of the mobile client device using at least one location determining device provided at the mobile client device;

    (e) using the location determining device to determine whether the current location of the mobile client device is proximate to the current route in space and time according to the proximity criteria;

    (f) if the current location of the mobile client device is proximate to the current route according to the proximity criteria, extracting and displaying with the mobile client device the next maneuver along the current route, but if the current location is not proximate to the prescribed route, operating the mobile client device to determine a current route to the destination according to a degree of strictness as selectively specified by the return-to-route criteria;

    (g) repeating steps d through f until either the destination is reached or the method is interrupted.

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