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Method and control system for surveying and mapping a terrain while operating a bulldozer

  • US 9,481,982 B1
  • Filed: 04/19/2016
  • Issued: 11/01/2016
  • Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2015
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method for generating scaled terrain information while operating a bulldozer, the bulldozer comprisinga driving unit comprising:

  • a set of drive wheels being part of a continuous track, anda motor connected to at least one of the drive wheels for providing movability of the bulldozer,a blade for altering the surface of the terrain,at least one camera for capturing images of the environment, the camera being positioned and aligned in a known manner relative to the bulldozer, anda controlling and processing unit,wherein the method comprises;

    moving the bulldozer in the terrain whilst concurrently generating a set of image data by capturing an image series of terrain sections with the at least one camera so that at least two successive images of the image series cover an amount of identical points in the terrain, wherein the terrain sections are defined by a viewing field of the at least one camera at respective positions of the camera while moving,and either applyinga simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) algorithm ora stereo photogrammetry algorithmto the set of image data and thereby deriving terrain data, the terrain data comprisinga point cloud representing the captured terrain andposition data relating to a relative position of the bulldozer in the terrain, andscaling the point cloud by applying an absolute scale information to the terrain data.

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