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Blended position solutions

  • US 9,574,320 B2
  • Filed: 03/26/2014
  • Issued: 02/21/2017
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/26/2014
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A heavy equipment vehicle, comprising:

  • a locomotion system having one or more of an engine, drivetrain, and steering system;

    a road-forming system configured to manipulate a ground surface;

    a computer system in communication with one or more of the engine or the drivetrain, the computer system comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium having encoded thereon a set of instructions that are executable by the processor to;

    receive, from a first positioning device at a first location, first data indicating an estimated position of the heavy equipment vehicle at a first point in time;

    receive, from a second positioning device oriented at a second location, second data indicating an estimated position of the heavy equipment vehicle at the first point in time;

    determine a first weighting factor for the first data and a second weighting factor for the second data, wherein the first and second weighting factors specify a relative weight to be accorded to each of the first and second data at the first point in time;

    apply the first weighting factor to the first data;

    apply the second weighting factor to the second data;

    determine a blended solution for a first position of the heavy equipment vehicle at the first point in time, based at least in part on the first and second data and the first and second weighting factors;

    periodically determine the first and second weighting factors over time, wherein the first and second weighting factors vary over time, resulting in different weights being accorded the first data and second data over time; and

    determine a plurality of blended solutions for the position of the vehicle over a period of time, the plurality of blended solutions describing a substantially continuous curve during a transition, over the period of time, from a state in which the second weighting factor disregards the second data in determining a blended solution for a position of the heavy equipment vehicle to a state in which the first weighting factor disregards the first data in determining a blended solution for a position of the heavy equipment vehicle;

    control operation of at least one of the locomotion system or road-forming system, based on the determined plurality of positions of the vehicle, to continuously operate the heavy equipment vehicle without pause during the transition, wherein controlling operation of at least one of a locomotion system or a road-forming system of the vehicle comprises comparing the blended solutions for the position of the vehicle with a corridor model.

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