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Autonomous vehicle navigation system and method

  • US 9,880,006 B2
  • Filed: 12/22/2016
  • Issued: 01/30/2018
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2014
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. An autonomous aerial vehicle comprising,a geolocation system to provide a position of the autonomous aerial vehicle within an operating environment;

  • an optical system coupled to the autonomous aerial vehicle to provide an optical field of view about the autonomous aerial vehicle, wherein the optical system is configured to optically identify obstacles within the optical field of view;

    an acoustic system coupled to the autonomous aerial vehicle to provide an acoustic field of view about the autonomous aerial vehicle, wherein the acoustic system is configured to acoustically identify obstacles within the acoustic field of view, wherein the acoustic field of view overlaps with at least a portion of the optical field of view;

    a processor to determine a geolocation navigational path for the autonomous aerial vehicle from the position to an objective location based at least in part upon signals from the geolocation system, wherein the processor is configured to determine a tactical navigational path based at least in part on the geolocation navigational path and environment data reflecting known obstacle locations within the operating environment; and

    a steering mechanism to steer the autonomous aerial vehicle along the tactical navigational path in response to commands from the processor, wherein the processor is configured to instruct the steering mechanism to effectuate a dodging maneuver to deviate from the tactical navigational path upon detection of an obstacle by the acoustic system.

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