NAVIGATION AND CONTROL SYSTEM FOR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
First Claim
1. A method for navigation and control of an autonomous vehicle, comprising:
- repeatedly producing three dimensional images in a field of view in a direction of travel of the vehicle;
determining a geospatial coordinate of the vehicle, a speed of the vehicle, and a heading of the vehicle,detecting an object in the repeatedly produced 3D images;
determining a geospatial coordinate of an object existing in the repeatedly produced 3D images based on a first angular position of the object relative to the vehicle, a second angular position of the object relative to the vehicle, a speed of the vehicle, the geospatial coordinate of the vehicle, and the heading of the vehicle; and
controlling movement of the vehicle to avoid collision with the object based at least in part on the geospatial coordinates of the object and of the vehicle and the speed of the vehicle.
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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.
230 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for navigation and control of an autonomous vehicle, comprising:
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repeatedly producing three dimensional images in a field of view in a direction of travel of the vehicle; determining a geospatial coordinate of the vehicle, a speed of the vehicle, and a heading of the vehicle, detecting an object in the repeatedly produced 3D images; determining a geospatial coordinate of an object existing in the repeatedly produced 3D images based on a first angular position of the object relative to the vehicle, a second angular position of the object relative to the vehicle, a speed of the vehicle, the geospatial coordinate of the vehicle, and the heading of the vehicle; and controlling movement of the vehicle to avoid collision with the object based at least in part on the geospatial coordinates of the object and 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)
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20. A method for navigation and control of an autonomous vehicle, comprising:
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repeatedly producing three dimensional images in fields of view in a direction of travel of the vehicle; determining a geospatial coordinate of the vehicle, a speed of the vehicle, and a heading of the vehicle, detecting in the repeatedly produced 3D images an object in the direction of travel of the vehicle; producing a contour map of the object; determining from the contour map a first point on the contour map that is farther away from the vehicle than a second point on the contour map; identifying 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.
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Specification