Autonomous vehicle guidance system
US5999865A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 29, 1998 |
| Grant date | Dec 7, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 29, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG05D1/0248
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A system guides self-propelled equipment through passageways, such as underground mine corridors. The vehicle contains a signal generator for bouncing signals off the walls of the passageways. A receiver collects the signals bounced off of the passageways to determine the distance to side walls of the passageways. A storage device contains a set of interlinking nodes that represent at least one path through the passageways. Each of the nodes contains steering information. A processor finds the distance to the side walls of the passageways in order to steer the vehicle through the passageways. The system's operational state and method of steering changes depending upon the location of the equipment in the interlinking nodes.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.