Patent · US Expired

Autonomous vehicle capable of traveling/stopping in parallel to wall and controlling method thereof

US6038501A · kind A · utility

183Cited by
7References
19Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 26, 1998
Grant dateMar 14, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 26, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG05D1/027
  • WIPO fieldControl
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

An autonomous vehicle capable of traveling and stopping parallel to a wall includes right and left driving wheels receiving driving force to be driven independently, a dependent wheel for supporting the autonomous vehicle together with the driving wheels for a straightforward movement and a U-turn, a motor for driving the right and left driving wheels, a coupling mechanism for transmitting the rotation of the motor to the driving wheels, an encoder for detecting the rotation amount and velocity of the motor, a gyro sensor for detecting the direction of the autonomous vehicle, a distance measurement sensor for measuring the distance to a right or left object of interest, and a controller for controlling the autonomous vehicle through the motor and the driving wheels. The controller receives the output of the encoder, calculates a control value for the driving wheels based on the rotation amount and rotation velocity of the motor, and determines that the autonomous vehicle travels parallel to the wall if the ratios of a time period to turn the autonomous vehicle rightward and a time period to turn the vehicle leftward in a prescribed time period are equal based on the control value.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.