Road system for automatically traveling vehicle
US6115652A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 14, 1998 |
| Grant date | Sep 5, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 14, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB60W2720/10
- WIPO fieldTransport
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A road system for an automatically traveling vehicle is provided, wherein the merging or diverging of the automatically traveling vehicle at a connection point of a road can be smoothly performed. An indicating means comprising a bar code is provided on each of a main lane and a branch lane at a location short of a merging point of a road by a predetermined distance (e.g., 500 m). Information relating to the distance from one vehicle to the merging point and information relating to the shape of the merging point are provided by viewing the indicating means with a CCD camera. The indicating means can be provided at a location short of a diverging point of the road, at the merging point of the road or at the diverging point of the road. The type of the indicating means is not limited to the bar code, and the indicating means may be a signpost, a line, magnetic nails or the like.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.