Method for autonomously controlling a vehicle
AssigneeLiebherr Mining Equipment Newport News Co.
InventorJames Whitfield, Jr.
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a method for autonomously controlling a vehicle performed by a vehicle control system, the vehicle control system comprising a zone control system, a collision prediction system and a braking control system, the method comprising the steps of: defining in the zone control system at least a first zone and a second zone relative to a vehicle position, predicting a collision with an obstacle with the prediction system, autonomously braking the vehicle with the braking control system in a first braking mode if the collision is predicted to occur in the first zone and braking the vehicle with the braking control system in a second braking mode if the collision is predicted to occur in the second zone.
Claims22
A method for autonomously controlling a vehicle performed by a vehicle control system, the vehicle control system comprising a zone control system, a collision prediction system and a braking control system, the method comprising steps of:
- defining in the zone control system at least a first zone and a second zone relative to the vehicle,
- predicting a collision with an obstacle with the prediction system,
- autonomously braking the vehicle with the braking control system in a first braking mode if the collision is predicted to occur in the first zone and braking the vehicle with the braking control system in a second braking mode if the collision is predicted to occur in the second zone,
- wherein the vehicle comprises a first braking system and a second braking system, and wherein the first braking mode comprises a step of using only the first braking system and the second braking mode comprises a step of using the first and the second braking system for braking the vehicle,
- wherein the second zone comprises a first sub-zone and a second sub-zone, and wherein second braking mode comprises a first sub-mode active when the collision is predicted to occur in the first sub-zone and a second sub-mode active when the collision is predicted to occur in the second sub-zone, wherein in the first sub-mode, the first and the second braking systems are used at maximum braking capacity, and wherein in the second sub-mode, the first braking system is used at maximum capacity and the second braking system is used at partial capacity.
A method for autonomously controlling a vehicle performed by a vehicle control system, the vehicle control system comprising a zone control system, a collision prediction system and a collision avoidance system, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving a pre-planned trajectory for the vehicle from a centralized platform,
- defining in the zone control system zone at least a first and a third zone relative to a vehicle, wherein the first zone is located closer to the vehicle than the third zone,
- predicting a collision with an obstacle with the collision prediction system,
- autonomously operating the vehicle with the collision avoidance system in one of the following modes:
- in a first collision avoidance mode if the collision is predicted to occur in the first zone, wherein the first collision avoidance mode comprises a step of following the pre-planned trajectory received from the centralized platform and autonomously braking the vehicle with a braking control system of the vehicle, and
- in a third collision avoidance mode if the collision is predicted to occur in the third zone, wherein the third collision avoidance mode comprises a step of re-planning a vehicle trajectory independently from the centralized platform in a vehicle trajectory control system of the vehicle control system to avoid the collision.
A vehicle control system for autonomously controlling a vehicle, the vehicle control system comprising a zone control system, a collision prediction system and a collision avoidance system, the vehicle control system being configured for performing a method comprising steps of:
- defining in the zone control system at least a first and a third zone each comprising a distance in front of a vehicle along a current trajectory of the vehicle,
- predicting a collision with an obstacle with the collision prediction system and determining which zone the collision will occur within, and
- autonomously operating the vehicle with the collision avoidance system in a first collision avoidance mode if the collision is predicted to occur in the first zone and autonomously operating the vehicle with the collision avoidance system in a third collision avoidance mode if the collision is predicted to occur in the third zone.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.