Systems and operations of transfer hubs for autonomous trucking systems
AssigneeWaymo LLC
InventorsCharles Jatt, Andre Strobel, Matt Carroll, Shai Ben Nun, Brad Luscher
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Aspects and implementations of the present disclosure relate, generally, to optimization of the autonomous vehicle technology and, more specifically, to a transfer hub for autonomous trucking operations. The transfer hub supports automated trailer delivery, trailer-tractor matching, trailer-tractor hitching, automated post-hitching visual inspection, automated refueling, parking spot calibration, load verification, load distribution assessment, automated brake inspection, and other improvements to the existing technology.
Claims18
A method to commence an autonomous vehicle (AV) driving mission, the method comprising:
- causing, by one or more processing devices, a trailer to be attached to an AV tractor to form a tractor-trailer combination, the trailer comprising a load;
- causing, by the one or more processing devices, the tractor-trailer combination operating in an AV driving mode, to move to a position on a weighing platform;
- responsive to the tractor-trailer combination being positioned on the weighing platform, obtaining, by the one or more processing devices, a plurality of weight measurements, wherein obtaining the plurality of weight measurements comprises applying, using the weighing platform, unequal vertical forces to at least two different wheels of a plurality of wheels of the tractor-trailer combination;
- and
- determining, by the one or more processing devices and based at least in part on a response of the tractor-trailer combination to the applied vertical forces, one or more vertical coordinates associated with a weight distribution of the load inside the trailer.
A system comprising:
- a memory;
- and
- one or more processing devices coupled to the memory;
- the one or more processing devices to:
- cause a trailer to be attached to an autonomous (AV) tractor to form a tractor-trailer combination, the trailer comprising a load;
- cause the tractor-trailer combination operating in an AV driving mode, to move to a position on a weighing platform;
- responsive to the tractor-trailer combination being positioned on the weighing platform, obtain a plurality of weight measurements, wherein to obtain the plurality of weight measurements, the one or more processing devices are to cause unequal vertical forces to be applied, using the weighing platform, to at least two different wheels of a plurality of wheels of the tractor-trailer combination;
- and
- determine, based at least in part on a response of the tractor-trailer combination to the applied vertical forces, one or more vertical coordinates associated with a weight distribution of the load inside the trailer.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions thereon that when executed by one or more processing devices cause the one or more processing devices to:
- cause a trailer to be attached to an autonomous (AV) tractor to form a tractor-trailer combination, the trailer comprising a load;
- cause the tractor-trailer combination operating in an AV driving mode, to move to a position on a weighing platform;
- responsive to the tractor-trailer combination being positioned on the weighing platform, obtain a plurality of weight measurements, wherein to obtain the plurality of weight measurements, the one or more processing devices are to cause unequal vertical forces to be applied, using the weighing platform, to at least two different wheels of a plurality of wheels of the tractor-trailer combination;
- and
- determine, based at least in part on a response of the tractor-trailer combination to the applied vertical forces, one or more vertical coordinates associated with a weight distribution of the load inside the trailer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.