Autonomous path variation to distribute weight and wear
AssigneeOutrider Technologies, Inc.
InventorsPeter James, Andrew Smith, Lawrence Klein, Jeremy Nett
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A path for an autonomous tractor to move a trailer from a start spot to an ending spot has at least one path segment and a variation indicator that indicates a path variant for the autonomous tractor to follow for the path segment. The autonomous tractor follows the path variant to reduce wear caused by repetitive use of the same path by the autonomous tractor. The path variant may be selected as a least frequented path variant or may be selected as having carried the least amount of weight.
Claims24
A system for path variation of an autonomous tractor within a yard, comprising:
- a processor;
- a memory storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, operate to instruct maneuvering of the autonomous tractor by:
- determining a path with at least one path segment for the autonomous tractor to move a trailer from a start spot to an ending spot;
- one or more of:
- determining a variation indicator for the path segment, the variation indicator indicating one of a plurality of predefined path variants of the path segment,
- when the ending spot is a parking spot, determining a parking indicator defining a parking variation in parking position in the parking spot, and
- when the ending spot is a parking spot, determining a staging indicator defining one of a plurality of staging point variations for the parking spot;
- and
- creating an updated path for maneuvering the autonomous trailer based on one or more of (i) the path segment and the variation indicator, (ii) the parking indicator, and (iii) the staging indicator.
A method for path variation of an autonomous tractor within a yard, comprising:
- determining a path for the autonomous tractor to move a trailer from a start spot to an ending spot, the path having a path segment;
- determining a variation indicator for the path segment, the variation indicator indicating one of a plurality of predefined path variants for the autonomous tractor to follow for the path segment;
- and
- creating an updated path for the path segment based on one of the plurality of predefined path variants identified by the variation indicator for the autonomous tractor.
A method for reducing wear to a trailer parking spot in a yard, comprising:
- determining a parking spot for an autonomous tractor to park a trailer;
- determining a parking indicator defining a variation in parking position in the parking spot, the variation indicating one of a plurality of predefined parking positions for the trailer in the parking spot;
- causing the autonomous tractor to park the trailer in the parking spot based on the parking indicator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.