System including autonomous particulate probe assembly, and related methods and computer-readable medium

A method performed by a computer of an autonomous system, the autonomous system including a particulate sampling probe assembly, a programmable logic controller, and an optical sensor that captures image data of a predefined probing environment, the particulate sampling probe assembly including a moveable probe portion that is moveable between a first position and a second position, and a sensor having a first sensor value, the first sensor value indicative of the first position, the method comprising:

• receiving image data from the optical sensor;
• detecting a vehicle positioned within the predefined probing environment;
• based on the image data, determining one or more target areas within the vehicle;
• determining an X coordinate position and a Y coordinate position of one or more probe target points within each of the one or more target areas;
• retrieving the first sensor value from the sensor;
• determining a second sensor value based on the first sensor value and the X and Y coordinate positions, the second sensor value being indicative of the second position, wherein the second position corresponds to the probe portion being positioned at the X and Y coordinate positions in one of the one or more target areas;
• transmitting the second sensor value to the programmable logic controller;
• and
• prioritizing the one or more probe target points based on proximity of the probe target points to a center point of the vehicle.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions that when executed by a processor of computer, cause the processor to:

• receive image data from an optical sensor, the image data captured of a predefined probing environment;
• detect a vehicle positioned within the predefined probing environment;
• based on the image data, determine one or more target areas within the vehicle;
• determine an X coordinate position and a Y coordinate position of one or more probe target points within each of the one or more target areas;
• retrieve a first sensor value from a sensor of a particulate sampling probe assembly, the particulate sampling probe assembly including a moveable probe portion that is moveable between a first position and a second position, the first sensor value indicative of the first position;
• determine a second sensor value based on the first sensor value and the X and Y coordinate positions, the second sensor value being indicative of the second position, wherein the second position corresponds to the probe portion being positioned at the X and Y coordinate positions in one of the one or more target areas;
• transmit the second sensor value to a programmable logic controller;
• and
• prioritize the one or more probe target points based on proximity of the probe target points to a center point of the vehicle.