System and method for automatically guiding a road construction machine
AssigneeRoadtec, Inc.
InventorsChristopher Todd Avans, Ramon Pujol Guim
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and system for guiding a road construction machine using a machine guidance system comprising at least one each of a machine position sensor, a laser-based sensor, and a processing unit. The machine position sensor first measures a position of a road construction machine relative to a road boundary condition. The laser-based sensor then captures a series of scans corresponding to the boundary condition. The processing unit, using the scans, determines an ideal path of travel for the road construction machine. Based on the ideal travel path, the machine guidance system provides instructions to align the current travel path of the road construction machine to the ideal travel path.
Claims20
A method for guiding a road construction machine along a desired travel path at a road-building site, the method comprising:
- providing said road construction machine;
- providing a machine guidance system (MGS) configured to provide instructions for aligning a current position of the road construction machine with the desired travel path at the road-building site in order to guide the road construction machine along the desired travel path, the MGS having:
- one or more machine position sensors for determining the current position of the road construction machine;
- one or more laser-based sensors that are each configured to capture a plurality of scans of a longitudinal boundary condition of a road surface along a longitudinal extent of the road surface;
- and
- one or more processing units configured to:
- identify at least one critical point in each of the plurality of scans that is estimated to correlate with a location of a reference point of the road surface,
- generate a digital desired travel path of the road construction machine based on the at least one critical point of at least two of the plurality of scans;
- and
- provide instructions for aligning the current position of the road construction machine with the desired travel path of the road construction machine, and
- with the one or more machine position sensors, capturing the plurality of scans of the road surface at the road-building site, wherein the road surface has reference points disposed along the longitudinal extent of the road surface;
- providing the plurality of scans to the one or more processing units of the MGS;
- for each of the plurality of scans, identifying the at least one critical point using the one or more processing units;
- with the one or more processing units, generating the digital desired travel path based on the at least one critical point of the at least two of the plurality of scans;
- with the one or more machine position sensors, determining the current position of the road construction machine;
- and
- with the one or more processing units, providing instructions for aligning the current position with the desired travel path.
A machine guidance system (MGS) configured to provide instructions for aligning a current position of a road construction machine with a desired travel path at a road-building site in order to guide the road construction machine along the desired travel path, the MGS comprising:
- one or more machine position sensors for determining the current position of the road construction machine;
- one or more laser-based sensors that are each configured to capture a plurality of scans of a longitudinal boundary condition of a road surface along a longitudinal extent of the road surface;
- and
- one or more processing units configured to:
- identify at least one critical point in each of the plurality of scans that is estimated to correlate with a location of a reference point of the road surface;
- generate a digital desired travel path of the road construction machine based on the at least one critical point of at least two of the plurality of scans;
- and
- provide instructions for aligning the current position of the road construction machine with the desired travel path of the road construction machine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.