System and method for heavy equipment navigation and working edge positioning
AssigneeNovAtel Inc.
InventorKristian Morin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for automatically controlling working edges on a heavy equipment vehicle is provided. A GNSS/INS system determines a location of the vehicle. A vision system calculates a location of the working edge in a vision system coordinate system by obtaining images of a target connected to the working edge using a camera with a fixed field view that incorporates the relative movement of the target and determining the relative position of the target in the images. The location is then transformed to the navigation system coordinate system. The transformed location information is used by a working edge control system to control the placement of the working edge.
Claims15
A system for controlling a working edge on a vehicle, the system comprising:
- a navigation system configured to provide a location of the vehicle in a navigation system coordinate system;
- an image capture device with a fixed field of view configured to obtain one or more images of one or more targets operatively connected to the working edge;
- a vision system configured to determine location information, in a vision system coordinate system, of the working edge using the captured one or more images by determining relative locations of the one or more targets in the one or more images;
- and
- a processor configured to translate the location information from the vision system coordinate system to the navigation system coordinate system.
A method for controlling a working edge on a vehicle, the method comprising:
- determining a location of the vehicle in a navigation system coordinate system;
- obtaining one or more images of one or more targets operatively connected to the working edge using a camera with a fixed field of view;
- determining location information, in a vision system coordinate system, of the working edge using the captured one or more images of the one or more targets;
- and
- transforming the location information from the vision system coordinate system to the navigation system coordinate system.
A system comprising:
- a vehicle having a working edge, the vehicle comprising a navigation system, an image capture device, a vision system and a processor;
- wherein the navigation system comprises a global position sub-system and an inertial navigation sub-system, the navigation system configured to provide a location of the vehicle in a navigation system coordinate system;
- wherein the image capture device is configured to obtain one or more images of one or more targets operatively connected to the working edge using a fixed field of view relative to the one or more targets;
- wherein the vision system is configured to determine location information, in a vision system coordinate system, of the working edge using the relative locations of the one or more targets in the captured one or more images of the one or more targets;
- and wherein the processor is configured to translate the location information from the vision system coordinate system to the navigation system coordinate system using a predefined transformation between the vision system coordinate system and the navigation system coordinate system and a predefined spatial relationship between the target and a predefined point on the working edge.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.