Autonomous work vehicle including follow me function

An autonomous work vehicle, comprising:

• a pair of front wheels, each of the front wheels is rotatable about a respective rotational axis and pivotable about a respective steering axis that is different from the rotational axis;
• a pair of rear wheels, each of the rear wheels is rotatable about a common rotational axis;
• a power source connected to and configured to output a drive torque to the rear wheels;
• an electric steering motor connected to the front wheels and configured to cause each of the front wheels to pivot about the respective steering axis;
• an imaging device configured to output image data indicative of an external environment through which the vehicle is travelling;
• a tether sensor assembly including:
• a housing that includes an opening and an inside surface;
• a tether that is connected to the housing and selectively extends out of and retracts into the housing through the opening and is pivotable relative to the housing about a pivot axis, the tether includes a free end that is configured to be connected to a guide;
• a fixed guide connected to and extending from the inside surface of the housing, the tether contacts the fixed guide as the tether extends out of or retracts into the housing;
• a direction sensor configured to output directional data indicative of the direction of travel of the guide relative to the vehicle based on an angle at which the tether extends away from the housing;
• and
• a distance sensor configured to output range data indicative of the distance from the vehicle to the guide based on an amount of the tether that is pulled out of the housing;
• and
• a controller in electrical communication with the power source, the electric steering motor, the imaging device, and the tether sensor assembly, the controller configured to:
• convert the directional data into a steering angle and cause the electric steering motor to pivot the front wheels based on the steering angle and the image data;
• and
• convert the range data into a vehicle speed and cause the electric drive motor to drive the rear wheels based on the vehicle speed and the image data.

An autonomous work vehicle, comprising:

• a vehicle body;
• a plurality of wheels mounted on the vehicle body, each of the wheels is rotatable about a respective rotational axis, the plurality of wheels includes at least one steerable wheel that pivots about a respective steering axis that is different from the respective rotational axis;
• an electric drive motor connected to at least one of the wheels and configured to output a drive torque to the at least one of the wheels;
• an electric steering motor connected to the steerable wheel and configured to cause the at least one steerable wheel to pivot about the respective steering axis;
• an imaging device mounted on the vehicle body and configured to output image data indicative of an external environment through which the vehicle is travelling;
• a housing that includes an opening and an inside surface;
• a tether connected to the housing, extending through the opening, selectively extendable towards and away from the vehicle body, and pivotable relative to the vehicle body, the tether includes a free end that is configured to be connected to a guide;
• a fixed guide connected to and extending from the inside surface of the housing, the tether contacts the fixed guide as the tether extends out of or retracts into the housing;
• a directional sensor configured to output directional data indicative of the direction of travel of the guide relative to the vehicle based on a location associated with the free end of the tether relative to the vehicle body;
• a distance sensor configured to output range data indicative of a distance from the vehicle to the guide based on the location associated with the free end of the tether relative to the vehicle body;
• and
• a controller in electrical communication with the electric drive motor, the electric steering motor, the imaging device, the direction sensor, and the range sensor, the controller configured to:
• convert the directional data into a steering angle and cause the electric steering motor to pivot the steering wheel based on the steering angle and the image data;
• and
• convert the range data into a vehicle speed and cause the electric drive motor to drive the at least one of the wheels based on the vehicle speed and the image data.