System for autonomous excavation and truck loading

Abstract

In accordance with the present invention, a system to organize and coordinate components associated with earthmoving machinery capable of performing excavating and loading tasks autonomously is disclosed. The system comprises an earthmoving machine equipped with a scanning sensor system operable to provide data regarding regions within an earthmoving environment including an excavation region and a loading region and a planning and control module operable to receive data from the scanning sensor system to plan a task associated with the control of the earthmoving machine while concurrently performing another task associated with control of the earthmoving machine. Any number and type of sensor systems, such as a laser rangefinder or a radar rangefinder, may be incorporated in the system depending on requirements and the capabilities of the system. The sensor systems have independently controllable fields of view, with each sensor system being capable of providing data pertaining to a different portion of the earthmoving environment.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.