Control apparatus for autonomous traveling vehicle and method thereof

A control method for an autonomous running vehicle having a first control system with a teaching mode for manually operating said vehicle by memorizing a vehicle position to obtain a memorized vehicle position and a vehicle azimuth to obtain a memorized vehicle azimuth corresponding to a point on a running path for said vehicle and for generating a teaching data signal, and a second control system with a play-back mode for autonomously tracing said running path based on said teaching data signal, the method comprising:

• establishing a virtual traction point located away from said memorized vehicle position by a specified distance in a direction of said memorized vehicle azimuth;
• determining a current vehicle position;
• calculating a target azimuth based on a positional relationship between said current vehicle position and said virtual traction point;
• steering said vehicle so as to obtain said target azimuth;
• and
• controlling vehicle speed so as to keep a distance between said virtual traction point and said vehicle within a specified range, and to correctly follow said running path without deviating therefrom.

A control apparatus for an autonomous running vehicle, comprising:

• memory for memorizing a vehicle position to obtain a memorized vehicle position and vehicle azimuth to obtain a memorized vehicle azimuth at a point on a running path of said vehicle;
• virtual traction point setting means for setting a virtual traction point, said virtual traction point being located away from said memorized vehicle position by a specified distance in a direction of said memorized vehicle azimuth;
• and
• control means for controlling steering and running speed of said vehicle, with respect to said virtual traction point, so as to perform steering and running speed control equivalent to said vehicle being attracted by said virtual traction point.

A control apparatus for an autonomous running vehicle, comprising:

• means for memorizing a vehicle position to obtain a memorized vehicle position and a vehicle azimuth to obtain a memorized vehicle azimuth at a point on a running path of the vehicle;
• means for establishing a virtual traction point located away from the memorized vehicle position by a specified distance in a direction of the memorized vehicle azimuth;
• means for determining a current vehicle position;
• means for calculating a target azimuth based on the current vehicle position and the virtual traction point,
• means for steering the vehicle to obtain the calculated target azimuth;
• and
• means for controlling vehicle speed so as to keep a distance between the virtual traction point and the vehicle within a specified range within a predetermined range, to thereby follow the running path without substantially deviating therefrom.

A method for controlling an autonomous running vehicle, comprising:

• memorizing a vehicle position to obtain a memorized vehicle position and a vehicle azimuth to obtain a memorized vehicle azimuth at a point on a running path of the vehicle;
• establishing a virtual traction point located a specified distance away from a memorized vehicle position in a direction of a memorized vehicle azimuth;
• determining a current vehicle position;
• calculating a target azimuth based on the current vehicle position and the virtual traction point;
• steering the vehicle so as to obtain the target azimuth;
• and
• controlling a speed of the vehicle so as to keep a distance between the virtual traction point and the position of the vehicle within a specified range within a predetermined range.

A control apparatus for an autonomous running vehicle, comprising:

• means for memorizing a vehicle position to obtain a memorized vehicle position and a vehicle azimuth to obtain a memorized vehicle azimuth at a point on a running path of the vehicle;
• means for setting a virtual traction point located away from the memorized vehicle position by a specified distance in a direction of the memorized vehicle azimuth;
• and
• means for controlling steering and speed of the vehicle, with respect to the virtual traction point, so as to perform steering and running speed control to thereby follow the running path without substantially deviating therefrom.