Peloton Technology, Inc.

Steven Erlein

Joshua P Switkes

Brian Eric Smartt

Oliver Thomas Bayley

Austin Bennett Schuh

Colleen Twitty

Shad Mitchell Laws

Mark S Luckevich

Laurenz Laubinger

Marc Tange

Brian Silverman

Art Gavrysh

Murad Bharwani

Carlos Rosario

Joyce Tam

Mark Herbert

Richard Pallo

Tabitha Jarvis

Dean Hogle

Andrew Tamoney

Eric Monsler

Louis Donayre

Disclosed herein are a method and apparatus for automated following behind a lead vehicle. The lead vehicle navigates a path from a starting point to a destination. The lead vehicle and the following vehicle are connected via V2V communication, allowing one or more following vehicles to detect the path taken by the lead vehicle. A computerized control system on the following vehicle (a Follow-the-Leader, or FTL, system) allows the following vehicle to mimic the behavior of the lead vehicle, with the FTL system controlling steering to guide the following vehicle along the path previously navigated by the lead vehicle. In some embodiments, the lead vehicle and following vehicle may both use Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) position coordinates. In some embodiments, the following vehicle may also have a system of sensors to maintain a gap between the following and lead vehicles.

Control of automated following in vehicle convoys

Growing community of inventors

Mountain View, CA, United States of America

Steven Erlein