The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 13, 2018
Filed:
Mar. 08, 2017
Toyota Research Institute, Inc., Los Altos, CA (US);
Michael J. Delp, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Toyota Research Institute, Inc., Los Altos, CA (US);
Abstract
System, methods, and other embodiments described herein relate to determining rendezvous locations and autonomously swapping a resupply carriage with a vehicle along a route. In one embodiment, a method includes in response to a request for resupplying the vehicle with energy, determine a rendezvous point for meeting the vehicle with a resupply carriage. The method includes dispatching the resupply carriage to meet the vehicle at the rendezvous point by providing an electronic signal to the resupply carriage to cause the resupply carriage to autonomously travel to the rendezvous point. The method includes controlling the vehicle to swap a current carriage for the resupply carriage to supply energy to the vehicle. The vehicle is comprised of a passenger compartment that is removably attached to the current carriage. The current carriage and the resupply carriage are interchangeable propulsion sources for the vehicle.