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:
Jun. 06, 2023
Filed:
Jul. 06, 2019
Peloton Technology, Inc., Mountain View, CA (US);
Shad Laws, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Joshua Switkes, Mountain View, CA (US);
Art Gavrysh, Mountain View, CA (US);
Marc Tange, Mountain View, CA (US);
Mark Herbert, Mountain View, CA (US);
Colleen Twitty, Mountain View, CA (US);
Dean Hogle, Mountain View, CA (US);
Andrew Tamoney, Mountain View, CA (US);
Eric Monsler, Mountain View, CA (US);
Carlos Rosario, Mountain View, CA (US);
Oliver Bayley, Mountain View, CA (US);
Richard Pallo, Mountain View, CA (US);
Louis Donayre, Mountain View, CA (US);
Laurenz Laubinger, Mountain View, CA (US);
Brian Smartt, Mountain View, CA (US);
Joyce Tam, Mountain View, CA (US);
Brian Silverman, Mountain View, CA (US);
Tabitha Jarvis, Mountain View, CA (US);
Murad Bharwani, Mountain View, CA (US);
Steven Erlein, Mountain View, CA (US);
Austin Schuh, Mountain View, CA (US);
Mark Luckevich, Mountain View, CA (US);
Peloton Technology, Inc., Mountain View, CA (US);
Abstract
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.