Systems and methods of operating a self-driving material-transport vehicle under various safety modes

Abstract

Systems and methods of operating a self-driving material-transport vehicle under various safety modes is disclosed. Each of the safety modes is determined autonomously based at least on one or more payload characteristics. The method involves operating a processor to: initiate a mission involving a payload; receive an initial set of payload characteristics prior to engaging the payload; defining an initial safety mode based on the initial set of payload characteristics; monitor the payload to detect one or more characteristic variations from the initial set of payload characteristics; and in response to determining one or more characteristic variations, automatically adapting the initial safety mode into an active safety mode to align an operation of the self-driving vehicle with the payload. In the absence of a payload, the self-driving vehicle can enter a basic safety mode.