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:
Mar. 25, 1997
Filed:
May. 01, 1995
Adam J Gudat, Edelstein, IL (US);
Prithvi N Rao, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Gary K Shaffer, Butler, PA (US);
WenFan Shi, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Dong H Shin, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
William L Whittaker, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Karl W Kleimenhagen, Peoria, IL (US);
Jay H West, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Richard G Clow, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Sanjiv J Singh, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Dana A Christensen, Peoria, IL (US);
Carl A Kemner, Peoria Heights, IL (US);
Walter J Bradbury, Peoria, IL (US);
Craig L Koehrsen, Peoria, IL (US);
Christos T Kyrtsos, Peoria, IL (US);
Norman K Lay, Peoria, IL (US);
Joel L Peterson, Peoria, IL (US);
Larry E Schmidt, Peoria, IL (US);
Darrell E Stafford, Dunlap, IL (US);
Louis J Weinbeck, Peoria, IL (US);
Lonnie J Devier, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, IL (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method for navigating a vehicle along a predetermined route use route data and path data to define the predetermined route. The route data represents one or more contiguous path segments between adjacent nodes along the predetermined route. The path data includes postures of the vehicle along each of the path segments. The postures define the desired position, heading, curvature and speed of vehicle at various locations along the path segments. The apparatus and method use the posture information to generate and track a path thereby allowing the vehicle to navigate along the predetermined route.