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:
Apr. 02, 2002
Filed:
Sep. 09, 1999
Anthony Stentz, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
John Bares, Wexford, PA (US);
Sanjiv Singh, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Patrick Rowe, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Patrick C. Leger, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Norman Keith Lay, Dunlap, IL (US);
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Abstract
In accordance with the present invention, a system to organize and coordinate components associated with earthmoving machinery capable of performing excavating and loading tasks autonomously is disclosed. The system comprises an earthmoving machine equipped with a scanning sensor system operable to provide data regarding regions within an earthmoving environment including an excavation region and a loading region and a planning and control module operable to receive data from the scanning sensor system to plan a task associated with the control of the earthmoving machine while concurrently performing another task associated with control of the earthmoving machine. Any number and type of sensor systems, such as a laser rangefinder or a radar rangefinder, may be incorporated in the system depending on requirements and the capabilities of the system. The sensor systems have independently controllable fields of view, with each sensor system being capable of providing data pertaining to a different portion of the earthmoving environment.