Traffic management system for a passageway environment

Abstract

The present invention provides a system for coordinating multiple vehicles in a passageway environment (e.g., in underground mines). The system includes methods and apparatus for determining the global position and orientation of a vehicle in said passageway environment, and methods for planning routes and monitoring the travels of multiple vehicles in said passageway environment. A global position and orientation estimation system employs one or more odometric sensors and one or more range sensing devices. It works in three basic steps. In the first step, it records and processes sensor data that is descriptive of the passageway environment by moving the system through said passageway environment. In the second step, it generates a globally consistent map of said passageway environment. Finally, real-time localization is provided by employing odometric sensors and range sensing devices to determine the system's global position and orientation with respect to said globally consistent map, both initially and as it travels through the passageway environment. A route planning method accepts higher-level goals for a set of multiple vehicles in said passageway environment and generates a route plan for each vehicle that minimizes the travel time for the group of vehicles, while at the same time avoiding collisions between vehicles. Route plans are sent to the vehicles for implementation and a monitoring method tracks the global positions and orientations of the vehicles and ensures that both safety and efficiency are maintained.