Patent application number | Description | Published |
20130079949 | INCLINATION DETECTION SYSTEMS AND METHODS - An inclination detection system is disclosed. The inclination detection system may have an inclination angle predictor configured to calculate an a priori estimated inclination angle of the machine based on a previously estimated inclination angle, and a measurement variance calculator configured to calculate a measurement variance of the a priori estimated inclination angle based on a non-gravitational acceleration of the machine. The inclination detection system may also have an inclination angle sensor configured to measure a measured inclination angle of the machine, and an inclination angle updater configured to determine an a posteriori estimated inclination angle of the machine based on the a priori estimated inclination angle, the measurement variance of the a priori estimated inclination angle, and the measured inclination angle. | 03-28-2013 |
20130080112 | INCLINATION ANGLE COMPENSATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS - An inclination angle compensation system for determining an inclination angle of a machine is disclosed. The inclination angle compensation system may have a non-gravitational acceleration estimator configured to estimate a non-gravitational acceleration of a machine based on an estimated inclination angle and an acceleration output from a forward acceleration sensor. The inclination angle compensation system may also have an inclination angle sensor corrector configured to receive an inclination angle output from an inclination angle sensor, determine an inclination angle sensor acceleration based on the inclination angle output, and calculate a corrected inclination angle of the machine based on the non-gravitational acceleration and the inclination angle sensor acceleration. | 03-28-2013 |
20130311031 | SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATED EXCAVATION PLANNING AND CONTROL - A control system is disclosed for a mobile excavation machine operating at a worksite. The control system may have a locating device mounted on the mobile excavation machine that is configured to generate a signal indicative of a current position of the mobile excavation machine at the worksite during completion of an excavation plan. The control system may also have a controller in communication with the locating device and the mobile excavation machine. The controller may be configured to autonomously control the mobile excavation machine based on the excavation plan, and to determine a volume of material missed during completion of a first cut of the excavation plan based on the signal. The controller may be further configured to adjust a characteristic of a second cut of the excavation plan based on the volume of material missed during completion of the first cut of the excavation plan. | 11-21-2013 |
20140039748 | BACKUP VELOCITY ESTIMATION UTILIZING TRACTION DEVICE SPEED - A velocity estimation method and system is disclosed. The method may include receiving a location signal indicative of a location of the machine and estimating the velocity of the machine based on a change in the location of the machine over a period of time. The method may further include determining a loss of the location signal, detecting a traction device speed of the machine, and selectively estimating the velocity of the machine based on the traction device speed when the location signal is determined to be lost. | 02-06-2014 |
20140067213 | OPERATIONAL PARAMETER DETERMINATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS WITH GEAR SHIFTING COMPENSATION - An operational parameter determination system is disclosed. The operational parameter determination system may include an operational parameter predictor configured to calculate an a priori estimated operational parameter of the machine based on a previously estimated operational parameter. The operational parameter determination system may also include a gear shifting compensator configured to determine whether a gear shifting is in progress, and when the gear shifting is in progress, to output the a priori estimated operational parameter as a determined operational parameter. The operational parameter determination system may further include an operational parameter updater configured to, when the gear shifting is not in progress, receive a measured operational parameter of the machine, determine an a posteriori estimated operational parameter of the machine based on the a priori estimated operational parameter and the measured operational parameter, and output the a posteriori estimated operational parameter as the determined operational parameter. | 03-06-2014 |
20140067318 | INCLINATION DETERMINATION SYSTEM - An inclination angle determination system for determining an inclination angle of a machine is disclosed. The inclination angle determination system may have an inclinometer, an accelerometer, and a controller. The controller may be configured to determine the inclination angle by receiving inclination data from the inclinometer and derived inclination data based on acceleration data from the accelerometer. The controller may compare the inclination data and the derived inclination data, and may determine which of the inclination data and the derived inclination data to use as the inclination angle of the machine based on the comparison. | 03-06-2014 |
20140122016 | Machine Positioning System Having Angular Rate Correction - A system and method for estimating orientation of a machine is disclosed. The method may include receiving, from a first sensor, a first angular rate of the machine measured in a body reference frame of the machine, and determining an estimated bias for a second sensor of the machine and an uncertainty measure for the estimated bias. The method may further include determining a scale factor based on the uncertainty measure and converting the first angular rate of the machine in the body reference frame to a first angular rate of the machine in a gravity reference frame by utilizing a rotation matrix including the scale factor. The method may further include estimating the orientation of the machine based on the first angular rate of the machine in the gravity reference frame. | 05-01-2014 |
20140125818 | Automated Camera and Monitor Color Calibration - A method for calibrating a camera and a display monitor is provided. The method includes identifying a parameter for optimization, assigning to a test color a target color relevant to the parameter, repeatedly performing, two or more times, a set of steps, determining a direction and timing of color divergence for the target color from obtained images, and adjusting the parameter based on the direction and rate of color divergence for the target color. The set of steps includes instructing the display monitor to display the test color on a portion of the display monitor, obtaining an image captured by the camera while the display is executing the instruction, and reassigning, to the test color, a color obtained from a portion of the image in which the portion of the display monitor was captured. The obtained image includes the portion of the display monitor. | 05-08-2014 |
20140145876 | MACHINE NAVIGATION SYSTEM UTILIZING SCALE FACTOR ADJUSTMENT - A machine navigation system and method for estimating velocity of a machine is disclosed. The method may include receiving, from an odometer, a first signal indicative of a distance traveled by the machine and calculating a scale factor to compensate for an error associated with the first signal. The method may further include determining whether a second signal indicative of a location of the machine is received by the machine and selectively adjusting the scale factor using machine parameters to generate an adjusted scale factor, where selectively adjusting may be performed based on whether the second signal is received by the machine. The method may further include estimating the velocity of the machine based on the first signal and the adjusted scale factor. | 05-29-2014 |
20140180579 | MACHINE POSITIONING SYSTEM UTILIZING POSITION ERROR CHECKING - A system and method for estimating position of a machine is disclosed. The method may include receiving, from a perception sensor, scene data describing an environment in a vicinity of the machine and estimating a first position of the machine based on the scene data. The method may include determining whether a first signal indicative of a location of the machine is received by the machine and estimating a second position of the machine when it is determined that the first signal is received. The method may include comparing the second position with the first position and estimating a third position of the machine using at least one of the first position and the second position. | 06-26-2014 |
20140233790 | MOTION ESTIMATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A motion estimation system is disclosed. The motion estimation system may include one or more memories storing instructions, and one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to receive, from a scanning device, scan data representing at least one object obtained by a scan over at least one of the plurality of sub-scanning regions, and generate, from the scan data, a sub-pointcloud for one of the sub-scanning regions. The sub-pointcloud includes a plurality of surface points of the at least one object in the sub-scanning region. The one or more processors may be further configured to execute the instructions to estimate the motion of the machine relative to the at least one object by comparing the sub-pointcloud with a reference sub-pointcloud. | 08-21-2014 |
20140278043 | TRAFFIC ANALYSIS SYSTEM UTILIZING POSITION BASED AWARENESS - A system and method of analyzing traffic in a vicinity of a first machine is disclosed. The method may include determining, by one or more computer processors, a projected position of the first machine based on a yaw rate and velocity of the first machine. The method may further include determining, by the one or more computer processors, a predicted zone in the vicinity of the first machine based on the projected position of the first machine. The method may further include determining whether a second machine is present in the predicted zone. In response to determining that the second machine is present in the predicted zone, the method may further include determining whether an unsafe condition exists between the first machine and the second machine. | 09-18-2014 |
20140300732 | MOTION ESTIMATION UTILIZING RANGE DETECTION-ENHANCED VISUAL ODOMETRY - A motion determination system is disclosed. The system may receive a first and a second camera image from a camera, the first camera image received earlier than the second camera image. The system may identify corresponding features in the first and second camera images. The system may receive range data comprising at least one of a first and a second range data from a range detection unit, corresponding to the first and second camera images, respectively. The system may determine first positions and the second positions of the corresponding features using the first camera image and the second camera image. The first positions or the second positions may be determined by also using the range data. The system may determine a change in position of the machine based on differences between the first and second positions, and a VO-based velocity of the machine based on the determined change in position. | 10-09-2014 |