WO2019068175A1 - Système et procédé de détermination de position - Google Patents

Système et procédé de détermination de position Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2019068175A1
WO2019068175A1 PCT/CA2018/051229 CA2018051229W WO2019068175A1 WO 2019068175 A1 WO2019068175 A1 WO 2019068175A1 CA 2018051229 W CA2018051229 W CA 2018051229W WO 2019068175 A1 WO2019068175 A1 WO 2019068175A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
tags
pose
signals
tag
relative
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/CA2018/051229
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Scott Mcmillan
Scott Stephens
Michael LEIES
Eric Derbez
Original Assignee
Xco Tech Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Xco Tech Inc. filed Critical Xco Tech Inc.
Publication of WO2019068175A1 publication Critical patent/WO2019068175A1/fr

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05D—SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES
    • G05D1/00—Control of position, course, altitude or attitude of land, water, air or space vehicles, e.g. using automatic pilots
    • G05D1/02—Control of position or course in two dimensions
    • G05D1/021—Control of position or course in two dimensions specially adapted to land vehicles
    • G05D1/0259—Control of position or course in two dimensions specially adapted to land vehicles using magnetic or electromagnetic means
    • G05D1/0261—Control of position or course in two dimensions specially adapted to land vehicles using magnetic or electromagnetic means using magnetic plots
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S13/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of radio waves, e.g. radar systems; Analogous systems using reflection or reradiation of waves whose nature or wavelength is irrelevant or unspecified
    • G01S13/74—Systems using reradiation of radio waves, e.g. secondary radar systems; Analogous systems
    • G01S13/76—Systems using reradiation of radio waves, e.g. secondary radar systems; Analogous systems wherein pulse-type signals are transmitted
    • G01S13/765—Systems using reradiation of radio waves, e.g. secondary radar systems; Analogous systems wherein pulse-type signals are transmitted with exchange of information between interrogator and responder
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S13/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of radio waves, e.g. radar systems; Analogous systems using reflection or reradiation of waves whose nature or wavelength is irrelevant or unspecified
    • G01S13/87—Combinations of radar systems, e.g. primary radar and secondary radar
    • G01S13/876—Combination of several spaced transponders or reflectors of known location for determining the position of a receiver
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S13/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of radio waves, e.g. radar systems; Analogous systems using reflection or reradiation of waves whose nature or wavelength is irrelevant or unspecified
    • G01S13/88—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications
    • G01S13/93—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes
    • G01S13/931—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes of land vehicles
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S5/00—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations
    • G01S5/02—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations using radio waves
    • G01S5/0247—Determining attitude
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S5/00—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations
    • G01S5/02—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations using radio waves
    • G01S5/14—Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S3/00—Direction-finders for determining the direction from which infrasonic, sonic, ultrasonic, or electromagnetic waves, or particle emission, not having a directional significance, are being received
    • G01S3/02—Direction-finders for determining the direction from which infrasonic, sonic, ultrasonic, or electromagnetic waves, or particle emission, not having a directional significance, are being received using radio waves
    • G01S3/14—Systems for determining direction or deviation from predetermined direction
    • G01S3/28—Systems for determining direction or deviation from predetermined direction using amplitude comparison of signals derived simultaneously from receiving antennas or antenna systems having differently-oriented directivity characteristics
    • G01S3/30—Systems for determining direction or deviation from predetermined direction using amplitude comparison of signals derived simultaneously from receiving antennas or antenna systems having differently-oriented directivity characteristics derived directly from separate directional systems

Definitions

  • FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative autonomous vehicle location system
  • pose is used in the sense of a particular way of a thing being positioned and oriented.
  • a "pose” of a thing is determined with respect to one or more references, such as the Earth or a landmark or a marker or a tag.
  • a pose may be determined in a particular coordinate system defined usually relative to one of these landmarks or objects or other references.
  • a "pose” of an object includes the location of the object with respect to one or more references, and also includes a heading (in two dimensions-2D) or orientation (more generally) with respect to one or more references.
  • the full orientation is comprised of heading, attitude, and bank angles.
  • An autonomous vehicle is a machine that moves from place to place without human control or intervention.
  • an autonomous vehicle may convey a human from place to place, while in other cases, the autonomous vehicle may be unable to convey a human.
  • an autonomous vehicle may be under human control for part of the journey, and in other cases, the autonomous vehicle goes from place to place independent of human control.
  • Autonomous vehicles may be of any size: ships at sea, vessels in space, motorized ground transportation, drones, some weapons or military hardware, carts, trains, automobiles, robotic home vacuum cleaners, and other robotic conveyances can be vehicles that may be, to a degree, autonomous.
  • the tags may be, for example, on the perimeter or border of the defined area of operation, or in the defined area of operation, or near to the defined area of operation, or any combination thereof. Whether a tag is "near" a defined area of operation may be a function of the communication range of the tag.
  • the tags will be essentially stationary with respect to the defined area of operation.
  • the tags will also be comparatively low in functionality, that is, having specialized functions and less versatility than (for example) a general-purpose processor or a cellular telephone. Low functionality may have a number of potential benefits. For example, a tag with low functionality may require little or no external power to operate. As will be mentioned below in connection with an illustrative embodiment, power to the tags may be supplied by solar cells on the tags. There may be embodiments in which a tag is entirely passive, operating on the power received from the autonomous vehicle.
  • the vehicle can then be moved to a new location where tag 1 ,tag 2 ,tag 3 can all be seen by the hub sensors, and the position of tag 3 relative to previously computed tag 2 and tag x positions can also be computed, and so on where the position of tag i+1 is computed relative to the previously computed positions of tag t and tag t _ x and then the vehicle is re-positioned anew.
  • these measurements could be stored and post- processed as a batch-job to obtain an optimal set of positions in the least-squares sense.
  • the tags need not be, and ordinarily are not, a part of the autonomous vehicle itself.
  • an object located at an angle of zero degrees would be straight ahead, and an object located at an angle of 90 degrees ( ⁇ /2 radians) would be directly to the right (assuming the convention that 90 degrees is to the right and 270 degrees is to the left; the opposite convention also may be applied), and so on.
  • the zero heading can be referenced to a feature of the vehicle (e.g. a direction perpendicular to its steering axle) or without loss of generality could be the normal to the hub's 3 sensor antennae.
  • detecting the distances and relative angles to two or more tags is a matter of prudence; and as a practical matter, three or more tags are often useful. Detection of two or more tags (or three or more tags for 3D implementations) not only may improve accuracy and precision, it avoids situations in which a single-tag system will fail. For example, an autonomous vehicle, traveling in a circular path with the tag located at the center of the circle, will read that the distance to the tag is constant, and that the angle to the tag is constant (assuming the tag does not convey any angle information to the autonomous vehicle).
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a typical autonomous vehicle pose-detecting system 10.
  • the system 10 includes an autonomous vehicle 12, which is a machine that typically includes mechanical and electronic components.
  • the system also includes two tags 14A and 14B that serve as reference nodes. Although two tags are shown in FIG. 1 , any number of tags may be employed. (A generic tag may be identified by reference numeral 14.)
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 may be a vehicle of any kind.
  • a typical autonomous vehicle 12 will be described as a mower that includes apparatus to mow an outdoor field.
  • the outdoor field may be thought of as the defined area of operation of the mower. It may be undesirable for the autonomous vehicle 12 to operate autonomously outside the boundaries of the outdoor field.
  • Other examples of an autonomous vehicle 12, by no means the only examples, include agricultural equipment, irrigation equipment, cleaning equipment, moving/conveying equipment, and delivery equipment.
  • ground-based autonomous vehicles will be discussed, alternative embodiments include water-based autonomous vehicles (including those that float or submerge) and air-based autonomous vehicles (such as low-flying drones).
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 may employ any form of propulsion (such as petroleum-powered, electric, wind-propelled) and may be of any configuration or size.
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 may be configured to convey one or more human beings, or not.
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 may include one or more pieces of functional apparatus 32 according to its general purposes; in the case of a mower, for example, the functional apparatus 32 may include specialized equipment for mowing.
  • the functional apparatus 32 includes one or more kinds of mobility apparatus 34, which convey the autonomous vehicle 12 from place to place (often within the defined area of operation, but the mobility apparatus 34 may convey the autonomous vehicle 12 from place to place outside the defined area of operation as well).
  • Mobility apparatus 34 may also include apparatus that steers the autonomous vehicle 12 that governs the speed of the autonomous vehicle 12, that brakes the autonomous vehicle 12, or other components that make the autonomous vehicle 12 function as a vehicle.
  • Mobility apparatus 34 may include various things such as one or more wheels, propellers, motors, fuel supplies, batteries or other power-related components, rudders, and so forth.
  • the tags 14 may be deployed at any known positions inside the defined area of operation, or on the perimeter or border of the defined area of operation, or proximate to the defined area of operation.
  • the tags 14 may be mounted upon dedicated pedestals, i.e. , supporting structures that hold the tags 14 in fixed positions relative to the defined area of operation (and that may have other functionality); the tags 14 may be mounted upon already-existing structures in fixed positions relative to the defined area of operation (such as fence posts, streetlights, buildings, trees, and so on); or any combination thereof.
  • the tags 14 may be deployed at any height above the ground; for some installations, for example, one meter above the ground might be a typical height for all tags 14, while for another installation, some tags 14 may be positioned higher above the ground while others are positioned lower.
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 includes a processor 22 (or more generally a "controller” which may include plural processors with dedicated functions) that receives as input the return signals 20A, 20B or signals from the antenna hub 16 that are functions of the received return signals 20A, 20B. As a function of this input, the processor computes, infers, calculates, measures, or otherwise determines the pose of the autonomous vehicle 12 with respect to the tags 14, and with respect to the defined area of operation. As used herein, a first thing (such as an output) is computed or otherwise determined "as a function of" a second thing (such as an input), when the first thing is directly or indirectly dependent upon the second thing; the first thing may be, but need not be, dependent exclusively upon the second thing.
  • a first thing such as an output
  • a second thing such as an input
  • the antenna hub 16 may be in any of several configurations, and can comprise a plurality of hub antennas.
  • the plurality of hub antennas can be operatively connected to any suitable receiver/transceiver radio, including an ultra-wideband (UWB) receiver/transceiver radio, such as an integrated USB radio system like the DW1000 available from DecaWave of Dublin, Ireland, for example.
  • UWB ultra-wideband
  • One illustrative configuration includes three omnidirectional antennas deployed on the vertices of a triangle, such as an equilateral triangle. The distance from one antenna to another may be known to a good degree of precision.
  • the signal When a signal is received from a tag 14, the signal may be received by a first hub antenna in the antenna hub 16 first, and by a second hub antenna in the antenna hub 16 later, after a tiny but measurable delay.
  • an angle of the tag 14, with respect to the orientation of the autonomous vehicle 12 or the antenna hub 16 can be computed. (Other parameters of interest may be computed or otherwise determined as well.)
  • Distance of the tag 14, with respect to the orientation of the autonomous vehicle 12 may be computed on the basis of the received signals in a number of ways.
  • One way involves each tag 14 in the system 10 transmitting its response 20 in a manner to reduce interference among responses from several tags.
  • Tag 14B shows illustrative components of a tag 14.
  • An antenna 36 may detect or receive electromagnetic signals 18 from the autonomous vehicle 12, and transmit electromagnetic signals 20 to the autonomous vehicle 12.
  • a processor 38 may process the electromagnetic signals 18 detected or received by the antenna 36, and may record the time that the signals 18 were received according to an on-board clock 40. (Various tags 14 in the system 10 may synchronize their clocks 40 with one another, but this is not necessary.) Any data, such as the time a signal 18 was received or information about the tag 14B itself, may be stored in memory 42.
  • the tag processor 38 may be of any type, there may be practical advantages for the processor 38 to have limited capability or low functionality, as mentioned previously.
  • the tag 14B may have a power supply 44, which may include one or more power sources such as a battery, a solar power array, connection to an electrical grid, and so forth.
  • the tag 14B may be configured to operate automatically in a variety of power modes, such as operating in a low-power operating state for much of the time, and automatically switching to a high-power operating state after detecting a signal from an autonomous vehicle 12, and automatically switching back to a low-power operating state after responding to the signal from the autonomous vehicle 12. Operating much of the time in a low-power operating state conserves power for times when more power is useful.
  • the distance of the antenna hub 16 to a tag 14 is a function of the time it takes for an electromagnetic signal 20 (traveling at the speed of light) to travel from the antenna 36 of a tag 14 to the antenna hub 16. There are numerous ways in which this travel time can be measured.
  • signal 18 transmitted by the antenna hub 16 may be a polling signal. This same polling signal may be broadcast to all tags 14 in range.
  • a tag 14 may (for example) change from a low-power operating state to a high-power operating state, and record the time at which the signal 18 was received.
  • each tag 14 may wait until its assigned time window to transmit its response signal 20.
  • the response signal 20 may include an identification of the tag 14 sending the response signal 20, the time at which the signal 18 from the antenna hub 16 was received, as well as the time at which the response signal 20 was sent (both times according to the on-board clock 40 used by the tag 14). This response signal may be received by the antenna hub 16.
  • one or more error-correction techniques may be applied to measure the time in which it took for the signal from the tag 14 to reach the antenna hub 16.
  • the signals' three hub antennae are synced to the same local oscillator, then all single- difference common mode range errors cancel out.
  • time for the signal to travel from the tag 14 to the antenna hub 16 is known, then the distance from the tag 14 to the antenna hub 16 is also known (linear distance traveled by an electromagnetic signal is the travel time multiplied by the speed of light).
  • a defined area of operation should be sized and shaped so as not to have any locations in which the autonomous vehicle will be out of range of all of the tags. It may be a criterion for layout of a defined area of operation, in one example, that all locations in the defined area of operation be at least 70 meters from at least two tags. In another example, it may be specified that all locations in the defined area of operation be at least 50 meters from at least three tags.
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 may compute the distance to one or more tags 14, as well as the angle of each tag relative to the autonomous vehicle 12. With information about distance and angle, the autonomous vehicle 12 may compute the pose of the autonomous vehicle 12 relative to the tags 14, and relative to the defined area of operation. Alternatively, as clarified above, pose may be determined using distance but without detecting angle.
  • the processor 22 can control the operation of the autonomous vehicle 12 as a function of the pose (or as a function of any parameters related to or derived from the location and orientation). Examples of controlling the operation include turning a corner, avoiding an obstacle, increasing/decreasing speed, or activating/deactivating some of the functional apparatus 32.
  • the autonomous vehicle may include an on-board clock 26.
  • On-board clock 26 may keep time internally or in reference to external time signals (such as wireless network signals or global positioning system (GPS) signals), or both.
  • external time signals such as wireless network signals or global positioning system (GPS) signals
  • the processor 22 in FIG. 1 may be, but need not be, a single discrete component of the autonomous vehicle 12.
  • the processor 22 may be a general-purpose processor (configured to perform one or more operations by executable instructions), or a specialized processor, or any combination of processing elements.
  • the operations of the processor 22 may be distributed among multiple components.
  • various processing functions may be divided among multiple elements (for example, some processing may be performed by supplemental location apparatus 28, as discussed below).
  • components such as the clock 26 may be included in the processor 22, and need not be embodied as discrete components.
  • memory 24 need not be embodied as a single discrete component.
  • memory may include one or more memory elements that are physically separated from the autonomous vehicle 12, with data and instructions conveyed wirelessly (for example) to the autonomous vehicle 12.
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 may determine its pose with respect to the defined area of operation by measuring the linear distance from the antenna hub 16 to any number of tags 14, and measuring the angular displacement of the tags.
  • pose may be determined using distance but without detecting angle.
  • the linear distance from the autonomous vehicle 12 to a tag 14 is a function of the time it takes a signal to travel from the autonomous vehicle 12 to the tag 14; it is also possible to think of the linear distance between the autonomous vehicle 12 and the tag 14 as being a function of the time it takes for a signal to travel from the autonomous vehicle 12 to the tag 14 and the time it takes for a reply signal to travel from the tag 14 to the autonomous vehicle 12.
  • Electromagnetic signals travel at the speed of light, so the time it takes for a signal to go from one site to another is a function of the distance between the sites.
  • time computations are performed by the autonomous vehicle 12.
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 in effect transmits a signal and measures the time it takes to receive a reply from a tag 14. This measured time is a function of the distance from the autonomous vehicle 12 to the tag 14.
  • Determination of the angle of a tag 14 relative to the autonomous vehicle 12 may be accomplished by any of several techniques.
  • a comparatively uncomplicated technique may involve the antenna hub 16 having two or more antennas, disposed apart from one another by a known or fixed distance.
  • a reply signal from a tag 14 may be received by the two antennas at two times, and the difference between the two times is the time difference.
  • the relative angle is a function of the time difference.
  • the method may additionally comprise measuring a phase and time of arrival of a signal, such as an ultrawideband signal, transmitted by the tag for each of the plurality hub antennae; and determining the differential phase of arrival, differential time of arrival, time angle of arrival and phase angle of arrival for each of the plurality of hub antennae; and determining a location of the tag relative to the plurality of hub antennae using the phase angle of arrival and range of the tag for each of the respective hub antennae.
  • determining the location of the tag may comprise determining a three dimensional (or 3D) location of the tag relative to each of the plurality of hub antennae, using the phase angle of arrival and range of the tag for each of the hub antennae.
  • three hub antennas may be used in combination as two or three pairs of antenna elements, to determine a 3D location of the tag using the phase angle of arrival and range of the tag for each of the two or three pairs of antenna elements.
  • determining the location of the tag may comprise determining an aggregation or average of a plurality of determined locations using the phase angle of arrival and range for each of the two or more respective pairs of hub antennae.
  • system 10 may desirably provide for location of each of the tags 14 in the plurality of tags by means of determining an angle of arrival of the inbound signal with respect to the antenna hub 16, which may be combined with a range of tags 14 from the antenna hub 16 to calculate a relative position of each of the plurality of tags 14 with respect to antenna hub 16, such as recited according to aspects of the presently disclosed methods described in further detail below.
  • system 10 may be adapted for implementation of embodiments of the present inventive methods according to the disclosure which provide for using a differential time of arrival of an inbound between the first and second hub antenna to determine a differential time angle of arrival, which may desirably be used in combination with a multi-lobe differential phase angle of arrival beam pattern calculated for the phase difference of arrival of the inbound between the hub antennas, such as to disambiguate the multi-lobe phase angle of arrival beam pattern, and provide for a desirably more precise disambiguated phase angle of arrival of the inbound signal relative to the first and second hub antennas.
  • system 10 may desirably provide for improved accuracy and precision for locating the position of tags 14 relative to the first and second hub antennas, than may be provided using time of arrival methods alone.
  • system 10 may desirably provide for use of an antenna hub 16 having a plurality of sparsely spaced hub antennas which may be widely spaced relative to the wavelength of the UWB carrier wave signal such as to provide for greater position determination accuracy for a particular precision of time and/or phase differential measurement at the first and second hub antennas.
  • the antenna hub 16 may optionally also be configured to transmit an outbound signal for reception by the tags 14.
  • outbound signal may be used as a polling signal such as to initiate a response by tags 14 by transmission of inbound signal, for example.
  • the outbound signal may be used in connection with the inbound signal to provide for a round trip time of flight measurement for determining a range of tags 14 relative to the antenna hub 16, for example.
  • the outbound signal may be used in conjunction with the inbound signal and/or optionally also with calibration signal 30 to allow for synchronization of time measurements or to account for clock drift between tags 14 and the antenna hub 16, or to measure and/or calculate error or calibration data such as interference, reflection, multipath, distortion, attenuation or other factors involving the transmission of UWB signals by system 10.
  • the system can be employed to passively track a movable object within a defined area of operation.
  • the antenna hub can be affixed to the movable object, such as a person or animal, and the processor can be simply employed to determine the pose of the movable object relative to the plurality of tags.
  • Supplemental location apparatus 28 may include any of several kinds of location apparatus that may be used in the event that the antenna hub-tag system (or the distance-and-angle technique) may be inadequate for brief or extended periods of time.
  • An example of a supplemental location apparatus 28 may be, for example, a GPS receiver, such as a conventional GPS receiver or a real-time kinematic (RTK) receiver.
  • GPS receiver such as a conventional GPS receiver or a real-time kinematic (RTK) receiver.
  • supplemental location apparatus 28 may include one or more inertial sensors, or an echolocation apparatus (such as radar or sonar), or a compass, or an odometer, or a gyroscope, of a wheel sensor/encoder, or a visual sighting system, or a remote-operator-assisted piloting system or an altimeter. Some kinds of supplemental location apparatus 28 may be useful for determining location but not orientation, some may be useful for determining orientation but not location, and some may be useful for determining both. In particular if using an accelerometer to determine pitch and roll, it is possible to use only two tags to obtain a 3D pose.
  • the supplemental location apparatus 28 may generate one or more signals as a function of the thing being detected, which in turn is a function of the pose of 30 the autonomous vehicle 12.
  • the processor 22 may determine the pose of the autonomous vehicle 12 (in or outside the defined area of operation) as a function of the signal generated by the supplemental location apparatus 28.
  • the antenna hub 16 may lose contact with one or more tags 14 or may fail to receive signals 20 from one or more tags 14. Loss of contact may be due to any number of reasons, such as an object that happens to be interposed between the antenna hub 16 and one or more tags 14 (interfering with line- of-sight or interfering with signals between the antenna hub 16 and one or more tags 14), or damage to a tag 14, or interference from a weather condition, or breakdown or malfunction of the antenna hub 16. Conditions such as any of these may result in outages of the distance-and-angle system. The outages may be momentary, or brief, or extended.
  • Supplemental location apparatus 28 may be used during an outage for purposes of pose correction, or for emergency operation, or for bringing the autonomous vehicle 16 to a safe stop, or returning the autonomous vehicle 16 to home location, or guiding the autonomous vehicle 16 away from a hazard, or changing the operating mode of the vehicle from autonomous to user-controlled, for example. Supplemental location apparatus 28 may also be used when there is no outage.
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 may use previous data and computations to move about when (for example) contact with all tags (or all but one tag) is lost.
  • the processor 22 having previously computed the position and heading and having information from devices such as a compass or wheel or a vertical gyro, may extrapolate position and heading. If contact with the tags is reestablished within a reasonable time, the processor 22 may correct for errors (if any) and the autonomous vehicle 12 may proceed as before. If contact with the tags is not re-established within a reasonable time, the autonomous vehicle 12 may take some other action, such as shutting down or issuing a distress call. The autonomous vehicle 12 may also call upon supplemental location apparatus 28 for assistance with navigating.
  • the supplemental location apparatus 28 may have deficiencies of its own. Some supplemental location apparatus 28 may be too costly to operate at all times, or may be susceptible to becoming unreliable in certain environments or bad weather, for example. Even so, if the distance-and-angle techniques develop trouble, the supplemental location apparatus may under some circumstances be able to keep the trouble from becoming worse.
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 may include input/output (I/O) devices 30 other than those on the antenna hub 16 or the supplemental location apparatus 28.
  • I/O devices 30 may be of any kind; input may be received and output transmitted wirelessly, audibly, visually, haptically, or in any combination thereof, or in other fashions.
  • Examples of other I/O devices 30 include a radio receiver, an alarm, a warning light, a keypad, user controls, and an emergency stop switch.
  • a defined area of operation may be defined or otherwise established.
  • One illustrative technique involves having the tags 14 deployed proximate to the expected defined area of operation, and manually positioning or guiding the autonomous vehicle 12 around the perimeter of the defined area of operation. As the autonomous vehicle 12 moves around the perimeter, the autonomous vehicle 12 notes the position of the tags 14. Once the perimeter is closed, the autonomous vehicle 12 has information about the boundaries of the defined area of operation, and the positions of the tags 14 with respect to the boundaries. From this information, the autonomous vehicle 12 may create a map of the defined area of interest.
  • Another technique may include manually positioning or guiding the autonomous vehicle 12 to vertices of the defined area of operation.
  • a further technique may involve moving the autonomous vehicle 12 proximate to a hazard, and instructing the autonomous vehicle 12 to avoid the hazard. Still a further technique may entail the autonomous vehicle automatically following physical perimeter markers, such as a fence, and regarding the area inside the perimeter markers as the defined area of operation.
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 may be instructed to mow this defined area of operation.
  • the mowing operations need not be uniform throughout the entire playing area.
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 may be instructed to avoid the green and the hazards entirely, for example, and do no mowing operations there.
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 may be instructed to mow the grass in the fairway to a shorter length than the grass in the rough, etc.
  • FIG. 2 is an illustrative map showing overlapping defined areas of operation on a golf course.
  • FIG. shows one (first) playing area 50 on an illustrative golf course, and a neighboring (second) playing area 52 on the same golf course.
  • Each playing area may have its own tee area, fairway, rough, green, and hazards; and the layout of these features will be different for every play area on the golf course.
  • An autonomous vehicle 12 that functions as a mower may be used to mow the grass in the various playing areas, while avoiding hazards and cutting the grass to desired lengths at various sites.
  • tags 14 Deployed on the golf course are several tags 14; in FIG. 2, eight illustrative tags 54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64, and 66 are shown. Some of the tags may be deployed in trees proximate to the playing areas, others may be deployed on dedicated pedestals, and others may be deployed in other fashions.
  • tags 54, 56, 58, 60, 62, and 66 define the first defined area of operation 68, and the first defined area of operation 68 is related to the first playing area 50.
  • tags 60. 62, 64, 66, and other tags define the second defined area of operation 70, and the second defined area of operation 70 is related to the second playing area 52.
  • the first and second defined areas of operation 68, 70 do not overlap geographically, though the first and second defined areas of operation 68, 70 may share a tag 62.
  • an autonomous vehicle 12 that performs functions on the first defined area of operation 68 may be called upon to perform similar functions on the second defined area of operation 70.
  • an autonomous vehicle 12 may move autonomously from the first defined area of operation 68 to the second defined area of operation 70, such movement may be aided by creation of a third defined area of operation 72, which geographically overlaps the first defined area of operation 68 and the second defined area of operation 70.
  • the boundaries of the third defined area of operation 72 essentially correspond to tags 58, 60, 64, and 66, and tag 62 is positioned well within and away from the perimeter of the third defined area of operation 72.
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 may autonomously terminate its functions in the first defined area of operation 68 and begin its functions the third defined area of operation 72.
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 may finish its work in the first defined area of operation 68, and then move to that part of the first defined area of operation 68 that overlaps the third defined area of operation 72.
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 may then begin its mowing operations in area between the first defined area of operation 68 and the second defined area of operation 70, such as mowing the grass in the region 74 between the playing areas 50, 52.
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 may move directly to the second defined area of operation 70, by moving to that part of the third defined area of operation 72 that overlaps the second defined area of operation 70.
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 may finish its work in the third defined area of operation 72 (which may comprise mowing or simply moving from one defined area of operation to another), moving to that part of the third defined area of operation 72 that overlaps the second defined area of operation 70.
  • the autonomous vehicle 12 may then begin its mowing operations in the second defined area of operation 70.
  • the pose determination system and method can be employed in an indoor environment.
  • accuracy and precision of the pose determination system can be increased by synchronizing the plurality of tags by employing a single high stability oscillator.
  • Using a single oscillator can also improve navigation performance, since different tags normally would have different oscillator drifts. It would also be possible to use open standards IEEE 1588 PTP-V2, or synchronous Ethernet to disseminate phase and frequency.
  • the operation of the autonomous vehicle in a defined area of operation may simplify the programming of the autonomous vehicle, in that the autonomous vehicle can be programmed to deal with conditions, hazards, obstacles, and other various eventualities that affect the defined area of operation, rather than the much wider range of eventualities that may affect a broader geographical area.
  • the tags described herein can serve as reference nodes that require little or no external power, and may include little or no infrastructure to communicate with other tags or with any other network.
  • a system that uses UWB can be expected to be reliable at low power and is adaptable to a range of terrains and environments and weather conditions. For some terrains and environments, UWB coupled with GPS may provide additional reliability and adaptability.
  • embodiments may include vehicles that are not autonomous.
  • embodiments may include objects that are not conventionally thought of as vehicles, such as living things.
  • embodiments may be made applicable to a virtual world as well as to a real world.
  • a pose of an object in a virtual world may be determined with respect to a virtual defined area of operation or virtual reference nodes.
  • Virtual world applications may include various forms of gaming in a virtual world.
  • processing power can be concentrated in the autonomous vehicle, which may have fewer power constraints than the tags.
  • Security against theft and other mischief can be concentrated in the autonomous vehicle.
  • the autonomous vehicle may be locked up when not in use, but it may not be a practical necessity to lock up the tags, which may remain deployed near the defined area of operation.
  • Embodiments may be applied to run-of-the-mill activities as well as unusual activities. Applications may be civilian as well as military. Uses may be practical as well as artistic (for example, in the illustration in which the autonomous vehicle is a mower, the autonomous vehicle may be programmed to cut grass to produce a pleasing design).
  • various functions and components may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, middleware or a combination thereof and utilized in systems, subsystems, components or subcomponents thereof.
  • elements thereof may be instructions and/or code segments to perform the necessary tasks.
  • the program or code segments may be stored in a machine readable medium, such as a processor readable, such as a processor readable medium or a computer program product, or transmitted by a computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave, or a signal modulated by a carrier, over a transmission medium or communication link.
  • the machine readable medium or processor readable medium may include any medium that can store or transfer information in a form readable and executable by a machine, for example a processor, computer, etc.
  • An embodiment may relate to a computer storage product with a computer-readable medium having computer code thereon for performing various computer-implemented operations.
  • the computer-readable media and computer code may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the disclosed embodiments, or they may be of the kind well known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts.
  • Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to: ROM and RAM devices including Flash RAM memory storage cards, sticks and chips, magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROMs and holographic devices; magneto-optical media such as floptical disks; and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and execute program code, such as application specific integrated circuits ("ASICs"), programmable logic devices ("PLDs”) and ROM and RAM devices including Flash RAM memory storage cards, sticks and chips, for example.
  • Examples of computer code include machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher-level code that are executed by a computer using an interpreter. For example, an embodiment may be implemented using any suitable scripting, markup and/or programming languages and development tools. Another embodiment may be implemented in hardwired circuitry in place of, or in combination with, machine- executable software instructions.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Radar, Positioning & Navigation (AREA)
  • Remote Sensing (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
  • Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
  • Control Of Position, Course, Altitude, Or Attitude Of Moving Bodies (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne des systèmes et des procédés de détermination de la position d'un véhicule autonome par rapport à une zone de fonctionnement définie. Des nœuds ou des étiquettes de référence sont déployés au niveau de positions connues à proximité de la zone de fonctionnement définie. Le véhicule autonome peut détecter la position relative d'au moins deux nœuds de référence en général, et peut déterminer sa position par rapport à la zone de fonctionnement définie.
PCT/CA2018/051229 2017-10-03 2018-10-01 Système et procédé de détermination de position WO2019068175A1 (fr)

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CN112346473A (zh) * 2020-11-25 2021-02-09 成都云鼎智控科技有限公司 无人飞行器姿态控制系统、飞行控制系统及姿态控制方法
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CN114430603A (zh) * 2022-01-25 2022-05-03 广州小鹏汽车科技有限公司 一种迎宾控制方法、装置和车辆
CN114430603B (zh) * 2022-01-25 2024-03-12 广州小鹏汽车科技有限公司 一种迎宾控制方法、装置和车辆
IT202200011396A1 (it) * 2022-05-30 2023-11-30 Claudio Salvador Sistema adattivo basato su ultra wide band per rilevamento dinamico di possibili collisioni
WO2023233270A1 (fr) * 2022-05-30 2023-12-07 Claudio Salvador Système adaptatif basé sur une bande ultra-large pour la détection dynamique de collisions possibles

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