WO2023180476A1

WO2023180476A1 - An autonomous driving system for navigating a tool-carrying trailer

Info

Publication number: WO2023180476A1
Application number: PCT/EP2023/057539
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bo BOJESEN BØGH
Original assignee: X-Drive Robots Aps
Priority date: 2022-03-23
Filing date: 2023-03-23
Publication date: 2023-09-28

Abstract

The invention regards an autonomous driving system comprising an autonomous rover configured to pull and navigate a tool-carrying trailer. The autonomous rover comprises at least one navigation transceiver, at least one processing unit, a trailer hitch attached to the autonomous rover for attaching the tool-carrying trailer and a chassis for driving the autonomous rover comprising at least one electric motor, at least one electricity storage unit and at least 2, preferably 4 wheels. The autonomous driving system is configured to navigate the tool-carrying trailer in a predefined area in order to perform at least one user-defined task involving at least one tool, wherein the at least one tool is attached to the tool-carrying trailer.

Description

An autonomous driving system for navigating a tool-carrying trailer

The present disclosure relates to an autonomous driving system for autonomously navigating large tools, such as farm tools, in order to automate manual labour.

Background

Horse riding includes a multitude of disciplines such as riding, driving, and vaulting. The usage of horses in sport requires intensive training, which is being practised in specific arenas known as riding halls, for the indoor training, or riding arena, which consists of an outdoor enclosure. The floor of this riding areas, both indoor and outdoor, often consists of a top layer of silica sand over a complex aggregate substrate designed to ensure proper drainage. A good riding surface also needs to have the right level of moisture content to reduce the amount of dust, aid maintenance and ensure good rideability.

The top layer of silica sand has the main disadvantage of being volatile, especially if there are few rides in a relative short period, thus creating inconsistencies and a nonuniformity of the sand throughout the riding area. This non-uniformity of the floor top layer can decrease the performance of the horse as well as causing injuries in the long run. Therefore some daily maintenance needs to be processed in order to get a smooth and relatively flat surface, which contributes to a good riding floor, minimizing shock, providing support and returning energy back to the horse in the most efficient way.

This maintenance operation is usually performed by a person, which needs to drive a machine equipped with a groomer used to drain the sand. The machine needs to be driven following a grooming pattern, which needs to be changed every time a maintenance occurs in order to avoid creating compaction. By automatizing this operation, this would make it easier to make the groomer operating while following the desired patterns, as well as saving time for the person normally operating the maintenance machine.

Summary

As disclosed here and according to a first embodiment, this can be achieved by an autonomous driving system comprising an autonomous rover configured to pull and navigate a tool-carrying trailer. The autonomous rover preferably comprises at least one navigation transceiver; optionally at least one safety bumper; a chassis for driving the autonomous rover comprising: o at least one electric motor; o at least one electricity storage unit; and o at least 2 or 3, preferably 4 wheels; at least one processing unit; and a trailer hitch attached to the autonomous rover for attaching the tool-carrying trailer.

The autonomous driving system is preferably configured to navigate the tool-carrying trailer in a predefined area, in order to perform at least one user-defined task involving at least one tool, wherein the at least one tool is attached to the tool-carrying trailer.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of the autonomous driving system. The autonomous rover has the advantage to be configured to navigate the tool-carrying trailer in both a forward and reverse direction, while performing at least one user- defined task involving at least one tool. The at least one tool can be attached to the tool-carrying trailer as exemplified in Fig. 4.

The at least one navigation transceiver arranged on the autonomous rover is preferably a part of a navigation system, preferably an ultrasound navigation system, which comprises at least one local transceiver for communicating with the at least one navigation transceiver. This allows the navigation system to assess a location of the autonomous rover in the predefined area with a very high accuracy, preferably an accuracy of around 10 mm.

According to one embodiment and thanks to this accuracy, the autonomous driving system is configured for processing the information delivered by the navigation system to determine a relative position of the autonomous rover in the predefined area and navigating the autonomous rover in the predefined area according to the relative position of the autonomous rover and the at least one user-defined task.

The tool-carrying trailer comprises the at least one tool, which can be controlled by the autonomous rover. The presently disclosed autonomous driving system is preferably configured such that at least one tool is capable of covering at least 90%, or 95%, preferably at least 98%, more preferably at least 99%, most preferably 99.5%, or even 99.9% or even 100% of the predefined area by autonomously navigating the trailer around in the predefined area. The predefined area may be defined by boundaries. An advantage of the presently disclosed autonomous driving system is that even if the predefined area forms at least one corner, the rover can navigate the trailer such that the tool covers the edges of the corner, e.g. such that the surface of the entire riding hall can be groomed . The at least one corner has an angle preferably larger than 0 degree and smaller than 180 degrees, and/or larger than 180 degrees and smaller than 360 degrees.

Description of the drawings

In the following, embodiment and examples will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the presently disclosed autonomous driving system.

Fig. 2A-B show perspective views of an embodiment of the autonomous rover, with two different perspectives.

Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the trailer hitch and the angle unit.

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the tool-carrying trailer comprising at least one tool.

Fig. 5A-D show schematic views of different coupling angles between the autonomous rover and the tool-carrying trailer.

Fig. 6 shows a perspective view of the navigation system.

Fig. 7A-D show schematic views of user-defined tasks.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic view of the rotation angle around a vertical steering axis of one of the at least 2, preferably 4 wheels.

Fig. 9A-B show schematic views of different predefined areas.

Detailed description

Fig. 1 presents a schematic view of an embodiment of the autonomous driving system (100). The autonomous driving system (100) can comprise an autonomous rover (101) and a tool-carrying trailer (106). The tool-carrying trailer (106) may be attached to the autonomous rover (101) through a trailer hitch (108), which can be comprised as part of the autonomous rover (101).

The tool-carrying trailer may be any tool-carrying trailer suitable for various applications. The tool-carrying trailer may not comprise tools. The autonomous driving system may be used for applications in different fields such as golf greens, facility management, logistics, airport facilities, original equipment manufacturers or specific tasks to agriculture.

The autonomous driving system may be used in golf pitches for various possible reasons such as transporting golf materials between two areas, cutting grass, performing operations on grass, performing operations on sand. Facility management can be understood as carrying items between two areas with a high precision on the location in the two areas. Logistics may be a general term to define a transportation of items from a first area to a second area. The autonomous driving system can also be used in airports to preferably move trolleys between two areas with a high precision, while being aware of the environment and being able to react fast if obstacles are present.

The at least one navigation transceiver (107) can be attached to the autonomous rover (101). Preferably, two navigation transceivers (107) can be attached to the autonomous rover (101), one located at the front and one located at the back. The at least one navigation transceiver (107) can be ultrasound or RF transceivers and are preferably used as a part of an indoor navigation transceiver. The at least one navigation transceiver (107) can transmit and receive ultrasound or radio waves, for communication purposes. Fig. 6 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of a navigation system using the at least one navigation transceiver (107). The navigation system comprises at least one satellite or local transceiver (114), which can be attached to a fixed position in the predefined area (115). The at least one satellite or local transceiver (114) may communicate with the at least one navigation transceiver (107). The communication that can occur between the at least one satellite or local transceiver (114) and the at least one navigation transceiver (107) may generate some localisation information. The localisation information can be processed by a master device, which then can assess a relative position of the at least one navigation transceiver (107) in the predefined area (115). The navigation system can be an indoor positioning system such as a GOTposition technology driven system. This technology driven system can assess a relative position of the at least one navigation transceiver (107) with an accuracy down to 10 mm, in the predefined area (115). The at least one navigation transceiver (107) can also be part of a global satellite based transceiver instead of an indoor positioning system. However, in order to obtain the required precision for the navigation task, it is preferred to use a local navigation system.

Fig. 2A-B show schematic views of an embodiment of the autonomous rover (101). Fig. 2A presents the autonomous rover (101) from a front side perspective and Fig. 2B presents the autonomous rover (101) from a back side perspective. The autonomous rover (101) can be configured to navigate the tool-carrying trailer (106) in both a forward and reverse direction. More generally, the autonomous driving system (100) may be configured to monitor and/or measure a coupling angle (113) between the toolcarrying trailer (106) and the autonomous rover (101) such that the autonomous rover (101) can navigate the tool-carrying trailer (106) when the autonomous rover (101) is pulling the tool-carrying trailer (106) in a reverse direction. By monitoring the coupling angle (113) between the autonomous rover (101) and the tool-carrying trailer (106), the autonomous rover (101) can pull the tool-carrying trailer (106) in a reverse direction in an exact position in the predefined area (115), with the exact position defined by the at least one user-defined task. Fig. 5A-D show schematic views of different coupling angles (113) between the autonomous rover (101) and the tool-carrying trailer (106). The coupling angle (113) is defined by an angle formed between a longitudinal axis of the autonomous rover (111) and a longitudinal axis of the tool-carrying trailer (112). The longitudinal axes of the autonomous rover (111) and the tool-carrying trailer (112) are defined as the axes from the mid-point of the front side of respectively the autonomous rover (101) and the tool-carrying trailer (106) to the mid-point of the back side of respectively the autonomous rover (101) and the tool-carrying trailer (106). The coupling angle (113) can be defined as being at 180 degrees when the longitudinal axis of the autonomous rover (111) is aligned or parallel with the longitudinal axis of the tool-carrying trailer (112). If the autonomous rover (101) drives forward to the left, the coupling angle (113) becomes smaller than 180 degrees, and if the autonomous rover (101) drives forward to the right, the coupling angle (113) becomes larger than 180 degrees. This is a possible convention used to monitor the coupling angle (113), but as a person skilled in the art would understand, any other relative value of the coupling angle can be defined, such as 0 degree when the longitudinal axis of the autonomous rover (111) is aligned or parallel with the longitudinal axis of the tool-carrying trailer (112).

The trailer hitch (108) comprises an angle unit, which may be configured to monitor and/or measure the coupling angle (113) between the autonomous rover (101) and the tool-carrying trailer (106). The autonomous rover (101) or the tool-carrying trailer (106) can comprise the angle unit. Fig. 3 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of the angle unit where the angle unit is attached to the autonomous rover (101). The angle unit can be described as a combination of a rotary wheel (110) that may be located next to the trailer hitch (108) and a stick for connecting the rotary wheel (110) to the tool-carrying trailer (106). The angle unit may be configured such that the coupling angle (113) correlates with a rotation of the rotary wheel (110). The rotary wheel (110) can be attached to the tool-carrying trailer (106). In this configuration, the stick (109) would be connected from the rotary wheel (110) to the autonomous rover (106). The stick (109) can preferably be a metal stick to sustain mechanical stress from the connection between the tool-carrying trailer (106) and the autonomous rover (101). Indeed, a mechanical stress can occur during operation of the autonomous driving system (100). The stick (109) can also be made in a resistant plastic material in order to decrease its weight, thus decreasing the weight of the autonomous driving system (100). The rotary wheel (110) has a size that can preferably be compatible with the angle unit so that the maximum allowed rotation of the rotary wheel (110) can cover the highest possible coupling angles (113) between the autonomous rover (101) and the tool-carrying trailer (106). The highest possible coupling angles (113) may preferably be larger than 0 degree and smaller than 360 degrees. As a further example, the angle unit can also be configured as a distance detector such as ultrasonic sensors or infrared sensors, attached to the autonomous rover (101) or to the tool-carrying trailer (106), wherein the distance detector may detect a distance between the back side of the autonomous rover and the front side of the tool-carrying trailer. In this configuration, the distance can be correlated to the coupling angle (113) between the autonomous rover (101) and the tool-carrying trailer (106).

The chassis of the autonomous rover can comprise at least 2, preferably 4 wheels (103). The at least 2, preferably 4 wheels (103) can have various sizes but preferably the same size, and can preferably be mounted with tyres or can be used to drive a continuous track, which would potentially give more stability on uneven grounds possibly comprising rocks and gravels. The at least 2, preferably 4 wheels (103) can be individually driven and steered by at least one electric motor. The autonomous driving system (100) may be configured to individually control the at least one electric motor. It can also be configured to deliver the necessary energy to the at least one electric motor from the at least one electricity storage unit. The at least one electric motor has a nominal power of at least 250 W, more preferably at least 500 W, even more preferably at least 1.5 kW, most preferably at least 4 kW. The at least 2, preferably 4 wheels (103) can be individually steered, and may be configured to pivot around a vertical steering axis, with a rotation angle (116) of 180 degrees. The vertical steering axis is an axis that is perpendicular to the chassis of the autonomous rover. Fig. 8 presents the rotation angle (116) of 180 degrees, around the vertical steering axis for one of the at least 2, preferably 4 wheels (103). The rotation angle (116) of 180 degrees may be composed of two adjacent angles of 90 degrees, wherein the two adjacent angles of 90 degrees may be adjacent to a parallel axis of the longitudinal axis of the autonomous rover (111) as described in Fig. 8. This individual steering of the at least 2, preferably 4 wheels (103) may give a better control for the autonomous rover (101) over the toolcarrying trailer (106), especially when the tool-carrying trailer (106) may need to be pulled in a reverse direction. Indeed, in the potential case of a 4-wheel autonomous rover, 2 rear wheels can be steered and driven independently of 2 front wheels, which allows the tool-carrying trailer (106) to be easily pulled in the right direction without complex driving operations. This specific configuration of the at least 2, preferably 4 wheels (103) can allow the autonomous rover (101) to navigate in a diagonal direction. By steering the at least 2, preferably 4 wheels (103) with the same rotation angle (116), this may allow the autonomous rover (101) to navigate in a diagonal direction, therefore facilitating some specific operations, especially when pulling the tool-carrying trailer (106) in a forward or reverse direction.

According to one embodiment, the autonomous driving system (100) comprises the tool-carrying trailer (106). Fig. 4 presents a schematic view of an embodiment of the tool-carrying trailer (106), which comprises at least one tool. The autonomous rover (101) can control the at least one tool. This control can be an advantage when the at least one tool is not to be used in a given area of the predefined area (115). The tool on the trailer can preferably be controlled by the autonomous driving system. Depending on the driving direction of the autonomous driving system (100), it can be beneficial to modify the configuration of the at least one tool attached to the tool-carrying trailer (106). For example, when the autonomous rover (101) may have to pull the toolcarrying trailer (106) in a reverse direction, it may be impossible to perform this action if the at least one tool is not configured in a different position or orientation. Therefore, some parameters of the at least one tool can be modified such as its position on the tool-carrying trailer (106) and/or its function. The at least one tool is selected from a group of mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. The at least one tool can be for example, at least one shank (105), at least one rotary tiller, or generally tools being part of a grooming equipment such as a roller (104) and/or S- tines. In the case of the maintenance of artificial turf for instance, it can be necessary to use tools such as a large automatic brush or broom to remove the debris accumulated in the artificial turf and some sprinklers to rinse the turf in order to remove dust and pollen. More generally, the tool-carrying trailer (106) can be a standard trailer, which may be used to transport goods or items. It can for instance be used to transport golf equipment in a golf course, without needing any assistance from a potential user. In that regard, it can be noted that the considerable size and power of the autonomous rover (101) makes it possible to transport heavy loads on a hitched trailer, because the autonomous rover (101) can advantageously be configured to pull a trailer weight of at least 250 kg, even more preferably 500 kg, most preferably 800 kg.

At least one of said tools can alternatively or additionally be attached to the autonomous rover (101). In this case, the tool-carrying trailer (106) does not have to be pulled by the autonomous rover (101), which makes navigation easier. For instance, a tool like the roller (104) can be mounted to the chassis of the autonomous rover (101), e.g. below the chassis, and wherein the autonomous driving system (100) may be configured to control operation and/or position of the roller (104). More generally, any suitable tool can be mounted to and/or integrated in the autonomous rover (101) to facilitate the operation that the autonomous driving system (100) may need to perform in a predefined area (115).

The autonomous driving system (100) may comprise at least one safety bumper (102), which is configured to protect the autonomous driving system (100) against unintentional shocks and collisions with unexpected obstacles. The safety bumpers (102) can be made of a soft plastic material such as a soft polyurethane foam. The soft foam may prevent damage to the autonomous driving system (100) by absorbing energy during an impact. The at least one safety bumpers (102) can be attached to either the autonomous rover (101) or the tool-carrying trailer (106), or both. The placement of the safety bumpers (102) can be on the sides, on the front and/or on the back of the autonomous driving system (100).

According to an embodiment, the autonomous driving system (100) comprises at least one processing unit, which is configured for processing the information delivered by the navigation system to determine a relative position of the autonomous rover (101) in a predefined area (115) and navigating the autonomous rover (101) in the predefined area (115) according to the relative position of the autonomous rover (101) and at least one user-defined task. This at least one processing unit can also be configured to control other features on the autonomous driving system (100) such as monitoring the coupling angle (113) between the autonomous rover (101) and the tool-carrying trailer (106) and/or controlling the at least one tool comprised in the tool-carrying trailer (106).

The predefined area (115) can be defined by boundaries. The boundaries may be physical boundaries such as a wall or a barrier, or artificial boundaries defined by electronic devices such as sensors. The predefined area (115) comprises at least one corner (117), wherein the corner angle has an angle preferably larger than 0 degree and smaller than 180 degrees, and/or larger than 180 degrees and smaller than 360 degrees. Fig. 9A-B present schematics views of an embodiment of predefined areas (115). The predefined area (115) can be an indoor area, such as a riding hall, but it may also be an outdoor area, for example a riding arena, a pitch or a sports ground, such as a football field or a golf course, either with natural turf or artificial turf - both types need extensive care with large tools.

The autonomous driving system (100) can be configured to be specifically used in riding halls, maneges or riding arenas, both indoor and/or outdoor, wherein the at least one tool attached to the tool-carrying trailer (106) may be configured to drain sand. As introduced in the background section, the draining of the sand in riding halls can be necessary in order to optimize the training and/or the performance of the horses. The draining can be performed daily or weekly, depending on the amount of rides and the need of having a perfect floor quality for rides. The draining can be performed according to specific patterns. It can be recommended to switch patterns every time a draining occurs in order to mix efficiently the sand and/or other artificial materials that can be comprised in the floor top layer. The different patterns can be defined in the at least one user-defined task. More particularly, the at least one user-defined task may be defined by a user, depending on the pattern the autonomous driving system (100) may need to follow on the predefined area (115). This pattern can more generally be a route, which may be defined in a computer-implemented program, and can be sent to the at least one processing unit comprised in the autonomous rover (101). The at least one processing unit can navigate the autonomous driving system (100) through a defined pattern. Some of the patterns may require that the autonomous rover (101) shall pull the tool-carrying trailer (106) in a reverse direction in order to operate the at least one tool in the at least one corner (117) of the predefined area (115). Fig. 7A-D present some examples of patterns which can be defined by a user as the at least one user-defined task. More specifically, Fig. 7C presents a specific pattern where the autonomous rover (101) may need to pull the tool-carrying trailer (106) in a reverse direction in order to operate the at least one tool of the tool-carrying trailer (106) in the at least one corner (117) of the predefined area (115). As described in Fig. 7C, the autonomous driving system (100) starts on the bottom-right corner (A) of the predefined area (115). After navigating along the right edge of the predefined area (115), the autonomous driving system (100) turns left to a defined position (B) and lifts the at least one tool of the tool-carrying trailer (106) up. This allows the autonomous rover (101) to pull the tool-carrying trailer (106) in a reverse direction, up to the top-right corner of the predefined area (C), where the at least one tool of the tool-carrying trailer (106) is then pulled down. This specific operation can be performed thanks to the configuration of the autonomous driving system (100). This allows the at least one tool of the tool-carrying trailer (106), being possibly comprised in the autonomous driving system (100), to operate in at least 95 % of the predefined area (115), preferably at least 98%, more preferably at least 99%, most preferably 99.5%, or even 99.9% or even 100% of the predefined area (115). The autonomous driving system (100) can then drive forward, along the top edge of the predefined area (115), until the top-right corner of the predefined area (D) where the same procedure as just described can be applied to operate the at least one tool in the top-right corner of the predefined area (115).

In Fig. 7C, the autonomous driving system may be able to guide the tool-carrying trailer in the top-right corner of the area. The different features of the autonomous driving system can make the autonomous driving system able to operate in at least 95 % of the predefined area (115), preferably at least 98%, more preferably at least 99%, most preferably 99.5%, or even 99.9% or even 100% of the predefined area (115). By using the angle unit, which may be configured to monitor and/or measure the coupling angle (113) between the autonomous rover (101) and the tool-carrying trailer (106), together with features such as the 2, preferably 4 wheels that can be individually driven and steered by at least one electric motor, the autonomous driving system can navigate the tool-carrying trailer in either a forward or a reverse direction, or both a forward and a reverse direction, with a high precision. The high precision may be accomplished by using the at least one navigation transceiver as described herein.

The at least one navigation transceiver can be of different types, depending on the application in which the autonomous driving system is used. For outdoor usages, navigation transceivers such as global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) such as GPS, GLONASS, or Galileo can be used to determine the autonomous driving system location. Other positioning technologies such as differential GPS (DGPS) or real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning to achieve even higher levels of accuracy can be used. For indoor usages, multiple different methods can be used as described below:

• Inertial navigation can use accelerometers and gyroscopes to measure changes in direction and velocity to determine a position. Inertial navigation can work in environments without GNSS signals, but the accuracy of the positioning decreases over time due to sensor drift.

• Wi-Fi positioning can be used to determine a device's location by measuring the signal strength and triangulating it with known locations of Wi-Fi access points. This method can achieve positioning accuracy within a few meters, but it is limited by the availability and density of Wi-Fi access points.

• Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons can be small wireless devices that transmit signals to nearby devices using Bluetooth technology. By measuring the signal strength of multiple beacons, a device can determine its location within a few meters.

• Ultra-wideband (UWB) can be a wireless technology that uses short-range radio waves to determine distances between devices. By measuring the time delay between signals sent and received by UWB devices, a position can be determined with accuracy within a few centimeters. As a person skilled in the art would understand, these navigation transceiver technologies can be also used in parallel or in conjunction to achieve an even higher precision. A compromise may be found in order to keep the level of complexity low while achieving the needed precision to navigate the autonomous driving system, especially for tasks that requires high precision such as navigating the tool-carrying trailer in small and confined areas, and where the autonomous driving system may be used for navigating the tool-carrying trailer in the small and confined areas in both a forward and a backward direction or either a forward and a backward direction.

The chassis of the autonomous rover (101) can comprise an electricity storage unit. Preferably, the electricity storage unit can comprise at least one battery. The at least one battery can be arranged as a battery rack of at least one battery inside the autonomous rover. The battery type can be preferably lead-acid battery, more preferably a variant of Lithium batteries, even more preferably lithium iron phosphate battery, also called LiFePO4. The advantage of the LiFePO4 battery compared to the other mentioned types of batteries is the price, which is relatively low, a better ageing and cycle-life characteristics, and a better safety in regards to thermal runaway and fire risks. The nominal cycle life of a LiFePO4 battery type can be around 2700 to more than 10000 cycles depending on conditions. This is one of the best nominal cycle life among the other existing battery types available on the market.

In one embodiment, the autonomous driving system is configured to autonomously navigate to a charging station in order to recharge. This can be performed automatically when the autonomous driving system battery is lower than a defined level. Preferably, the autonomous driving system may calculate the distance between the charging station and its position in substantially real-time, in order to evaluate the energy needed to navigate from its current position to the charging station. This would avoid the autonomous driving system to run out of battery while operating far away from the charging station. The autonomous driving system can automatically determine when it may need to be charged, and can navigate to the charging station before having the electricity storage unit running out of energy. The charging station can be equipped with an electrical plug, where the electrical plug may be configured to be automatically plugged into the autonomous driving system when parking close to the charging station. The charging station can also be an inductive charging station, such that the charging station uses electromagnetic induction to provide electricity to the autonomous driving system and thereby charging the electricity storage unit. Multiple methods can be used for inductive charging such as resonant inductive coupling, magnetic resonance coupling, multi-coil inductive charging or solar-powered inductive charging.

The autonomous driving system (100) can have a weight of at least 400 kg, more preferably at least 950 kg, even more preferably at least 1400 kg, most preferably at least 2000 kg. The autonomous rover (101) can have a weight of at least 100 kg, more preferably 650 kg, even more preferably 1000 kg, most preferably 1500 kg. The toolcarrying trailer (106) can have a weight of at least 100 kg, more preferably 300 kg, even more preferably 500 kg. The weight and the dimension of the autonomous driving system (100) can be adjusted depending on the applications. In the specific case of the riding halls and/or riding arenas, the dimensions may be chosen based on the size of the horse tracks or traces. Indeed, in order to well operate in these specific conditions and as a person skilled in the art would understand, the autonomous driving system (100) needs to be larger than the tracks made by horses in order to correctly drain the top layer of the floor, which is mainly composed of sand. The autonomous rover (101) can be configured to pull a trailer weight of at least 100 kg, more preferably at least 250 kg, even more preferably 500 kg, most preferably 800 kg.

Detailed description of the drawings

The present disclosure will in the following be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings are exemplary and are intended to illustrate some of the features of the presently disclosed autonomous driving system, and are not to be construed as limiting to the present disclosure.

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the presently disclosed autonomous driving system (100). The autonomous driving system (100) comprised an autonomous rover (101) and a tool-carrying trailer (106), which comprises a roller (104) and some shanks (105) as tools. The autonomous rover (101) has one safety bumper (102) attached at the front of the chassis and two navigation transceivers (107) attached on the top of the chassis. The chassis of the autonomous rover (101) comprises 4 wheels (103). A safety bumper (102) is attached to the back of the toolcarrying trailer (106), and the tool-carrying trailer (106) comprises 2 wheels (103). Fig. 2A-B show perspective views of an embodiment of the autonomous rover (101). Fig. 2A shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the autonomous rover (101), seen from the front. The autonomous rover (101) has 4 wheels (103). One safety bumper (102) is attached on the front of the autonomous rover (101). Two navigation transceivers (107) are attached on the top of the autonomous rover (101), one in the front and one in the back. Fig. 2B shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the autonomous rover (101), seen from the back. The autonomous rover (101) has 4 wheels (103). One safety bumper (102) is attached on the front of the autonomous rover (101). Two navigation transceivers (107) are attached on the top of the autonomous rover (101), one in front and one in the back. A trailer hitch (108) is attached to the back of the autonomous rover (101).

Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the trailer hitch (108), the angle unit and the trailer coupler (119). A stick (109) is attached to the trailer coupler (119) on one side and to the rotary wheel (110) on the other side. The rotary wheel (110) is comprised in the chassis of the autonomous rover (101). The stick (109) is attached to the trailer coupler (119) so that it tracks the coupling angle (113) formed between the autonomous rover (101) and the tool-carrying trailer (106).

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the tool-carrying trailer (106). The tool-carrying trailer (106) has 2 wheels (103). A roller (104) and some shanks (105) are attached to the tool-carrying trailer (106). A safety bumper (102) is attached to the back of the tool-carrying trailer (106). The tool-carrying trailer (106) comprises a trailer coupler (119).

Fig. 5A-D show schematic views of different coupling angles (113) between the autonomous rover (101) and the tool-carrying trailer (106). Fig. 5A show a schematic view of the autonomous driving system (100) where the longitudinal axis of the autonomous rover (111) is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the tool-carrying trailer (112). The coupling angle (113) is then defined as being 180 degrees. Fig. 5B show a schematic view of the autonomous driving system (100) where the longitudinal axis of the autonomous rover (111) has a coupling angle of 160 degrees with the longitudinal axis of the tool-carrying trailer (112). Fig. 5C show a schematic view of the autonomous driving system (100) where the longitudinal axis of the autonomous rover (111) has a coupling angle of 210 degrees with the longitudinal axis of the tool-carrying trailer (112). Fig. 5D show a schematic view of the autonomous driving system (100) where the longitudinal axis of the autonomous rover (111) has a coupling angle of 130 degrees with the longitudinal axis of the tool-carrying trailer (112).

Fig. 6 shows a schematic view of the navigation system. The navigation system comprises 4 local transceivers or satellites (114), which are configured to communicate with the navigation transceiver (107) attached on top of the autonomous rover (101). The autonomous driving system (100), comprising the autonomous rover (101) and the tool-carrying trailer (106), is comprised in a predefined area (115), where the predefined area (115) is defined by the local transceivers or satellites (114) placed in the 4 corners (117) of the predefined area (115). The autonomous driving system comprises 6 wheels (103).

Fig. 7A-D show schematic views of user-defined tasks. The user-defined tasks are defined as patterns that the autonomous driving system needs to follow in the predefined area (115), comprising corners (117). Fig. 7A shows a schematic view of one user-defined task wherein the autonomous driving system (100) navigates from the bottom-left corner to the top-left corner, then navigates along the top edge of the predefined area (115) until it reaches the top-right corner, then navigates along the right edge of the predefined area (115) until it reaches the bottom-right corner and then navigate back from the bottom edge to the top edge of the predefined area (115).

Fig. 7B shows a schematic view of one user-defined task wherein the autonomous driving system (100) navigates from the bottom-left corner to the top-left corner of the predefined area (115) while navigating in circles. As soon as the autonomous driving system (100) reaches the top-right corner of the predefined area (115), it navigates back towards the bottom of the predefined area (115) while continuously navigating in circles, and so forth. As described in more details in the detailed description of the present disclosure, Fig. 7C shows a schematic view of one-user defined task wherein the autonomous driving system (100) navigates from the bottom-right corner (A) of the predefined area (115), along the right edge towards a defined position in the predefined area (115) (B). The autonomous driving system (100) navigates in a reverse direction towards the top-right corner of the predefined area (115) (C) and then navigates along the top edge of the predefined area (115) towards the top-left corner (D), where the same operation can occur. Fig. 7D shows a schematic view of one-user defined task wherein the autonomous driving system (100) navigates from the bottom-right corner of the predefined area (115), following the right edge of the predefined area (115), towards the top-left corner, wherein the autonomous driving system (100) navigates along the top edge of the predefined area (115) until it reaches the top-right corner, and then navigates in circles, covering the entire width of the predefined area (115).

Fig. 8 shows a schematic view of the rotation angle (116) around a vertical steering axis of one of the at least 2, preferably 4 wheels (103). The rotation angle (116) is composed of two adjacent angles of both 90 degrees around an axis being parallel to the longitudinal axis of the autonomous rover (111).

Fig. 9A-B show schematic views of different predefined areas (115). Fig. 9A shows a schematic view of a predefined area (115) comprising 3 corners (117). Fig. 9B shows a schematic view of a predefined area (115) comprising 7 corners (117).

List of elements in figures

100 - autonomous driving system

101 - autonomous rover

102 - safety bumper

103 - wheel

104 - roller

105 - shank

106 - tool-carrying trailer

107 - navigation transceiver

108 - trailer hitch

109 - stick

110 - rotary wheel

111 - longitudinal axis of the autonomous rover

112 - longitudinal axis of the tool-carrying trailer

113 - coupling angle

114 - local transceiver or satellite

115 - predefined area

116 - rotation angle

117 - corner

118 - axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the autonomous rover

119 - trailer coupler Further details of the invention

1. An autonomous driving system comprising an autonomous rover configured to pull and navigate a tool-carrying trailer, the autonomous rover comprising:

• at least one navigation transceiver;

• a chassis for driving the autonomous rover comprising: o at least one electric motor; o at least one electricity storage unit; and o at least 2, preferably 4 wheels;

• at least one processing unit; and

• a trailer hitch attached to the autonomous rover for attaching the toolcarrying trailer; wherein the autonomous driving system is configured to navigate the toolcarrying trailer in a predefined area in order to perform at least one user-defined task involving at least one tool, wherein the at least one tool is attached to the tool-carrying trailer.

2. The autonomous driving system according to item 1 , comprising at least one safety bumper.

3. The autonomous driving system according to item 1 , wherein the at least one navigation transceiver is an ultrasound I RF transceiver.

4. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the at least one navigation transceiver is a non-global satellite based transceiver.

5. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the at least one navigation transceiver is an indoor navigation transceiver.

6. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, comprising a navigation system covering the predefined area, and wherein the autonomous driving system is configured for calculating a position of the at least one navigation transceiver in the predefined area.

7. The autonomous driving system according to item 6, wherein the navigation system is an indoor positioning system.

8. The autonomous driving system according to any one of items 6-7, wherein the navigation system is an ultrasound navigation system, such as an indoor ultrasound navigation system.

9. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the navigation system comprises at least one local transceiver for communicating with the at least one navigation transceiver.

10. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the navigation system is configured to assess a location of the autonomous rover with an accuracy of less than 10 mm, preferably less than 20 mm, more preferably less than 25 mm, most preferably less than 50 mm.

11 . The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the autonomous rover is configured to navigate the tool-carrying trailer in both a forward and reverse direction.

12. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the autonomous driving system is configured to monitor and/or measure a coupling angle between the tool-carrying trailer and the autonomous rover such that the autonomous rover can navigate the tool-carrying trailer when the autonomous rover is moving the tool-carrying trailer in a reverse direction.

13. The autonomous driving system according to item 12, wherein the coupling angle is defined by an angle formed between a longitudinal axis of the autonomous rover and a longitudinal axis of the tool-carrying trailer. 14. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the trailer hitch comprises an angle unit configured to monitor the coupling angle between the autonomous rover and the tool-carrying trailer.

15. The autonomous driving system according to item 14, wherein the angle unit comprises a rotary wheel adjacent to the trailer hitch and a stick for connecting the rotary wheel and the tool-carrying trailer, and configured such that the coupling angle correlates with a rotation of the rotary wheel.

16. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the at least one electric motor is configured to individually drive and steer the at least 2, preferably 4 wheels.

17. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the at least 2, preferably 4 wheels, are configured to pivot around a vertical steering axis.

18. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the at least 2, preferably 4 wheels are configured to pivot around the vertical steering axis with a rotation angle of 180 degrees.

19. The autonomous driving system according to item 18, wherein the rotation angle of 180 degrees is a combination of two adjacent angles of 90 degrees, wherein these two adjacent angles are formed around an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the autonomous rover, and crossing the middle of one of the at least 2, preferably 4 wheels.

20. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the autonomous driving system comprises the tool-carrying trailer.

21. The autonomous driving system according to item 20, wherein the tool-carrying trailer comprises at least one tool.

22. The autonomous driving system according to any one of items 20-21 , wherein the autonomous rover is configured to control the at least one tool of the tool- carrying trailer.

23. The autonomous driving system according to any one of items 20-22, wherein the at least one tool of the trailer is selected from a group of mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture.

24. The autonomous driving system according to item 23, wherein the group of mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture comprises shanks and/or rotary tillers and/or rollers.

25. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the at least one safety bumper is attached to the tool-carrying trailer.

26. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the at least one processing unit is configured for:

• processing the information delivered by the navigation system to determine a relative position of the autonomous rover in the predefined area; and

• navigating the autonomous rover in the predefined area according to the relative position of the autonomous rover and the at least one user- defined task.

27. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the at least one safety bumper is attached to the chassis of the autonomous rover.

28. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the predefined area is defined by boundaries.

29. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the predefined area comprises at least one corner.

30. The autonomous driving system according to item 29, wherein the at least one corner has an angle preferably larger than 0 degree and smaller than 180 degrees, and/or larger than 180 degrees and smaller than 360 degrees. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the autonomous driving system is configured to steer the two rearmost wheels of the rover when the autonomous rover is navigating the tool-carrying trailer in a reverse direction. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the autonomous driving system is configured to navigate the autonomous rover such that the at least one tool of the tool-carrying trailer covers at least 95%, preferably at least 98%, more preferably at least 99%, most preferably 99.5%, or even 99.9% or even 100% of the predefined area. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the predefined area is defined by an indoor area of a building. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the predefined area is defined by at least one pitch or sports ground, such as a football field or a golf course. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the autonomous driving system is configured to be used in maneges and wherein the at least one tool of the tool-carrying trailer is configured to drain sand. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the at least one electricity storage unit comprises a battery rack. The autonomous driving system according to item 36, wherein the battery rack comprises at least one lead-acid battery, preferably at least one variant of Lithium battery, more preferably at least one lithium iron phosphate battery. The autonomous driving system according to item 37, wherein the at least one lithium iron phosphate battery is a LiFePO4 battery. 39. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein a rover weight of the autonomous rover is at least 100 kg, more preferably 650 kg, even more preferably 1000 kg, most preferably 1500 kg. 40. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein a trailer weight of the tool-carrying trailer is at least 100 kg, more preferably at least 300 kg, more preferably at least 500 kg.

41. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein a nominal power of the at least one electric motor is at least 250 W, more preferably at least 500 W, even more preferably at least 1.5 kW, most preferably at least 4 kW.

42. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding items, wherein the autonomous rover is configured to pull the tool-carrying trailer with a force corresponding to a weight of at least 100 kg, more preferably at least 250 kg, even more preferably 500 kg, most preferably 800 kg.

Claims

1 . An autonomous driving system comprising an autonomous rover configured to pull and navigate a tool-carrying trailer, the autonomous rover comprising:

• at least one navigation transceiver;

• at least one processing unit; and

2. The autonomous driving system according to claim 1 , comprising at least one safety bumper.

3. The autonomous driving system according to claim 1 , comprising a navigation system covering the predefined area, and wherein the autonomous driving system is configured for calculating a position of the at least one navigation transceiver in the predefined area, wherein the at least one navigation transceiver is an indoor navigation transceiver.

4. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one navigation transceiver is a global navigation satellite system and/or ultrasound navigation system and/or Wi-Fi positioning system and/or Bluetooth-based navigation system.

5. The autonomous driving system according to claim 4, wherein the navigation system is configured to assess a location of the autonomous rover with an accuracy of less than 20 mm.

6. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the autonomous rover is configured to navigate the tool-carrying trailer in both a forward and a reverse direction.

7. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the autonomous driving system is configured to monitor and/or measure a coupling angle between the tool-carrying trailer and the autonomous rover such that the autonomous rover can navigate the tool-carrying trailer when the autonomous rover is navigating the tool-carrying trailer in a reverse direction.

8. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the trailer hitch comprises an angle unit, wherein the angle unit comprises a rotary wheel adjacent to the trailer hitch and a stick for connecting the rotary wheel and the tool-carrying trailer, and configured such that the coupling angle correlates with a rotation of the rotary wheel.

9. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one electric motor is configured to individually drive and steer the at least 2, preferably 4 wheels and wherein the at least 2, preferably 4 wheels, are configured to pivot around a vertical steering axis, with a rotation angle of 180 degrees

10. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the autonomous driving system is configured to steer the two rearmost wheels of the rover when the autonomous rover is navigating the tool-carrying trailer in a reverse direction.

11. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the autonomous driving system comprises the tool-carrying trailer.

12. The autonomous driving system according to claim 11 , wherein the toolcarrying trailer comprises at least one tool, wherein the autonomous rover is configured to control the at least one tool.

13. The autonomous driving system according to any of claims 11-12, wherein the at least one tool of the trailer is selected from a group of mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture, such as shanks and/or rotary tillers and/or rollers.

14. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one processing unit is configured for:

15. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the predefined area comprises at least one corner, said at least one corner having an angle being preferably larger than 0 degree and smaller than 180 degrees, and/or larger than 180 degrees and smaller than 360 degrees

16. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the autonomous driving system is configured to navigate the autonomous rover such that the at least one tool of the tool-carrying trailer covers at least 95% of the predefined area when executing the predefined task.

17. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the total weight of the tool-carrying trailer is at least 300 kg.

18. The autonomous driving system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the autonomous rover is configured to pull the tool-carrying trailer with a force corresponding to a weight of at least 250 kg, even more preferably at least 500 kg.