Use of laser scanner for autonomous truck operation

Abstract

A vehicle includes one or more laser scanners and an on-board vehicle computer system communicatively coupled to the laser scanners. The computer system uses information (e.g., coordinate points) obtained from the laser scanners to calculate a trailer angle (e.g., a cab-trailer angle) for the vehicle. The computer system may include a shape detection module that detects a trailer based on the information obtained from the laser scanners and an angle detection module that calculates an angle of the detected trailer relative to a laser scanner, calculates the orientation of the detected trailer based on that angle and dimensions (e.g., width and length) of the trailer, and calculates a cab-trailer angle based on the orientation of the trailer. The computer system may include an autonomous operation module configured to use the cab-trailer angle in an autonomous or computer-guided vehicle maneuver, such as a parking maneuver or backing maneuver.

1 . A vehicle comprising:
 a laser scanner; and   an on-board vehicle computer system communicatively coupled to the laser scanner, wherein the on-board vehicle computer system is configured to use information obtained from the laser scanner to calculate a cab-trailer angle for the vehicle, wherein the on-board vehicle computer system comprises an angle detection module configured to:
 calculate an angle of the detected trailer relative to the laser scanner; 
 calculate the orientation of the detected trailer based at least in part on the angle of the detected trailer relative to the laser scanner and dimensions of the trailer; and 
 calculate the cab-trailer angle based at least in part on the orientation of the detected trailer. 
   
     
     
         2 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the on-board vehicle computer system further comprises a shape detection module configured to detect a trailer based at least in part on the information obtained from the laser scanner. 
     
     
         3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the information obtained from the laser scanner comprises a plurality of coordinate points. 
     
     
         5 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the laser scanner comprises a side-mounted scanner. 
     
     
         6 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the laser scanner comprises a rear-mounted or roof-mounted scanner. 
     
     
         7 . The vehicle of  claim 1  further comprising one or more additional laser scanners. 
     
     
         8 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the on-board vehicle computer system comprises an autonomous operation module configured to use the cab-trailer angle to perform an autonomous or computer-guided vehicle maneuver. 
     
     
         9 . The vehicle of  claim 8 , wherein the autonomous or computer-guided vehicle maneuver comprises a parking maneuver. 
     
     
         10 . The vehicle of  claim 8 , wherein the autonomous or computer-guided vehicle maneuver comprises a backing maneuver. 
     
     
         11 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the on-board vehicle computer system is further configured to use the information obtained from the laser scanner to calculate a trailer-trailer angle. 
     
     
         12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . A vehicle comprising:
 a tractor unit;   a plurality of laser scanners mounted to the tractor unit; and   an on-board vehicle computer system communicatively coupled to the laser scanners, wherein the on-board vehicle computer system is configured to (1) use coordinate point information obtained from at least one of the laser scanners to calculate a cab-trailer angle for the vehicle in a single-trailer or multi-trailer configuration and (2) use coordinate point information to calculate a trailer-trailer angle for the vehicle in a multi-trailer configuration.   
     
     
         14 . The vehicle of  claim 13 , wherein the information obtained from the at least one laser scanner comprises a plurality of coordinate points. 
     
     
         15 . The vehicle of  claim 13 , wherein the laser scanners comprise at least two side-mounted scanners. 
     
     
         16 . The vehicle of  claim 15 , wherein the laser scanners further comprise a rear-mounted scanner. 
     
     
         17 . The vehicle of  claim 13 , wherein the on-board vehicle computer system comprises an autonomous operation module configured to use the cab-trailer angle or the trailer-trailer angle to perform an autonomous or computer-guided vehicle maneuver. 
     
     
         18 . The vehicle of  claim 13 , wherein the on-board vehicle computer system comprises:
 a shape detection module configured to detect one or more trailers based at least in part on the information obtained from the at least one laser scanner; and   an angle detection module configured to calculate the cab-trailer angle or the trailer-trailer angle based at least in part on an orientation of the detected trailer.   
     
     
         19 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . The vehicle of  claim 13 , wherein the on-board vehicle computer system is further configured to use coordinate point information obtained from a rear-mounted laser scanner on a trailer in the multi-trailer configuration to calculate the trailer-trailer angle in the multi-trailer configuration.