Patent ID: 11927969
Assignee: TRANSPORTATION IP HOLDINGS, LLC
Field: Control (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G  B  Y | IPC B  G

Claim 9:
10. A method comprising:
obtaining, at a local controller disposed onboard a robotic vehicle, image data representative of an external environment of the robotic vehicle, the external environment including a designated area where the robotic vehicle performs tasks and a pathway along which one or more movable objects travel, the designated area including different final destinations;
responsive to receiving an input signal for moving the robotic vehicle in an autonomous mode, the method further comprises iteratively generating, by the local controller, control signals for moving the robotic vehicle through a series of waypoints toward one of the different final destinations, wherein each of the iterations includes:
determining a next waypoint between a current location of the robotic vehicle and the final destination;
determining movement limitations of the robotic vehicle for moving the robotic vehicle between the current location and the next waypoint, wherein the movement limitations are based on the image data of the external environment including the current location and the next waypoint, the movement limitations configured to restrict movement of the robotic vehicle to at least a designated distance away from the pathway along which the one or more movable objects travel, the movement limitations configured to avoid collisions between the robotic vehicle and one or more other objects in the external environment;
generating control signals in accordance with the movement limitations that are configured to move the robotic vehicle toward the next waypoint;
responsive to receiving an input signal for operating in a tele-operation mode, the method further comprises exiting the autonomous mode.