Patent ID: 11913188
Assignee: R.H. BORDEN AND COMPANY, LLC
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC E  B  G | IPC B  E  G

Claim 0:
1. A method performed by a self-driving vehicle for finding a manhole, exposing the manhole by removing a manhole cover of the manhole, temporarily placing a tool with respect to the exposed manhole, and then thereafter covering the exposed manhole cover back up, the method comprising:
an act of self-driving over a road to the manhole on the road so as to position the self-driving vehicle in a position with respect to the manhole;
while the self-driving vehicle is in the position with respect to the manhole, an act of automatically removing the manhole cover of the manhole using a mechanism attached to the self-driving vehicle, the manhole becoming thereby an exposed manhole due to removal of the manhole cover;
while the manhole is exposed due to the removal of the manhole, an act of positioning a tool above or within the exposed manhole using a tool handling mechanism attached to the self-driving vehicle, and an act of removing the tool from above or from within the exposed manhole using the tool handling mechanism; and
after the act of removing the tool from above or from within the exposed manhole, an act of automatically putting back the manhole cover on the exposed manhole using a mechanism attached to the self-driving vehicle.