Patent ID: 11860643
Assignee: LIEBHERR MINING EQUIPMENT NEWPORT NEWS CO.
Field: Control (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 7:
8. An autonomous vehicle configured to travel on a mine site, the mine site comprising a centralized platform, the centralized platform comprising a microprocessor and software stored on anon-transitory memory configured to store an inventory list of vehicles travelling on the mine site and to determine and communicate missions to the autonomous vehicle,
the autonomous vehicle comprising:
an interface configured to communicate with the centralized platform for receiving a predetermined mission,
a trajectory control system configured to autonomously control the autonomous vehicle according to the predetermined mission comprising a predetermined trajectory, wherein the predetermined trajectory is on a road of a road network of the mine site,
a detection system configured to detect other vehicles by evaluating sensor information received from at least one sensor of the autonomous vehicle,
a collision prediction system configured to predict collisions with the other vehicles detected by the detection system,
a Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) communication interface for directly communicating with a V2V communication interface of at least one of the other vehicles travelling on the mine site, wherein the V2V communication interface is configured for exchanging vehicle type information, wherein the interface and the V2V communication interface are wireless,
a classification system for classifying vehicles according to their type, wherein the classification system of the autonomous vehicle is configured to receive a type of another vehicle in its vicinity for classification, wherein said another vehicle broadcasts their own vehicle type to the autonomous vehicle, and wherein the classification of said another vehicle is used by the autonomous vehicle to control the autonomous vehicle,

wherein determining the type includes determining whether another vehicle is a manned vehicle or an autonomous vehicle, and
a management system for managing behavior with respect to other vehicles in a vicinity, wherein the management system is configured to use a first set of rules for a first type of other vehicle and a second set of rules for a second type of other vehicle, the first and the second type being determined by the classification system, the management system being configured to manage at least one out of overtaking and intersection handling of the other vehicles,

wherein the trajectory control system, the detection system, the collision prediction system, the classification system, and the management system are sub-systems stored as software on non-transitory memory of a microprocessor for a vehicle
control system of the autonomous vehicle, and wherein the classification system is configured to determine the type of said another vehicle based on classification information broadcasted by said another vehicle and sensor information received from at least one sensor of the autonomous vehicle.