Patent ID: 11971719
Assignee: FIREFLY AUTOMATIX, INC.
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G  A | IPC A  G

Claim 0:
1. A mower comprising:
a main body;
one or more mower decks supported by the main body;
one or more sensors that provide sensor data for a detection area that is in a path of the one or more mower decks such that the detection area changes as the mower travels, the detection area corresponding to a field of view of the one or more sensors;
an autonomy controller that receives the sensor data for the detection area from the one or more sensors; and
a machine controller that controls a ground speed of the mower;
wherein the autonomy controller is configured to perform a method for detecting an object within the detection area, the method comprising:
while the mower travels at a first ground speed at a first particular time in an area to be mowed, processing the sensor data for the detection area that is in the path of the one or more mower decks at the first particular time to determine that an object may be present in a region of interest within the detection area that is in the path of the one or more mower decks at the first particular time, wherein the sensor data for the detection area that is in the path of the one or more mower decks at the first particular time corresponds to the field of view of the one or more sensors at the first particular time, and wherein the region of interest corresponds to a portion of the field of view of the one or more sensors at the first particular time;
in response to determining that an object may be present in the region of interest, causing the machine controller to slow the mower to a second ground speed to thereby slow a rate at which the one or more decks approaches the object that may be present in the region of interest;
while the mower continues to travel at the second ground speed in the area to be mowed and the region of interest remains in the detection area that is in the path of the one or more mower decks at the first particular time, buffering multiple samples of region of interest sensor data received over a period of time after the first particular time as the mower approaches the region of interest, the region of interest sensor data being a subset of the sensor data for the detection area that is in the path of the one or more mower decks during the period of time, the subset of the sensor data encompassing the region of interest such that the multiple samples of region of interest sensor data comprise increasingly closer views of the region of interest as the mower approaches the region of interest; and
while the mower continues to travel at the second ground speed in the area to be mowed and the region of interest remains in the detection area that is in the path of the one or more mower decks during the period of time, simultaneously processing the buffered multiple samples of region of interest sensor data which provide the increasingly closer views of the region of interest to determine whether an object is present in the region of interest.