Patent ID: 9457971
Filing Date: 2016-10-04
CPC Classification: A01D,B60P,B60R,B62D,B65B,B65G,G05D,G06K,G06T,H04N

Claim Text:
1. A method for facilitating the transfer of material from a transferring vehicle having a material distribution end to a receiving vehicle having a bin to store the transferred material, the method comprising the steps of: a. obtaining image data from at least one imaging device facing the bin, wherein the at least one imaging device is mounted on the transferring vehicle; b. identifying and locating the bin from the image data using an image processing module; c. identifying a spout from the image data using the image processing module to determining a location and orientation of the spout; d. detecting a representation of the fill level or volumetric distribution of the material in the bin; e. determining a position of the spout relative to the bin using an alignment module based on an identified location of the bin and the identified location and orientation of the spout; f. aligning the spout over a current target area of the bin requiring the material by generating command data used by at least one of a vehicle controller and a spout controller, g. determining subsequent target areas of the bin that require material based on the representation of the fill level or volumetric distribution of the material in the bin; h. transferring the material from the transferring vehicle to the current target area of the bin of the receiving vehicle; i. detecting when the current target area of the bin is filled with the material; j. repeating steps f-i until the subsequent target areas of the bin are filled; and k. terminating the transfer of the material from the transferring vehicle to the receiving vehicle.