Patent ID: 7844380
Filing Date: 2010-11-30
Classification: A01B,G01C,G05D

Abstract:
1. A system of guiding a vehicle, the system comprising: a data storage device for storing elevation data and corresponding location data for a work area; a location-determining receiver for determining a particular location of a vehicle within the work area; a data processor comprising a roll estimator for estimating a roll data and a pitch estimator for estimating pitch data corresponding to the particular location, the roll data associated with a corresponding lateral slope, the pitch data associated with a corresponding longitudinal slope generally perpendicular to the lateral slope, wherein each of the roll data and pitch data are separately estimated using i) a maximum slope of ground with respect to a reference point for each cell traversed by the vehicle corresponding to the particular location, and the maximum slope having a non-zero longitudinal slope component and a non-zero lateral slope component, and ii) an aspect angle between a direction of the maximum slope and an axis with which a direction of travel is coincident; and a steering controller for guiding the vehicle utilizing the estimated roll data and the pitch data such that the vehicle follows a desired path.