Patent ID: 6785610
Filing Date: 2004-08-31
Classification: G05D

Abstract:
A method of maneuvering a vehicle towards a destination in the presence of at least one obstacle, comprising the steps of:defining a geometric boundary with respect to the obstacle; establishing a nominal guidance direction for said vehicle; establishing a nominal obstacle avoidance direction based on said geometric boundary and a relative position of said vehicle with respect to said boundary; and determining a vehicle steering direction in accordance with a function of the form: DSTEERING=F1*DGUIDANCE+F2*DAVOIDANCE; â€ƒwhere: DGUIDANCE is a vector with a direction in said nominal guidance direction; DAVOIDANCE is a vector with a direction in said nominal obstacle avoidance direction; DSTEERING is said vehicle steering direction; F1 is a first continuous function; and F2 is a second continuous function.