Patent ID: 8508590

Claim:
A method of operating a vehicle by simulating a physical environment, the method comprising: collecting data from a sensor array, wherein the collected data relates to various physical attributes, including size and shape, of objects within the physical environment; using the collected data to construct digital, three-dimensional models of the objects within the physical environment; accessing the three-dimensional models associated with respective ones of the plurality of objects, wherein the three-dimensional models enable creation of visual representations of respective ones of the plurality of objects from any perspective; correlating the three-dimensional models with the transmitted data from the sensor array to produce a correlation result; generating at least one visual representation of the physical environment from at least one viewpoint based on the correlation of the three-dimensional models with the transmitted data from the sensor array; identifying at least one obstruction represented by the three-dimensional models, within the physical environment, using the at least one visual representation generated based on the correlation of the three-dimensional models with the transmitted data from the sensor array; and operating the vehicle to complete a task based on the obstruction identified using the visual representation generated based on the correlation of the three-dimensional models with the transmitted data from the sensor array.