Patent ID: 8312953

Claim:
A system for guiding a personal-transportation vehicle between a first and a second position proximate a motor vehicle, comprising: a vision system capable of being mounted on the motor vehicle and comprising a camera and a processor communicatively coupled to the camera, for generating information representing a visual image of the personal-transportation vehicle; a first computing device communicatively coupled to the vision system for generating guidance information for the personal-transportation vehicle and guiding the personal-transportation vehicle along a first portion of a predetermined course based on the information representing a visual image of the personal-transportation vehicle; a proximity sensor capable of being mounted on the personal-transportation vehicle for generating information relating to an actual distance between the personal-transportation vehicle and the motor vehicle; an odometry system for determining a displacement of the personal-transportation vehicle; and a second computing device communicatively coupled to the proximity sensor and the odometry system for generating guidance information for the personal-transportation vehicle and guiding the personal-transportation vehicle along a second portion of the predetermined course based on: a difference between the actual and a predetermined desired distance between the personal-transportation vehicle and the motor vehicle; and the displacement of the personal-transportation vehicle.