Apparatus and method for the autonomous transportation of goods and/or people

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10831215-B2
Application number	US-201715670771-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 7, 2017
Priority date	Aug 5, 2016
Publication date	Nov 10, 2020
Grant date	Nov 10, 2020

Abstract

Method and system for autonomously transporting people and/or goods. The method includes requesting conveyance of a payload from a designated area to a destination, autonomously moving at least one module to the designated area, loading the at least one module with a payload within the designated area, and, via the at least one module, autonomously transporting the payload to the destination.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A method for autonomously transporting at least one of people or goods, comprising:
requesting conveyance of a payload structured for conveying the at least one of people or goods from a designated area to a destination;
autonomously moving at least two modules to the designated area, each of the at least two modules being configured for autonomous transport;
loading the at least two modules with the payload within the designated area; and
via at least one of the at least two modules, autonomously transporting the payload to the destination.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of modules are available and, based upon a size and shape of the payload to be conveyed, the at least one module comprises a determined specific number of the plurality of modules for supporting and autonomously transporting the payload.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of modules are available and the method further comprises instructing specific ones of the plurality of modules to autonomously move to the designated area for loading.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein, when the specific ones of the plurality of modules is greater than one, the instructed specific ones of the plurality of modules position themselves in the designated area relative to each other to receive and balance the payload.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the payload loaded at least two modules travel in a convoy comprising a plurality of other payload loaded at least two modules.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein at least one of the payload loaded at least two modules autonomously move the payload from the designated area to autonomously join the convoy.

7. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising magnetically connecting at least one of the payload loaded at least two modules to at least one module of another payload loaded at least two modules of the convoy, wherein the convoy moves to the destination.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein, when the convoy reaches the destination, the payload loaded at least two modules are decoupled from the convoy and autonomously moved to a designated unloading zone.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, when the destination is reached, the payload loaded at least two modules autonomously move to a designated unloading zone.

10. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising unloading the payload from the at least two modules and autonomously moving the at least two modules to a second designated area.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein, in the second designated area, the at least two modules await further instructions.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the payload comprises one of a container, a train car, a pod or a flatbed carrier.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the at least two modules comprises at least two wheels and a chassis arranged between the wheels.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the at least two modules comprises a magnetic levitation module.

15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the at least two modules comprises a battery and the method further comprises charging the battery while the at least one module is autonomously transporting the payload to the destination.

16. A system for autonomously transporting at least one of people or goods, comprising:
a payload structured for carrying the at least one of people or goods; and
at least two modules, which are each configured for autonomous transport movement and each have a chassis on which at least a part of the payload is supported,
wherein the payload is removably connectable to the at least two modules.

17. The system according to claim 16 , wherein each of the at least two modules comprises a steering system for guiding the autonomously moving each of the at least two modules.

18. The system according to claim 16 , wherein at least one of the at least two modules comprises a rechargeable battery and a connection for charging the battery while the at least one module is autonomously moving.

19. The system according to claim 16 , wherein each of the at least two modules comprises at least one magnetic coupling structured and arranged to releasably couple the at least two modules to one another.

20. A system for autonomously transporting at least one of people or goods, comprising:
a payload structured for carrying the at least one of people or goods; and
at least two modules, which are each configured for autonomous transport movement and structured to support at least a part of the payload,
wherein the payload is removably connectable to the at least two modules, and
wherein at least one of the at least two modules comprises two wheels and a chassis arranged between the two wheels.

Assignees

• Hyperloop Tech Inc

Inventors

• Giegel Joshua

Classifications

• B61L99/002

  Autonomous vehicles, i.e. under distributed traffic control · CPC title

• B61L27/40

  Handling position reports or trackside vehicle data · CPC title

• G06Q10/0877

  by inventory control or reporting using inventory tracking or counting · CPC title

• B61B13/00

  Other railway systems · CPC title

• B60M7/003

  for vehicles using stored power (e.g. charging stations) · CPC title