Refuse vehicle with spatial awareness

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11630201-B2
Application number	US-202117232367-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 16, 2021
Priority date	Apr 17, 2020
Publication date	Apr 18, 2023
Grant date	Apr 18, 2023

Abstract

A refuse vehicle comprising a chassis, a body assembly coupled to the chassis, the body assembly defining a refuse compartment, one or more sensors coupled to the body and configured to provide data relating to the presence of an obstacle within an area near the refuse vehicle, a controller configured to receive the data from the one or more sensors, determine, using an obstacle detector and the data, the presence of an obstacle within the area and initiate a control action, wherein the control action includes at least one of controlling the movement of the refuse vehicle, controlling the movement of a lift assembly attached to the body assembly, or generating an alert.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A refuse vehicle, comprising:
a chassis;
a body assembly coupled to the chassis, the body assembly defining a refuse compartment;
one or more sensors coupled to the body and configured to provide data relating to the presence of an obstacle within a proximity of the refuse vehicle, wherein the proximity of the refuse vehicle includes a first area around the refuse vehicle that is visible to an operator and a second area around the refuse vehicle that is not visible to the operator;
a controller configured to:
receive the data from the one or more sensors;
receive gear data relating to a selected transmission gear of the refuse vehicle;
determine, using the gear data that an operator has selected a reverse gear;

wherein in response to determining that the operator has selected the reverse gear, the controller is further configured to:
determine, using an obstacle detector and the data, the presence of the obstacle within the proximity; and
initiate a control action when the obstacle is detected within the second area but not when the obstacle is detected within the first area, wherein the control action includes at least one of controlling the movement of the refuse vehicle, controlling the movement of a lift assembly attached to the body assembly, or generating an alert.

2. The refuse vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine, based on the data, a speed of the obstacle.

3. The refuse vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprises a sensing range, and the proximity encompasses the sensing range of the one or more sensors.

4. The refuse vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least one of a visible light camera, a LIDAR camera, a radar sensor, a photoelectric sensor, or a proximity sensor.

5. The refuse vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least one camera sensor and at least one radar sensor.

6. The refuse vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the alert is addressed to the obstacle and configured to alert the obstacle of the refuse vehicle.

7. The refuse vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the alert is at least one of an audio, graphical, or textual alert.

8. The refuse vehicle of claim 1 , the controller further configured to:
determine, based on the data, a speed and a direction of travel of the obstacle; and
initiate the control action based on at least one of the presence, speed, or direction of travel of the obstacle.

9. The refuse vehicle of claim 1 , the controller further configured to:
determine, based on the data, a position of the obstacle with respect to the refuse vehicle; and
initiate the control action based on at least one of the presence of the obstacle or the position of the obstacle.

10. The refuse vehicle of claim 1 , the controller further configured to:
determine, based on the data, a position of the obstacle with respect to the refuse vehicle;
generate, based on the data, a safety zone around the refuse vehicle, wherein the safety zone includes the refuse vehicle and the immediate area around the refuse vehicle;
determine, based on the position of the obstacle, whether the obstacle is within the safety zone; and
initiate the control action if the obstacle is determined to be within the safety zone.

11. The refuse vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
generate a safety zone around the refuse vehicle; wherein the safety zone includes the refuse vehicle and the immediate area around the refuse vehicle; detect a refuse container outside the safety zone; and extend the safety zone around the refuse container.

12. The refuse vehicle of claim 1 , the controller further configured to:
classify the obstacle based on a determination regarding at least one of a position, speed, or a direction of travel of the obstacle.

13. The refuse vehicle of claim 12 , the controller further configured to classify the obstacle as a person.

14. The refuse vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to associate a risk with the obstacle based on at least one of the presence, position, speed, or direction of travel of the obstacle.

15. The refuse vehicle of claim 14 , wherein a low-speed obstacle is classified as low risk and a high-speed obstacle is classified as high risk.

16. The refuse vehicle of claim 14 , wherein the control action includes at least one of controlling the movement of the refuse vehicle, controlling the movement of the lift assembly, or generating an alert, and wherein the risk associated with the obstacle determines at least one aspect of the alert, the aspect of the alert selected from the group consisting of a volume of the alert, a frequency of the alert, a duration of the alert, a size of the alert, a color of the alert, or a type of the alert.

17. A refuse vehicle comprising:
a chassis;
a body assembly coupled to the chassis, the body assembly defining a refuse compartment;
one or more sensors coupled to the body assembly and configured to provide data relating to the presence of an obstacle within a proximity of the refuse vehicle, wherein the proximity of the refuse vehicle includes a first area around the refuse vehicle that is visible to an operator and a second area around the refuse vehicle that is not visible to the operator;
a controller configured to:
receive the data from the one or more sensors;
determine, using an obstacle detector and the data, the presence and at least one of a position, a speed, or a direction of travel of an obstacle; and
initiate a control action based on at least one of the presence, position, speed, or direction of travel of the obstacle when the obstacle is detected within the second area but not when the obstacle is detected within the first area, wherein the control action includes at least one of controlling the movement of the refuse vehicle, controlling the movement of a lift assembly attached to the body assembly, or generating an alert.

18. The refuse vehicle of claim 17 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
generate a trajectory for the lift assembly defining a path from the refuse container to the refuse compartment; and
initiate the control action when the obstacle is detected within the second area and the trajectory, but not when the obstacle is detected within the first area, wherein the control action includes at least one of controlling the movement of the refuse vehicle, controlling the movement of a lift assembly attached to the body assembly, or generating an alert.

19. A refuse vehicle comprising:
a chassis;
a body assembly coupled to the chassis, the body assembly defining a refuse compartment;
one or more sensors coupled to the body and configured to provide data relating to the presence of an obstacle within a proximity of the refuse vehicle, wherein the proximity of the refuse vehicle includes a first area around the refuse vehicle that is visible to an operator and a second area around the refuse vehicle that is not visible to the operator;
a controller configured to:
receive the sensor data from the one or more sensors;
determine, using an obstacle detector and the data, at least one of a presence, a position, a speed, or a direction of travel of the obstacle within the proximity of the refuse vehicle;
classify the obstacle based on the determination regarding at least one of the presence, position, speed, or direction of travel of the obstacle;
associate a risk with the obstacle based on at least one of the classific

Assignees

• Oshkosh Corp

Inventors

• Koga Jeffrey
• Davis Emily
• Kappers Jerrod
• Schad Vince
• Messina Robert S
• Yakes Christopher K
• Rocholl Joshua D
• Hoover Vincent
• Weckwerth Clinton T
• Klein Zachary L
• Beck John
• Chan Brendan
• Wachter Skylar A
• Matsumoto Dale

Classifications

• B60Q1/525

  automatically indicating risk of collision between vehicles in traffic or with pedestrians, e.g. after risk assessment using the vehicle sensor data · CPC title

• G01S13/931 Primary

  of land vehicles · CPC title

• B65F3/02 Primary

  with means for discharging refuse receptacles thereinto (conveyor construction B65G; loaders separate from vehicles B66F; fluid power control systems in general F15B) · CPC title

• B60Q2800/20

  Utility vehicles, e.g. for agriculture, construction work · CPC title

• B60Q5/006

  indicating risk of collision between vehicles or with pedestrians · CPC title