CONTROL APPARATUS FOR AUTONOMOUSLY NAVIGATING UTILITY VEHICLE

摘要

An apparatus for controlling operation of an autonomously navigating utility vehicle equipped with a prime mover to travel about a working area delineated by a boundary wire laid thereat and divided into a first area and a second area connected by a third area that is narrower than the first and second areas, there are provided with a first travel controlling unit that controls operation of the prime mover to make the vehicle travel along the boundary wire based on a detected magnetic field, a third area identifying unit that identifies a location of the third area in the working area based on a detected position of the vehicle when the vehicle is controlled to travel by the first travel controlling unit, and a second travel controlling unit that controls operation of the prime mover to make the vehicle travel forward toward an entrance of the third area whose location is identified by the third area identifying unit based on the position of the vehicle detected from the output of the position sensor.

主权项

1. An apparatus for controlling operation of an autonomously navigating utility vehicle equipped with a prime mover to travel about a working area delineated by a boundary wire laid thereat, the working area being divided into at least a first area and a second area connected by a third area that is narrower than the first and second areas, comprising:
a magnetic sensor installed on the vehicle to produce an output indicating a magnetic field generated by electric current passing through the boundary wire; a position sensor that produces an output indicating a position of the vehicle; a first travel controlling unit that controls operation of the prime mover to make the vehicle travel along the boundary wire based on the magnetic field detected from the output of the magnetic sensor; a third area identifying unit that identifies a location of the third area in the working area based on the position of the vehicle detected from the output of the position sensor when the vehicle is controlled to travel by the first travel controlling unit; and a second travel controlling unit that controls operation of the prime mover to make the vehicle travel forward toward an entrance of the third area whose location is identified by the third area identifying unit based on the position of the vehicle detected from the output of the position sensor.