METHODS AND DEVICES FOR SAFE OPERATION OF UNDERSIZE AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES ON PUBLIC ROADS

摘要

A miniature autonomous vehicle for operation on the public roads is disclosed. The small size allows efficiency for small payloads, but produces a danger of being overlooked by other vehicles. The size of the vehicle is less than driver operated vehicles and may be restricted to less than 200 pounds. Sensors determine the vehicles speed and the presence of environmental vehicles and use a processor to calculate the need for additional visibility. A visibility structure and support structure with lights or markers is controlled by the processor. The markers are controlled in their operation or position by the processor on the basis of the sensor data. Extending or raising and retracting or lowering the structure affects the air resistance and stability of the vehicle. The structure can be raised when the vehicle stops or is in traffic and lowered at road speeds in light or absent traffic.

主权项

1. A method of avoiding accidents comprising:
(a) operating a driverless first vehicle on public roads with the vehicle comprising:
an elevated visibility structure with a visible marker controlled by a data processing device with a first sensor to detect the presence of a second vehicle and a second sensor to measure the speed of the base vehicle,a support structure of low aerodynamic resistance connecting the vehicle chassis and the elevated visibility structure with the elevated visibility structure substantially raised above the vehicle chassis,a data processing device with a sensor to detect a second vehicle, (b) running a program on the data processing device to determine the presence of a second vehicle, and (c) modifying the visibility of the marker as a function of the determination of the presence of a second vehicle.