Control and systems for autonomously driven vehicles

摘要

A navigation and control system including position sensors configured to generate position signals indicative of the location and heading of a vehicle. The system includes one or more operation control mechanisms having inputs and producing outputs which control operation of the vehicle and includes a self-contained autonomous controller remote from the operation control mechanisms. The autonomous controller includes a processor configured to receive position signals from the position sensors and to generate operation control signals defining updated travel path for the vehicle, and programmable interface providing communication among position sensors, operation control mechanisms, and processor. The programmable interface is configured to normalize inputs to the processor from the position sensors and to generate compatible operation control signals applied as the inputs to the operation control mechanisms, whereby the self-contained autonomous controller is configurable for operation with a variety of different sensors and different operation control mechanisms.