Autonomous vehicles including ladders and related methods are disclosed. An example system includes an autonomous vehicle including an integrated ladder and a processor to detect a state of the ladder as being in one of a stowed state, a deployed state, or a use state; in response to detecting that the ladder is in the stowed state, cause the autonomous vehicle to operate in a first drive mode and a second drive mode; in response to detecting that the ladder is in the deployed state, cause the autonomous vehicle to operate in the second drive mode and to restrict from operating in the first drive mode; and in response to detecting that the ladder is in the use state, cause the autonomous vehicle to refrain from operating in the first drive mode and the second drive mode.

Autonomous vehicles including ladders and related methods are disclosed. An example system includes an autonomous vehicle including an integrated ladder and a processor to detect a state of the ladder as being in one of a stowed state, a deployed state, or a use state; in response to detecting that the ladder is in the stowed state, cause the autonomous vehicle to operate in a first drive mode and a second drive mode; in response to detecting that the ladder is in the deployed state, cause the autonomous vehicle to operate in the second drive mode and to restrict from operating in the first drive mode; and in response to detecting that the ladder is in the use state, cause the autonomous vehicle to refrain from operating in the first drive mode and the second drive mode.

The disclosure is generally directed to evaluating loading and unloading times of items in a vehicle. The vehicle may be equipped with an object-sensing mat placed in a cargo area and coupled to a computer configured to execute a timing evaluation module. A first change in weight or pressure is sensed when an item is either placed upon, or removed from, the object-sensing mat. An increase in weight or pressure indicates loading of the item on to the vehicle, and vice-versa. The computer can generate a timing prediction model based on processing sensor signals from the object-sensing mat and determining the amount of time taken for loading or unloading items from the vehicle. In one application, a timing prediction model may be generated for each customer of a goods delivery service and used for optimizing delivery operations.

The disclosure is generally directed to evaluating loading and unloading times of items in a vehicle. The vehicle may be equipped with an object-sensing mat placed in a cargo area and coupled to a computer configured to execute a timing evaluation module. A first change in weight or pressure is sensed when an item is either placed upon, or removed from, the object-sensing mat. An increase in weight or pressure indicates loading of the item on to the vehicle, and vice-versa. The computer can generate a timing prediction model based on processing sensor signals from the object-sensing mat and determining the amount of time taken for loading or unloading items from the vehicle. In one application, a timing prediction model may be generated for each customer of a goods delivery service and used for optimizing delivery operations.

A control method for distribution of braking force of an autonomous vehicle may include a vertical load determination step in which a controller is configured to recognize an object existing in an interior of the vehicle and recognizes data of at least one among a position in the vehicle, a size, volume, density, weight, and center of gravity of the corresponding object, and determines a vertical load applied to each wheel of the vehicle according to the recognized data, wherein the controller transmits data of the determined vertical load of each wheel to a brake controller electrically connected to the controller, and the brake controller 40 determines an amount of the distribution of the braking force for each wheel of the vehicle according to the received data of the vertical load and drives a brake actuator electrically connected to the brake controller according to the determined amount of the distribution of the braking force.

A control method for distribution of braking force of an autonomous vehicle may include a vertical load determination step in which a controller is configured to recognize an object existing in an interior of the vehicle and recognizes data of at least one among a position in the vehicle, a size, volume, density, weight, and center of gravity of the corresponding object, and determines a vertical load applied to each wheel of the vehicle according to the recognized data, wherein the controller transmits data of the determined vertical load of each wheel to a brake controller electrically connected to the controller, and the brake controller 40 determines an amount of the distribution of the braking force for each wheel of the vehicle according to the received data of the vertical load and drives a brake actuator electrically connected to the brake controller according to the determined amount of the distribution of the braking force.

A first payload computation value which represents a weight of loads loaded on the work implement in a first attitude is obtained. The first attitude and a second attitude are equal to each other in ratio between a horizontal distance from a position of a center of gravity of a first link member to a base end of the first link member and a horizontal distance from a position of the center of gravity of the loads loaded on the work implement to the base end. A second payload computation value which represents a weight of loads loaded on the work implement in the second attitude is obtained. When the first payload computation value and the second payload computation value are determined as being different from each other, a weight of a second link member is changed and processing above is repeated.

A first payload computation value which represents a weight of loads loaded on the work implement in a first attitude is obtained. The first attitude and a second attitude are equal to each other in ratio between a horizontal distance from a position of a center of gravity of a first link member to a base end of the first link member and a horizontal distance from a position of the center of gravity of the loads loaded on the work implement to the base end. A second payload computation value which represents a weight of loads loaded on the work implement in the second attitude is obtained. When the first payload computation value and the second payload computation value are determined as being different from each other, a weight of a second link member is changed and processing above is repeated.

A measurement device is configured to calculate, based on second measurement data provided by a distance detector, second contour data indicating a surface contour of an object contained in the container at a second time after a first time; calculate differential information indicating a difference between first posture data and second posture data which is posture data provided by a posture detector at the second time; rotate, based on the differential information, the second contour data in a three-dimensional coordinate space of the distance detector; and specify a region defined by the rotated second contour data and the first contour data, and calculate, based on the specified region, a volume of the object contained in the container at the second time.

A robot management system executes, for a plurality of transport robots, an estimation process for estimating load applied to the transport robots based on a current value during traveling and a traveling distance or a traveling time of the transport robots. The robot management system determines a transport robot to be used from among the transport robots based on an estimation result in the estimation process.