Methods, devices and systems enable controlling an autonomous vehicle by identifying a vehicle that is within a threshold distance of the autonomous vehicle, determining an autonomous capability metric (ACM) the identified vehicle, determining whether the ACM of the identified vehicle is greater than a first threshold, determining whether the ACM of the identified vehicle is less than a second threshold, and adjusting a driving parameter of the autonomous vehicle so that the autonomous vehicle is more or less reliant on the capabilities of the identified vehicle based on whether the ACM of the identified vehicle exceeds the thresholds.

Operating a materials handling vehicle includes monitoring, by a controller, a first vehicle drive parameter during a first manual operation of the vehicle by an operator; monitoring, by the controller, the first vehicle drive parameter during a second manual operation of the vehicle by the operator; receiving, by the controller after the first manual operation of the vehicle and the second manual operation of the vehicle, a request to implement a semi-automated driving operation; calculating, by the controller, a first weighted average based on the monitored first vehicle drive parameter during the first manual operation of the vehicle and the monitored first vehicle parameter during the second manual operation of the vehicle; and based at least in part on the calculated first weighted average, controlling, by the controller, implementation of the semi-automated driving operation.

The present invention relates to a device (20) for detecting a load carrier (30) carried on an underride shuttle (10), comprising a field (22) of sensor units (22a-22e) to be arranged on an outer side of the underride shuttle (10), each of which is configured to detect a respective detection position (40a-40e) of the load carrier (30; 30′) and to output a corresponding sensor bit depending on a presence of a predetermined property at the detection position (40a-40e), a memory unit (26) in which data are stored which produce an allocation of load carrier codes to respective load carrier types; and an evaluation unit (24), which is operatively coupled to the sensor units (22a-22e) and the memory unit (26) and is designed to receive the sensor bits output by the sensor units (22a-22e). to derive the load carrier code from at least a part of the sensor bits and to derive the load carrier type of the currently carried load carrier (30) on the basis of the load carrier code and the data stored in the memory unit (26). Furthermore, the invention relates to an underride shuttle (10) equipped with such a device (20), a system formed from such a underride shuttle (10) and a load carrier (30), and a method for detecting a load carrier (30) carried on an underride shuttle (10) by means of such a device (20) according to the invention.

A vehicle control system is provided to maintain an SOC level of the battery during autonomous operation of the vehicle. The control system is applied to a vehicle that can be operated autonomously by controlling an engine, a motor, a steering system, a brake system etc. autonomously by a controller, and the vehicle is allowed to coast by manipulating a clutch. During autonomous operation of the vehicle, a first coasting mode in which the engine is stopped and the clutch is disengaged is selected if the SOC level is higher than a threshold level, and a second coasting mode in which the engine is activated and the clutch is disengaged is selected if the SOC level is lower than the threshold level.

Performance anomalies in complex systems can be difficult to identify and diagnose. In an example, CPU-usage associated with one or more of the systems can be determined. An anomalous event can be determined based on the determined CPU-usage. In some examples, based at least in part on determining the event, the system may be controlled in a safe state and/or reconfigured to obviate the anomalous event.

Methods, devices and systems enable controlling an autonomous vehicle by identifying a vehicle that is within a threshold distance of the autonomous vehicle, determining an autonomous capability metric (ACM) the identified vehicle, determining whether the ACM of the identified vehicle is greater than a first threshold, determining whether the ACM of the identified vehicle is less than a second threshold, and adjusting a driving parameter of the autonomous vehicle so that the autonomous vehicle is more or less reliant on the capabilities of the identified vehicle based on whether the ACM of the identified vehicle exceeds the thresholds.

A method for controlling autonomous mine vehicle operations includes the steps of detecting a dust condition for an autonomously operating mine vehicle performing optical environment scanning for positioning the mine vehicle at a worksite, transitioning the mine vehicle operating in an automatic driving mode to a dust driving mode in response to detecting the dust condition, the dust driving mode being associated with one or more control actions for autonomous operation of the mine vehicle, controlling dead-reckoning based positioning for updating the position of the mine vehicle during the dust driving mode, monitoring of a dead-reckoning error parameter during the dust driving mode, and in response to the dead-reckoning error parameter reaching an error threshold, controlling the mine vehicle to stop or reduce speed.

Methods, devices and systems enable controlling an autonomous vehicle by identifying vehicles that are within a threshold distance of the autonomous vehicle, determining an autonomous capability metric of each of the identified vehicles, and adjusting a driving parameter of the autonomous vehicle based on the determined autonomous capability metric of each of the identified vehicles. Adjusting a driving parameter may include adjusting one or more of a minimum separation distance, a minimum following distance, a speed parameter, or an acceleration rate parameter.

A method of adjusting a directional movement ability in an aircraft having two or more rotors includes receiving a desired thrust demand for each rotor of the two or more rotors, comparing the desired thrust demands to determine a maximum thrust demand, determining whether the maximum thrust demand exceeds a maximum thrust limit of the two or more rotors, and adjusting each desired thrust demand based on whether the maximum thrust demand exceeds the maximum thrust limit to provide an adjusted thrust demand for each rotor of the two or more rotors. Each rotor can be operated based on a respective adjusted thrust demand.

The present disclosure provides systems and methods that control the motion of an autonomous vehicle by rewarding or otherwise encouraging progress toward a goal, rather than simply rewarding distance travelled. In particular, the systems and methods of the present disclosure can project a candidate motion plan that describes a proposed motion path for the autonomous vehicle onto a nominal pathway to determine a projected distance associated with the candidate motion plan. The systems and methods of the present disclosure can use the projected distance to evaluate a reward function that provides a reward that is positively correlated to the magnitude of the projected distance. The motion of the vehicle can be controlled based on the reward value provided by the reward function. For example, the candidate motion plan can be selected for implementation or revised based at least in part on the determined reward value.