A method using a system and a system having at least one autonomous vehicle, with the autonomous vehicle having at least one drive, at least one brake, and at least one steering, with the vehicle having a navigation system, with the navigation system having a first radio receiver for a global navigation satellite system and a second radio receiver for a global navigation satellite system, with the first radio receiver and the second radio receiver being arranged at a predefined spacing on the vehicle, with the navigation system having a control and evaluation unit to which the first radio receiver and the second radio receiver are connected, with the control and evaluation unit having two independent processor units, with the control and evaluation unit being configured to evaluate the position data of the first radio receiver and the position data of the second radio receiver using both processor units and to compare them with one another, and with the control and evaluation unit being configured to generate checked position data on a valid agreement of the position data.

An automated vehicle comprising: a control unit configured to control movement of the automated vehicle to a location adjacent an estimated location of a drill hole; a scanning portion including one or more scanning devices configured to scan an area of terrain in the vicinity of the estimated location of the drill hole in order to determine an actual location of the drill hole, and to generate a point cloud representing at least a portion of the interior of the drill hole; at least one arm associated with the scanning portion, the at least one arm configured to move the scanning portion between a home position and one or more scanning positions; and an end effector associated with the at least one arm, the end effector being configured to perform one or more operations;
wherein, upon generating the point cloud, the at least one arm is configured, based on the point cloud, to position the end effector in substantial alignment with the drill hole so that the end effector can perform the one or more operations.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a distance measurement method and device, a robot and a storage medium. The method comprises: acquiring a first image, where the first image at least comprises a to-be-detected object and a ground on which the to-be-detected object is located; determining an initial constraint condition of the ground based on the first image; acquiring a second image, where the second image at least comprises an intersection line of a line structured light beam with the ground and/or with the to-be-detected object; determining a position parameter of the ground based on the second image, and correcting the initial constraint condition of the ground based on the position parameter; and determining a distance to the to-be-detected object based on the corrected initial constraint condition of the ground and the first image.

An automated vehicle comprising: a control unit configured to control movement of the automated vehicle to a location adjacent an estimated location of a drill hole; a scanning portion including one or more scanning devices configured to scan an area of terrain in the vicinity of the estimated location of the drill hole in order to determine an actual location of the drill hole, and to generate a point cloud representing at least a portion of the interior of the drill hole; at least one arm associated with the scanning portion, the at least one arm configured to move the scanning portion between a home position and one or more scanning positions; and an end effector associated with the at least one arm, the end effector being configured to perform one or more operations;
wherein, upon generating the point cloud, the at least one arm is configured, based on the point cloud, to position the end effector in substantial alignment with the drill hole so that the end effector can perform the one or more operations.

The invention relates to a control system for an autonomous vehicle, a method and an autonomous vehicle. The system comprises an image capturing means capable of capturing at least a first image of the environment of the vehicle and a second image of the environment, wherein the images are captured in a close time relationship but with different image capturing parameters. A processing means configured to obtain and process the images captured with different image capturing parameters separately and taking into consideration a first intensity threshold when processing the first image and a second, different intensity threshold when processing the second image. A control means for generating and outputting a control signal on the basis of a result of the at least one of the processed images.

Systems, apparatuses and methods are provided herein for providing monitoring premises. In one embodiment, a system for monitoring premises comprises: an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising a three dimension (3D) scanner, a baseline model database, and a control circuit comprising a communication device for communicating with the UAV. The control circuit being configured to: instruct the UAV to travel to a monitored premises and perform a 3D scan with the 3D scanner to obtain a 3D point cloud of the monitored premises, compare a current state of the one or more features in the 3D point cloud of the monitored premises with a baseline state in a baseline state model, and identify a deviation of the current state of the one or more features of the monitored premises from the baseline state.

Systems and methods for vehicle localization are provided for a robotic vehicle, such as an autonomous mobile robot. The vehicle can be configured with multiple localization modes used for localization and/or pose estimation of the vehicle. In some embodiments, the vehicle comprises a first set of exteroceptive sensors and a second set of exteroceptive sensors, each being used for a different localization modality. The vehicle is able to disregard at least one localization modality for a number of different reasons, e.g., the disregarded location modality is adversely affected by the environment, to use less than the full complement of localization modalities to continue to stably localize the vehicle within an electronic map. In some embodiments, a localization modality may be disregarded for pre-planned reasons.

A construction vehicle generates an object map to facilitate navigation. The construction vehicle captures an image of the area behind the construction vehicle, and generates a disparity image reflecting depth behind the construction vehicle. The construction vehicle generates and processes a 3D point cloud representation of the area behind the construction vehicle to identify a ground plane. The construction vehicle dynamically generates a virtual plane parallel to the ground plane based on the movement and position of the construction vehicle. After applying the virtual plane to the disparity image, the construction vehicle generates an object map identifying locations of objects greater than a threshold size and the height of the virtual plane. The construction vehicle navigates through the area behind the construction vehicle using the generated object map.

A system configured to operate in an unknown, possibly texture-less environment, with possibly self-similar surfaces, and comprising a plurality of platforms configured to operate as mobile platforms, where each of these platforms comprises an optical depth sensor, and one platform operates as a static platform and comprising at least one optical projector. Upon operating the system, the static platform projects a pattern onto the environment, wherein each of the mobile platforms detects the pattern or a part thereof by its respective optical depth sensor while moving, and wherein information obtained by the optical depth sensors, is used to determine moving instructions for mobile platforms within that environment. Optionally, the system operates so that every time period another mobile platform from among the plurality of platforms, takes the role of operating as the static platform, while the preceding platform returns to operate as a mobile platform.

Provided is a data processing unit that analyzes detection information of a visual sensor and determines a movement route of the moving apparatus, and the data processing unit generates traveling surface shape data such as three-dimensional point cloud data that enables analysis of a shape of a traveling surface of the moving apparatus. The data processing unit selects a generation target region of the traveling surface shape data on the basis of the target movement route information of the moving apparatus and a predetermined search range region, generates the traveling surface shape data in the selection region selected, and determines a movement route such as a foot placement position of the moving apparatus with reference to the generated traveling surface shape data.