Patents by Inventor Joshua A. Marshall

Joshua A. Marshall has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9945668
    Abstract: Provided are methods and products for rapid, reliable, and accurate monitoring and detecting of convergence in mining and civil engineering applications. A sensor, such as a scanning laser device, is moved through a tunnel, either automatically, autonomously, or with manual guidance. The sensor is configured to acquire 3D point clouds of all or a portion of a tunnel, at selected times. The 3D point cloud data is used to compute a set of indicators, which are local descriptors of the environment along the tunnel. The indicators are then amalgamated to estimate the probability that convergence has occurred in a given region. In one embodiment, the indicators are fused together using a Bayes network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Queen's University at Kingston
    Inventors: Robert Lindsay Vanderbeck, Joshua A. Marshall
  • Publication number: 20170284801
    Abstract: Provided are methods and products for rapid, reliable, and accurate monitoring and detecting of convergence in mining and civil engineering applications. A sensor, such as a scanning laser device, is moved through a tunnel, either automatically, autonomously, or with manual guidance. The sensor is configured to acquire 3D point clouds of all or a portion of a tunnel, at selected times. The 3D point cloud data is used to compute a set of indicators, which are local descriptors of the environment along the tunnel. The indicators are then amalgamated to estimate the probability that convergence has occurred in a given region. In one embodiment, the indicators are fused together using a Bayes network.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2017
    Publication date: October 5, 2017
    Inventors: Robert Lindsay Vanderbeck, Joshua A. Marshall
  • Patent number: 8260483
    Abstract: The present invention provides a guidance, navigation, and control method and system for an underground mining vehicle that allow said vehicle to be taught a route by a human operator and then have it automatically drive the route with no human intervention. The method works in three steps: teaching, route profiling, and playback. In the teaching step the vehicle is manually driven by a operator along a route which can consist of an arbitrary sequence of maneuvers including tramming forwards, switching directions, tramming backwards, turning, or pausing movement. During this phase raw data from vehicle-mounted sensors including odometric sensors and rangefinders are logged to a file throughout teaching for later processing. During the (offline) route profiling step, the raw data in the log file are processed into a route profile, and a profile of desired speed as a function of distance along the path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2012
    Assignee: MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates Inc
    Inventors: Timothy D. Barfoot, Joshua A. Marshall, Raja Mukherji, Robert Ward
  • Publication number: 20120035798
    Abstract: The present invention provides a guidance, navigation, and control method and system for an underground mining vehicle that allow said vehicle to be taught a route by a human operator and then have it automatically drive the route with no human intervention. The method works in three steps: teaching, route profiling, and playback. In the teaching step the vehicle is manually driven by a operator (or using tele-operation whereby the operator views a screen displaying live views from vehicle-mounted cameras and using remote controls) along a route which can consist of an arbitrary sequence of maneuvers including tramming forwards, switching directions, tramming backwards, turning, or pausing movement. During this phase raw data from vehicle-mounted sensors including odometric sensors and rangefinders are logged to a file throughout teaching for later processing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 12, 2011
    Publication date: February 9, 2012
    Applicant: MACDONALD, DETTWILER & ASSOCIATES INC.
    Inventors: Timothy D. Barfoot, Joshua A. Marshall, Raja Mukherji, Robert Ward
  • Patent number: 8090491
    Abstract: A guidance, navigation, and control method and system for an underground mining vehicle wherein an operator directly or indirectly guides the vehicle along a route as vehicle-mounted sensors including odometric sensors and rangefinders log motion data to a file which data is processed into a route profile including a vehicle path, a sequence of submaps along the path, and a profile of desired speed as a function of distance along the path. Thereafter the vehicle automatically repeats the route as represented by the route profile without an operator using the sensors and the maps to determine vehicle location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2012
    Assignee: MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy D. Barfoot, Joshua A. Marshall, Raja Mukherji, Robert Ward
  • Patent number: 7756615
    Abstract: The present invention provides a system for coordinating multiple vehicles in a passageway environment (e.g., in underground mines). The system includes methods and apparatus for determining the global position and orientation of a vehicle in said passageway environment, and methods for planning routes and monitoring the travels of multiple vehicles in said passageway environment. A global position and orientation estimation system employs one or more odometric sensors and one or more range sensing devices. It works in three basic steps. In the first step, it records and processes sensor data that is descriptive of the passageway environment by moving the system through said passageway environment. In the second step, it generates a globally consistent map of said passageway environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2010
    Assignee: MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy D. Barfoot, Joshua A. Marshall
  • Publication number: 20090043439
    Abstract: The present invention provides a guidance, navigation, and control method and system for an underground mining vehicle that allow said vehicle to be taught a route by a human operator and then have it automatically drive the route with no human intervention. The method works in three steps: teaching, route profiling, and playback. In the teaching step the vehicle is manually driven by a operator (or using tele-operation whereby the operator views a screen displaying live views from vehicle-mounted cameras and using remote controls) along a route which can consist of an arbitrary sequence of maneuvers including tramming forwards, switching directions, tramming backwards, turning, or pausing movement. During this phase raw data from vehicle-mounted sensors including odometric sensors and rangefinders are logged to a file throughout teaching for later processing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 26, 2006
    Publication date: February 12, 2009
    Inventors: Timothy D. Barfoot, Joshua A. Marshall, Raja Mukherji, Robret Ward