Patents by Inventor Prithvi N. Rao

Prithvi N. Rao 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).

  • System and a method for enabling a vehicle to track a preset path
    Patent number: 5838562
    Abstract: A system (400) for positioning and navigating an autonomous vehicle (310) allows the vehicle (310) to travel between locations. Position information (432) is derived from global positioning system satellites (200, 202, 204, and 206) or other sources (624) when the satellites (200, 202, 204, and 206) are not in the view of the vehicle (310). Navigation of the vehicle (310) is obtained using the position information (432), route information (414), obstacle detection and avoidance data (416), and on board vehicle data (908 and 910).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 1995
    Date of Patent: November 17, 1998
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Adam J. Gudat, Walter J. Bradbury, Dana A. Christensen, Carl A. Kemner, Craig L. Koehrsen, Christos T. Kyrtsos, Norman K. Lay, Joel L. Peterson, Larry E. Schmidt, Darrell E. Stafford, Louis J. Weinbeck, Lonnie J. Devier, Prithvi N. Rao, Gary K. Shaffer, Wenfan Shi, Dong Hun Shin, James W. Sennott, William L. Whittaker, Jay H. West, Karl W. Kleimenhagen, Richard G. Clow, Baoxin Wu, Sanjiv J. Singh
  • System and method for enabling an autonomous vehicle to track a desired path
    Patent number: 5684696
    Abstract: A system and method for enabling an autonomous vehicle to track a desired path plans a continuous path to return to the desired path when the vehicle deviates from the desired path. The continuous path is determined based on the vehicle's position, the desired path, and a lookahead distance. The lookahead distance is the distance on the desired path within which the continuous path and the desired path converge. The lookahead distance may vary as a function of vehicle speed. In one embodiment of the present invention, the continuous path is determined as a quintic polynomial.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 1995
    Date of Patent: November 4, 1997
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Prithvi N. Rao, Dong Hun Shin, William L. Whittaker, Karl W. Kleimenhagen, Sanjiv J. Singh, Carl A. Kemner, Walter J. Bradbury, Craig L. Koehrsen, Joel L. Peterson, Larry E. Schmidt, Lonnie J. Devier
  • Apparatus and method for autonomous vehicle navigation using path data
    Patent number: 5615116
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for navigating a vehicle along a predetermined route use route data and path data to define the predetermined route. The route data represents one or more contiguous path segments between adjacent nodes along the predetermined route. The path data includes postures of the vehicle along each of the path segments. The postures define the desired position, heading, curvature and speed of vehicle at various locations along the path segments. The apparatus and method use the posture information to generate and track a path thereby allowing the vehicle to navigate along the predetermined route.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 1995
    Date of Patent: March 25, 1997
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Adam J. Gudat, Prithvi N. Rao, Gary K. Shaffer, WenFan Shi, Dong H. Shin, William L. Whittaker, Karl W. Kleimenhagen, Jay H. West, Richard G. Clow, Sanjiv J. Singh, Dana A. Christensen, Carl A. Kemner, Walter J. Bradbury, Craig L. Koehrsen, Christos T. Kyrtsos, Norman K. Lay, Joel L. Peterson, Larry E. Schmidt, Darrell E. Stafford, Louis J. Weinbeck, Lonnie J. Devier
  • Integrated vehicle positioning and navigation system, apparatus and method
    Patent number: 5610815
    Abstract: A system (400) for positioning and navigating an autonomous vehicle (310) allows the vehicle (310) to travel between locations. Position information (432) is derived from global positioning system satellites (200, 202, 204, and 206) or other sources (624) when the satellites (200, 202, 204, and 206) are not in the view of the vehicle (310). Navigation of the vehicle (310) is obtained using the position information (432), route information (414), obstacle detection and avoidance data (416), and on board vehicle data (908 and 910).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 1990
    Date of Patent: March 11, 1997
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Adam J. Gudat, Walter J. Bradbury, Dana A. Christensen, Richard G. Clow, Lonnie J. Devier, Carl A. Kemner, Karl W. Kleimenhagen, Craig L. Koehrsen, Christos T. Kyrtsos, Norman K. Lay, Joel L. Peterson, Prithvi N. Rao, Larry E. Schmidt, James W. Sennott, Gary K. Shaffer, Wenfan Shi, Dong H. Shin, Sanjiv J. Singh, Darrell E. Stafford, Louis J. Weinbeck, Jay H. West, William L. Whittaker, Baoxin Wu
  • Multi-tasked navigation system and method for an autonomous land based vehicle
    Patent number: 5548516
    Abstract: A system (400) for positioning and navigating an autonomous vehicle (310) allows the vehicle (310) to travel between locations. Position information (432) is derived from global positioning system satellites (200, 202, 204, and 206) or other sources (624) when the satellites (200, 202, 204, and 206) are not in the view of the vehicle (310). Navigation of the vehicle (310) is obtained using the position information (432), route information (414), obstacle detection and avoidance data (416), and on board vehicle data (908 and 910).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 1995
    Date of Patent: August 20, 1996
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Adam J. Gudat, Prithvi N. Rao, Gary K. Shaffer, Wenfan Shi, Dong H. Shin, James W. Sennott, William L. Whittaker, Karl W. Kleimenhagen, Jay H. West, Richard G. Clow, Baoxin Wu, Sanjiv J. Singh, Dana A. Christensen, Carl A. Kemner, Walter J. Bradbury, Craig L. Koehrsen, Christos T. Kyrtsos, Norman K. Lay, Joel L. Peterson, Larry E. Schmidt, Darrell E. Stafford, Louis J. Weinbeck, Lonnie J. Devier