Motor vehicles – With means for controlling operation responsive to... – Having controlling means adapted to interact with stationary...
Patent
1979-06-15
1982-11-30
Mitchell, David M.
Motor vehicles
With means for controlling operation responsive to...
Having controlling means adapted to interact with stationary...
104 88, 246167D, 340 52R, 343 7VM, 364426, B60K 3100
Patent
active
043612024
ABSTRACT:
An automated transportation system for vehicular travel along a roadway is presented. The roadway can be any hard surface that contains an embedded metallic guiderail along its center. A proximity transducer (metal detector) installed under the vehicle, senses the metallic guiderail and sends steering commands to the vehicle's steering actuators to keep the vehicle moving in the center of the roadway directly over the guiderail. Transponders are embedded along the guiderail at selected points for automatic roadway identification, position determination and automatic speed, headway and route selection and automatic traffic control. The system also provides automatic branching and lane changing. The vehicle's control system includes sensors, signal processors, a microprocessor and various power actuators that are connected to the vehicle's steering, braking and accelerator systems. An on-board collision avoidance system using sonic or radar detection means is also provided. The vehicle can be programmed to automatically follow a pre-selected route by inserting route instructions into the microprocessor's memory where it can be retrieved and used any number of times. Magnetometer sensors are also embedded along the roadway to detect the presence and speed of all vehicles, thereby allowing ordinary, manually-controlled vehicles to use the same roadways as the automatically controlled vehicles for a mixed traffic flow. The guiderails and transponders can be embedded in essentially all existing streets and highways to provide an economical comprehensive fully automated road transportation system for private and commercial vehicles.
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Popular Science "Dream Highways for Dream Cars", p. 143, May 1956.
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