	US 12,215,477 B1
	Pile manipulation for autonomous pile driver vehicle
Noah Austen Ready-Campbell, San Francisco, CA (US); Andrew Xiao Liang, New York, NY (US); Paul Kelly, Wilston (AU); Emily Corser, Cleveland (AU); and Jack McNamara, Red Hill (AU)
Assigned to Built Robotics Inc., San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed by Built Robotics Inc., San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed on Mar. 25, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/615,258.
Int. Cl. E02D 7/14 (2006.01); E02D 1/02 (2006.01)

CPC E02D 7/14 (2013.01) [E02D 1/02 (2013.01); E02D 2600/10 (2013.01)]

18 Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying, by an autonomous pile driving system using a pile plan map, a target location to install a pile;

autonomously navigating, by the autonomous pile driving system, towards the target location;

autonomously determining, by the autonomous pile driving system, whether a first end of the pile is within a threshold distance of the autonomous pile driving system:

autonomously determining, by the autonomous pile driving system, an orientation and location of the first end of the pile determined to be located within the threshold distance of the autonomous pile driving system;

autonomously positioning, by the autonomous pile driving system, a tool of the autonomous pile driving system based on the determined orientation and location of the first end of the pile;

autonomously picking up, by the autonomous pile driving system, the pile by engaging the positioned tool of the autonomous pile driving system with the first end of the pile;

autonomously positioning, by the autonomous pile driving system, the pile based on the target location; and

autonomously driving, by the autonomous pile driving system, the pile into ground at the target location by applying a driving force with the tool to the first end of the pile to cause a second end of the pile to be driven into the ground.