US 12,249,097 B2
Object collection system and method
Brent Ronald Frei, Bellevue, WA (US); Dwight Galen McMaster, Burien, WA (US); Michael Racine, Bellevue, WA (US); Jacobus du Preez, Snoqualmie, WA (US); William David Dimmit, Seattle, WA (US); Isabelle Butterfield, Bellevue, WA (US); Clifford Holmgren, Spanaway, WA (US); Dafydd Daniel Rhys-Jones, Tacoma, WA (US); Thayne Kollmorgen, Eugene, OR (US); and Vivek Ullal Nayak, Seattle, WA (US)
Assigned to TerraClear Inc., Bellevue, WA (US)
Filed by TerraClear Inc., Bellevue, WA (US)
Filed on Feb. 8, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/667,438.
Application 17/667,438 is a continuation of application No. 16/510,776, filed on Jul. 12, 2019, granted, now 11,270,423.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/697,057, filed on Jul. 12, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2022/0164941 A1, May 26, 2022
Int. Cl. A01B 43/00 (2006.01); A01B 59/042 (2006.01); A01B 69/00 (2006.01); G05D 1/00 (2006.01); G06F 18/20 (2023.01); G06F 18/21 (2023.01); G06F 18/211 (2023.01); G06F 18/214 (2023.01); G06N 3/045 (2023.01); G06N 3/08 (2023.01); G06T 3/00 (2006.01); G06T 7/00 (2017.01); G06T 7/13 (2017.01); G06T 7/60 (2017.01); G06T 7/62 (2017.01); G06T 7/70 (2017.01); G06T 7/73 (2017.01); G06V 10/20 (2022.01); G06V 20/00 (2022.01); G06V 20/10 (2022.01); G08G 5/00 (2006.01); B64U 10/13 (2023.01); B64U 101/30 (2023.01); B64U 101/60 (2023.01)
CPC G06T 7/74 (2017.01) [A01B 43/00 (2013.01); A01B 59/042 (2013.01); A01B 69/001 (2013.01); G05D 1/0038 (2013.01); G05D 1/101 (2013.01); G06F 18/211 (2023.01); G06F 18/214 (2023.01); G06F 18/2163 (2023.01); G06F 18/217 (2023.01); G06F 18/285 (2023.01); G06N 3/045 (2023.01); G06N 3/08 (2013.01); G06T 3/00 (2013.01); G06T 7/0002 (2013.01); G06T 7/13 (2017.01); G06T 7/60 (2013.01); G06T 7/62 (2017.01); G06T 7/70 (2017.01); G06T 7/73 (2017.01); G06V 10/255 (2022.01); G06V 20/10 (2022.01); G06V 20/188 (2022.01); G06V 20/38 (2022.01); G08G 5/0034 (2013.01); G08G 5/0069 (2013.01); B64U 10/13 (2023.01); B64U 2101/30 (2023.01); B64U 2101/60 (2023.01); B64U 2201/20 (2023.01); G06T 2207/10032 (2013.01); G06T 2207/20081 (2013.01); G06T 2207/20084 (2013.01); G06T 2207/20104 (2013.01); G06T 2207/30188 (2013.01); G06T 2207/30244 (2013.01)] 28 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An object collection system, the system including:
a vehicle connected to a bucket;
multiple cameras connected to the vehicle;
an object picking assembly configured to pick up objects off of ground, the object picking assembly disposed at a front-end of the bucket, the object picking assembly including one or more paddle components with one or more moving belts and a hinge on at least one of the one or more paddle components;
a sensor array associated with the system;
a processor; and
a memory that stores computer instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
scan a region that includes a catcher swath to identify one or more objects;
guide the object collection system over a target geographical area toward the one or more identified objects based on object information;
capture, via the multiple cameras, a plurality of images of the ground relative to an object picker as the object collection system is guided towards the one or more identified objects, the object picker having the catcher swath to pick up the one or more identified objects;
identify a target object on the ground from among the one or more identified objects in the plurality of images based on a dataset of known object features;
track movement of the ground relative to the moving vehicle across the plurality of images as the object collection system is guided towards the one or more identified objects; and
employ the tracked movement of the ground to instruct the object picker to move the one or more paddles from a storage height to a pick-up height to pick up the target object using the hinge on the at least one of the one or more paddle components to pinch the target object to be picked up from the ground using the one or more paddles while the object-collection system is in movement; and
picking up the target object from the ground while the object-collection system is in movement and moving the one or more paddles from the pick-up height to the storage height after the target object has been picked.