US 12,282,334 B2
Autonomous pile driver apparatus and method
Noah Austen Ready-Campbell, San Francisco, CA (US); Andrew Xiao Liang, San Francisco, CA (US); and Gaurav Jitendra Kikani, San Francisco, CA (US)
Assigned to Built Robotics Inc., San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed by Built Robotics Inc., San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed on Dec. 21, 2022, as Appl. No. 18/085,888.
Prior Publication US 2024/0210946 A1, Jun. 27, 2024
Int. Cl. G05D 1/00 (2024.01); E02D 7/06 (2006.01)
CPC G05D 1/0274 (2013.01) [E02D 7/06 (2013.01); E02D 2600/10 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method performed by an autonomous off-road vehicle (AOV), the method comprising:
accessing a pile plan map indicating a plurality of locations in a geographic area at which piles are to be installed;
selecting a first location and a second location from the plurality of locations using the pile plan map;
autonomously navigating the AOV to the first location;
autonomously determining, in a pile holder loaded with a plurality of piles of a plurality of pile types, a first position of a first pile having a first pile type, the first pile type identified by the pile plan map for the first location;
autonomously loading the first pile from the determined first position in the pile holder onto a driving tool of the AOV;
autonomously determining a pile type of the loaded first pile, and autonomously verifying whether the determined pile type of the loaded first pile matches the first pile type for the first location per the pile plan map;
autonomously stopping an operation being performed by the AOV in response to the autonomous verification indicating that the determined pile type of the loaded first pile does not match the first pile type for the first location per the pile plan map;
autonomously installing the first pile into the ground at the first location using the driving tool;
autonomously navigating the AOV to the second location;
autonomously determining, in the pile holder, a second position of a second pile having a second pile type, the second pile type identified by the pile plan map for the second location;
autonomously loading the second pile from the determined second position in the pile holder onto the driving tool;
autonomously determining a pile type of the loaded second pile, and autonomously verifying whether the determined pile type of the loaded second pile matches the second pile type for the second location per the pile plan map; and
autonomously installing the second pile into the ground at the second location using the driving tool.