US 12,344,227 B2
Cyber-physically controlled autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle with increased availability over repetitive closed paths
Philippe Arthur Jean Ghislain Chevalier, Deinze (BE); Geoffrey Ejzenberg, Lier (BE); and Noël Jans, Val-Meer (BE)
Assigned to BeHaulT Industrial Property Office B.V., Genk (BE)
Appl. No. 17/767,271
Filed by BeHaulT Industrial Property Office B.V., Genk (BE)
PCT Filed Oct. 9, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/078472
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 7, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/069697, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 15, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. PCT/EP2019/077355 (WO), filed on Oct. 9, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0371574 A1, Nov. 24, 2022
Int. Cl. B60W 20/13 (2016.01); B60W 60/00 (2020.01)
CPC B60W 20/13 (2016.01) [B60W 60/0023 (2020.02)] 25 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicle comprising:
a drivetrain containing an electric motor coupled to a propulsion system;
at least one electric generator connected to an engine for delivering electrical energy to the drivetrain;
an energy storage system for storing and retrieving energy;
a cyber-physical system including a sensing system and a control system, the sensing system comprising a plurality of on-board sensors for providing sensor data for use with autonomous or semi-autonomous moving of the vehicle in a cyclic mode along a predefined closed cycle path known to the cyber-physical system, wherein the closed cycle path defines a complete round-trip for the vehicle; and
a handling system for performing autonomous or semi-autonomous moving of the vehicle along the closed cycle path in the cyclic mode using at least the sensor data, wherein the closed cycle path is determined based on geographical or route data; and
wherein the cyber-physical system is configured to equalize energy levels of the energy storage system at the closure of said closed cycle path, determined by the complete round-trip performed by the vehicle, subject to constraints on rates of change of power of the energy storage system during autonomous or semi-autonomous moving of the vehicle along said closed cycle path.