US 12,085,936 B2
Utility vehicle
Hiroshi Ishii, Akashi (JP); Taro Iwamoto, Akashi (JP); Takeshi Nakajima, Akashi (JP); Kazuya Nagasaka, Kobe (JP); Atsushi Sano, Kobe (JP); and Kazuhiro Ichikawa, Kobe (JP)
Assigned to KAWASAKI MOTORS, LTD., Akashi (JP)
Appl. No. 17/927,356
Filed by KAWASAKI MOTORS, LTD., Akashi (JP)
PCT Filed May 28, 2020, PCT No. PCT/JP2020/021166
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 22, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/240743, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 2, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0213937 A1, Jul. 6, 2023
Int. Cl. G05D 1/00 (2024.01); B64U 70/93 (2023.01); B64U 80/86 (2023.01); G08B 13/16 (2006.01); G08B 13/181 (2006.01); B64U 101/30 (2023.01)
CPC G05D 1/0088 (2013.01) [B64U 70/93 (2023.01); B64U 80/86 (2023.01); G05D 1/0276 (2013.01); B64U 2101/30 (2023.01); B64U 2201/10 (2023.01)] 7 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An autonomous utility vehicle comprising:
a front wheel;
a rear wheel;
a steering structure mounted to the front wheel;
a drive source that drives the front wheel and/or the rear wheel;
circuitry that controls the steering structure and drive source to effect autonomous travel without manned operation in a given travel area; and
a radar or sensor that detects a person or animal in the travel area,
wherein, when the radar or sensor detects the person or animal during the autonomous travel, the circuitry acquires a location of the autonomous utility vehicle and stores the acquired location of the autonomous utility vehicle as history information of a location of the person or animal,
wherein the circuitry sets a reference point at the location where the person or animal was detected,
wherein the circuitry sets a travel route for the autonomous utility vehicle by modifying a predetermined initial travel route to be in a partial region based on the reference point, and
wherein the autonomous utility vehicle performs given alert travel on the set travel route in the partial region.