US 12,124,262 B2
Smart scheduling for autonomous machine operation
Ryan Douglas Ingvalson, Sewickley, PA (US); Alexander Steven Frick, Farmington, MN (US); Jason Thomas Kraft, Stillwater, MN (US); and Timothy Bertram Cleveland, Lakeville, MN (US)
Assigned to THE TORO COMPANY, Bloomington, MN (US)
Appl. No. 17/436,276
Filed by THE TORO COMPANY, Bloomington, MN (US)
PCT Filed Mar. 19, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/023507
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 3, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/197913, PCT Pub. Date Oct. 1, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/822,342, filed on Mar. 22, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0129000 A1, Apr. 28, 2022
Int. Cl. G05D 1/00 (2024.01)
CPC G05D 1/0214 (2013.01) [G05D 1/0055 (2013.01); G05D 1/0088 (2013.01); G05D 1/0219 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for operating an autonomous machine comprising:
receiving a first user input that indicates one or more windows of availability when the autonomous machine is allowed to operate to perform two or more operational tasks, the windows of availability being determined over a time period, wherein each of the two or more operational tasks is associated with a containment zone comprising only a portion of a work region;
performing via a scheduling controller of the autonomous machine:
determining a recommended total operation time over the time period to perform the operational tasks, the recommended total operation time being divided into recommended operation times for the containment zones;
determining an operating schedule for the work region that assigns one or more operational tasks to the one or more windows of availability based on the recommended total operation time, wherein the operating schedule is based on a second user input that indicates comprises a desired total operating time that is greater than or less than the recommended total operation time, wherein each recommended operation time is scaled accordingly to provide a modified operation time based on the user input such that the modified operation times for the containment zones add up to the desired total operation time; and
commanding the autonomous machine to operate in the work region according to the operating schedule.