Digital twins of operating sites via autonomous vehicles
Disclosed are approaches for the centralized collection and sharing of “site-centric” data collected by one or more autonomous vehicles pertaining to an operating site for utilization by the site owner/operator in the performance of its supervisory functions at the operating site beyond (and even largely unrelated to) the immediate operations performed by the autonomous vehicle for which the sensing and detecting is performed. While the data collected and shared may be limited to sensing and detecting needed by the autonomous vehicle to complete its own specific tasks, additional sensors and detectors may be utilized solely for gathering additional information and data to support supervisory functions for the operating site. The autonomous vehicle's regular, extensive, and over-time repetitive traversals of the operating site makes it well-suited for collecting such additional data.
1 . A system for collecting data from a plurality of autonomous vehicles operating in an autonomous state without human intervention at an operating site, the system comprising:
a centralized processing subsystem communicatively coupled to the plurality of autonomous vehicles and to an operating site supervisor for the operating site; and
at least one subsystem configured for:
receiving, from the plurality of autonomous vehicles operating at the operating site, operating site data and autonomous vehicle data,
populating an operating site data structure, representative of the operating site, with the operating site data,
populating an autonomous vehicle data structure, representative of the plurality of autonomous vehicles, with the autonomous vehicle data, and
providing, to the operating site supervisor, usable access to the operating site data structure.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the autonomous vehicle data structure is not accessible by the operating site supervisor.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the operating site data in the operating site data structure does not comprise autonomous vehicle data.
4 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one subsystem capable of enabling the operating site supervisor to add supplemental data to the operating site data structure.
5 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one subsystem capable of:
populating the autonomous vehicle data structure, representative of the plurality of autonomous vehicles, with the operating site data; and
enabling an operator of the plurality of autonomous vehicles to utilize the autonomous vehicle data structure to direct at least one action for at least one autonomous vehicle from among the plurality of autonomous vehicles operating at the operating site.
6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein:
at least part of the operating site data is captured by the at least one autonomous vehicle utilizing a sensor that is not utilized to capture the autonomous vehicle data; and
at least part of the autonomous vehicle data is captured by the at least one autonomous vehicle utilizing a sensor that is not utilized to capture the operating site data.
7 . The system of claim 6 , further comprising at least one subsystem capable of enabling the operator of the plurality of autonomous vehicles to modify the autonomous vehicle data structure.
8 . A method for collecting data at a centralized processing system from a plurality of autonomous vehicles communicatively coupled to the centralized processing system and operating in an autonomous state without human intervention at an operating site, the method comprising:
receiving at the central processing system, from the plurality of autonomous vehicles operating at the operating site, operating site data and autonomous vehicle data;
populating an operating site data structure, representative of the operating site and accessible by an operating site supervisor, with the operating site data; and
populating an autonomous vehicle data structure, representative of the plurality of autonomous vehicles and accessible by an operator of the plurality of autonomous vehicles, with the autonomous vehicle data;
wherein the operating site supervisor and the operator of the plurality of autonomous vehicles are different entities.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the autonomous vehicle data structure is not accessible by the operating site supervisor.
10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the operating site data in the operating site data structure does not comprise autonomous vehicles data.
11 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising enabling the operating site supervisor to add supplemental data to the operating site data structure.
12 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
populating the autonomous vehicle data structure, representative of the plurality of autonomous vehicles, with the operating site data; and
enabling the operator of the plurality of autonomous vehicles to utilize the autonomous vehicle data structure to direct at least one action for at least one autonomous vehicle from among the plurality of autonomous vehicles operating at the operating site.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein:
at least part of the operating site data is captured by the at least one autonomous vehicle utilizing a sensor that is not utilized to capture the autonomous vehicle data; and
at least part of the autonomous vehicle data is captured by the at least one autonomous vehicle utilizing a sensor that is not utilized to capture the operating site data.
14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising enabling the operator of the plurality of autonomous vehicles to modify the autonomous vehicle data structure.
15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions for collecting data at a centralized processing system from a plurality of autonomous vehicles communicatively coupled to the centralized processing system and operating in an autonomous state without human intervention at an operating site, the computer-executable instructions comprising instructions for:
receiving at the central processing system, from the plurality autonomous vehicles operating at the operating site, operating site data and autonomous vehicle data;
populating an operating site data structure, representative of the first operating site and accessible by an operating site supervisor, with the operating site data; and
populating an autonomous vehicle data structure, representative of the plurality of autonomous vehicles and accessible by an operator of the plurality of autonomous vehicles, with the autonomous vehicle data;
wherein the operating site data in the operating site data structure does not comprise autonomous vehicle data.
16 . The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions whereby the autonomous vehicle data structure is not accessible by the operating site supervisor.
17 . The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions for enabling the operating site supervisor to add supplemental data to the operating site data structure.
18 . The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions for:
populating the autonomous vehicle data structure, representative of the plurality of autonomous vehicles, with the operating site data; and
enabling the operator of the plurality of autonomous vehicles to utilize the autonomous vehicle data structure to direct at least one action for at least one autonomous vehicle from among the plurality of autonomous vehicles operating at the operating site.
19 . The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , further comprising instructions whereby:
at least part of the operating site data is captured by the at least one autonomous vehicle utilizing a sensor that is not utilized to capture the autonomous vehicle data; and
at least part of the autonomous vehicle data is captured by the at least one autonomous vehicle utilizing a sensor that is not utilized to capture the operating site data.
20 . The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions for enabling the supervising entity operator of the plurality of autonomous vehicles to modify the autonomous vehicle data structure.