Granted Patent B2

US 12,497,759 · App. 18/767,900 · Granted Dec 16, 2025

Inventors: Adam Clare (Westminster, CO); Ethan Moe (Westminster, CO)

Assignee: Trimble Inc.

E02F9/205E02F9/24E02F9/264G01S17/931

Abstract

Claims (44)

1 . A method of operating a visual indication system on a mobile machine, the method comprising:

detecting one or more objects surrounding the mobile machine using one or more sensors of the mobile machine;

classifying each of the one or more objects as one of a plurality of object types resulting in a classification for each of the one or more objects, the plurality of object types including a person construction worker object and a person non-construction worker object;

generating an object-directed indicator for each object of the one or more objects based on the classification by:

in response to determining that the object is classified as the person construction worker object, generating a first object-directed indicator; or

in response to determining that the object is classified as the person non-construction worker object, generating a second object-directed indicator, wherein the second object-directed indicator is different than the first object-directed indicator; and

displaying the object-directed indicator for each of the one or more objects on the visual indication system, wherein the visual indication system at least partially surrounds the mobile machine and includes a plurality of displayable regions, wherein the object-directed indicator for a particular object of the one or more objects is displayed at a particular displayable region of the plurality of displayable regions of the visual indication system based on a direction with respect to the mobile machine of the particular object.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of object types further includes a non-person object.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a current state of the mobile machine, wherein the object-directed indicator for each of the one or more objects is generated further based on the current state of the mobile machine.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the current state of the mobile machine includes one of: active job, waiting for job, or attention needed.

5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the object-directed indicator for each of the one or more objects includes a safety indicator that indicates a safety level to the particular object, wherein the safety indicator is determined based on the current state of the mobile machine.

6 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the object-directed indicator for each of the one or more objects includes a state indicator that indicates the current state of the mobile machine to the particular object.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the one or more objects surrounding the mobile machine further includes:

detecting a distance from the mobile machine for each of the one or more objects; and

detecting the direction with respect to the mobile machine for each of the one or more objects.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the one or more objects surrounding the mobile machine further includes:

detecting a position of the mobile machine in a world space; and

detecting a position of each of the one or more objects in the world space based on the position of the mobile machine in the world space and a distance from the mobile machine and the direction with respect to the mobile machine of the particular object.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobile machine is an autonomous vehicle.

10 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

detecting one or more objects surrounding a mobile machine using one or more sensors of the mobile machine;

classifying each of the one or more objects as one of a plurality of object types resulting in a classification for each of the one or more objects, the plurality of object types including a person construction worker object and a person non-construction worker object;

generating an object-directed indicator for each object of the one or more objects based on the classification by:

in response to determining that the object is classified as the person construction worker object, generating a first object-directed indicator; or

in response to determining that the object is classified as the person non-construction worker object, generating a second object-directed indicator, wherein the second object-directed indicator is different than the first object-directed indicator; and

displaying the object-directed indicator for each of the one or more objects on a visual indication system, wherein the visual indication system at least partially surrounds the mobile machine and includes a plurality of displayable regions, wherein the object-directed indicator for a particular object of the one or more objects is displayed at a particular displayable region of the plurality of displayable regions of the visual indication system based on a direction with respect to the mobile machine of the particular object.

11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of object types further includes a non-person object.

12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a current state of the mobile machine, wherein the object-directed indicator for each of the one or more objects is generated further based on the current state of the mobile machine.

13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the current state of the mobile machine includes one of: active job, waiting for job, or attention needed.

14 . A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

detecting one or more objects surrounding a mobile machine using one or more sensors of the mobile machine;

classifying each of the one or more objects as one of a plurality of object types resulting in a classification for each of the one or more objects, the plurality of object types including a person construction worker object and a person non-construction worker object;

generating an object-directed indicator for each object of the one or more objects based on the classification by:

in response to determining that the object is classified as the person construction worker object, generating a first object-directed indicator; or

in response to determining that the object is classified as the person non-construction worker object, generating a second object-directed indicator, wherein the second object-directed indicator is different than the first object-directed indicator; and

displaying the object-directed indicator for each of the one or more objects on a visual indication system, wherein the visual indication system at least partially surrounds the mobile machine and includes a plurality of displayable regions, wherein the object-directed indicator for a particular object of the one or more objects is displayed at a particular displayable region of the plurality of displayable regions of the visual indication system based on a direction with respect to the mobile machine of the particular object.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of object types further includes a non-person object.

16 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a current state of the mobile machine, wherein the object-directed indicator for each of the one or more objects is generated further based on the current state of the mobile machine.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the current state of the mobile machine includes one of: active job, waiting for job, or attention needed.

Continuity (2)

References Cited (23)