Vehicle Surface Detection Corrects GPS Drift
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicles, such as golf carts and other off-road vehicles, face challenges in navigating restricted areas on golf courses due to inaccurate GPS tracking, leading to potential damage or unauthorized access when GPS drift occurs, causing undesired operation limitations.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle system equipped with sensors to detect surface type and a control system that permits or limits operation based on both tracked location and surface type, correcting GPS drift by determining the actual surface conditions to ensure accurate navigation within geofenced areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If GPS tracking is used to monitor vehicle location in restricted areas, then vehicle navigation and geofence enforcement are enabled, but GPS drift causes inaccurate location detection leading to false restricted area entries
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces surface type detection as an intermediary verification layer between GPS location data and geofence enforcement decisions. The sensor detects ground surface characteristics (grass, pavement, water, etc.) and compares them against expected surface types for restricted areas, serving as a mediator to validate whether the vehicle truly entered a restricted zone despite GPS drift
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring both GPS location and surface type, then using this combined information to adjust vehicle operation commands. When surface type detection contradicts GPS-based restricted area entry, the system provides feedback to maintain normal operation, thereby correcting for GPS drift through real-time feedback loops
2Object-affected harmful factors
If vehicle operation is limited when GPS indicates entry into restricted area, then unauthorized access to protected zones is prevented, but false restrictions occur when GPS drift causes incorrect location tracking
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary verification by detecting surface type before finalizing restricted area entry decisions. By checking surface characteristics in advance, the system can preemptively identify false GPS-based restricted area entries and prevent unnecessary operation limitations before they occur
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the potentially harmful effect of GPS drift into a beneficial verification mechanism. Instead of treating GPS inaccuracies as mere errors to be corrected, the system uses surface type detection to transform location uncertainty into a dual-verification system where surface characteristics serve as a positive indicator to distinguish true restricted area entries from GPS drift artifacts
3Measurement precision
If surface type detection is added to verify location accuracy, then false restricted area entries due to GPS drift are corrected, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The surface type detection sensor serves multiple functions simultaneously: it verifies location accuracy, identifies terrain characteristics for navigation, monitors environmental conditions, and provides data for both restricted area verification and general vehicle control, thereby reducing the need for separate specialized systems
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the vehicle's existing movement and sensor capabilities to perform surface type detection without requiring additional active components. The tractive assemblies' interaction with the ground and existing sensor data already provide surface information, which the control system processes self-servingly to verify location accuracy
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle system includes a vehicle and a control system. The vehicle includes a chassis, a plurality of tractive assemblies coupled to the chassis, a prime mover configured to drive one or more of the plurality of tractive assemblies, a first sensor configured to facilitate monitoring a tracked location of the vehicle, and a second sensor configured to facilitate detecting a surface type of a ground surface. The control system is configured to monitor the tracked location of the vehicle based on a first signal acquired from the first sensor, determine the surface type of the ground surface based on a second signal acquired from the second sensor, and permit unrestricted operation of the vehicle when the tracked location indicates that the vehicle is located in a restricted operation area but the surface type indicates that the vehicle is not in the restricted operation area.