US Patent Issued to Caterpillar on Sept. 2 for "Terrain verification system and method for pallet drop" (California, North Carolina Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 3 -- United States Patent no. 12,405,131, issued on Sept. 2, was assigned to Caterpillar Inc. (Peoria, Ill.).

"Terrain verification system and method for pallet drop" was invented by Steven John Daniluk (San Francisco) and Donald Spencer Davis (Garner, N.C.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A work machine includes a terrain verification system for dropping a pallet on a land surface at a destination. Operating autonomously or semi-autonomously, the work machine includes a range sensor, an image sensor, and an inertial sensor to assess the slope and roughness of the land surface on approach to the destination. The terrain verification system generates a ground map of the de...