Apparatus for Enabling Autonomous Operation of Land Vehicle Convoys using a Robotic, Bio-Inspired Enterprise (ROBBIE)

A system and method for enabling a plurality of vehicles to be operated as a convoy with the lead vehicle driven by a human and one or more subsequent follower vehicles operated autonomously. The capability is enabled by, 1) the use of a 3D Imaging LIDAR that provides high resolution observations of the preceding vehicle and the surrounding area with sufficient fidelity and timeliness to allow the autonomous navigation of the follower vehicle bearing the disclosed invention, and, 2) the use of a 3D Image Exploitation Processing Appliance that, using techniques that emulate how the human visual path processes and exploits imaging data from the eye, detects, classifies, and labels objects within the observed LIDAR field of view, in a manner to enable autonomous navigation of the follower vehicle.