Patent US 5,367,457

Disclosed is an automatic travelling apparatus which is capable of taking an image of an area ahead of a vehicle by an image pick-up means attached to the vehicle; sampling and processing the image data to extract therefrom continuous line segments; determining a permissible travelling area ahead of the vehicle on the basis of the continuous line segments extracted; setting a target course in the permissible travelling area thus determined; detecting the instantaneous running condition of the vehicle; estimating, on the basis of the instantaneous running condition, a steering amount to permit the vehicle to follow the target course; and steering the vehicle with reference to the steering amount, and furthermore of renewing, on the basis of the instantaneous running condition during a period of image sampling, the preceding position of the vehicle in the permissible travelling area and reset a target course in the permissible travelling area in relation to the renewed position.