¶ Remote Piloting Technology, Point-to-Point Autonomy
| Company | Teleo Inc. |
| Country | USA |
| Website | https://www.teleo.ai/ |
¶ Overview
Point-to-point autonomy is an intermediate level of machine intelligence that sits between fully manual remote piloting and complete self-directed autonomy, and it is increasingly being applied to forestry machinery and vehicles operating in complex terrain. In a point-to-point autonomous system, an operator designates a destination or a sequence of waypoints — typically on a digital map or by marking positions in the field — and the machine navigates between those points without continuous human steering input, using onboard sensors, localisation algorithms, and path-planning software to handle the moment-to-moment navigation decisions. The operator remains responsible for high-level task allocation and can intervene at any time, but is freed from the cognitive burden of continuously piloting the vehicle through terrain. For forestry forwarders, skidders, or autonomous log-transport vehicles operating on defined forest road networks, point-to-point autonomy offers significant productivity and safety gains: a single remote operator can supervise several machines cycling between harvesting heads and roadside log depots, reducing labour costs and limiting personnel exposure to dangerous in-forest conditions. Key enabling technologies include high-precision GNSS (with RTK correction), simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) using LiDAR, obstacle detection and avoidance, and V2X (vehicle-to-everything) communications for fleet coordination. In Australian forestry, point-to-point autonomous systems have been trialled by companies including Autonomous Solutions Inc. (ASI) working with plantation operators, and research supported by FWPA has examined the readiness of Australian road networks and forest environments for such systems. Regulatory pathways for autonomous ground vehicles in forestry remain under development within Australian state and territory frameworks, making staged autonomy modes like point-to-point a pragmatic near-term deployment strategy.
¶ Assessment
Enables continuous machine operation and removes operators from dangerous sites, improving both efficiency and safety.
¶ Details
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Company | Teleo Inc. |
| Country | USA |
| Type | Company |
| FWPA RD&E | 4.4 |
| Case Studies | https://forestnet.com/putting-forestry-equipment-on-autopilot/ |