Control of a personal transporter based on user position

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9529365-B2
Application number	US-201514619806-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 11, 2015
Priority date	Sep 13, 2004
Publication date	Dec 27, 2016
Grant date	Dec 27, 2016

Abstract

An apparatus controller for prompting a rider to be positioned on a vehicle in such a manner as to reduce lateral instability due to lateral acceleration of the vehicle. The apparatus has an input for receiving specification from the rider of a desired direction of travel, and indicating means for reflecting to the rider a propitious instantaneous body orientation to enhance stability in the face of lateral acceleration. The indicating may include a handlebar that is pivotable with respect to the vehicle and that is driven in response to vehicle turning.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling a transporter, the transporter having at least one ground-contacting element, a handlebar supported by the at least one ground-contacting element, and a controller operatively communicating with the at least one ground-contacting element, the method comprising:
receiving, by the controller, a desired yaw and a desired yaw rate, the desired yaw and the desired yaw rate being based on a body orientation of a load on the transporter;
computing, by the controller, a desired direction of motion of the transporter based on the received desired yaw and the received desired yaw rate;
receiving, by the controller, a pitch of the transporter;
computing, by the controller, a pitch command signal based on the pitch;
computing, by the controller, a command signal based on the desired direction and the pitch command signal; and
providing, by the controller, the command signal to maintain balance of the transporter and motion in the desired direction.

2. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:
computing, by the controller, the command signal based on the body orientation and roll of the transporter sensed by a plurality of sensors in electronic communication with the controller, the command signal modified by a deadband.

3. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:
computing, by the controller, the command signal based at least in part on a yaw error value, the yaw error value being the difference between an instantaneous yaw value and the desired yaw.

4. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:
receiving, by the controller, a lean of the transporter with respect to gravity; and
computing, by the controller, the command signal K(φ HB −φ Roll ) where K=a constant, φ HB =an angle between the handlebar and the ground-contacting element, and φ Roll =the received lean.

5. The method as in claim 1 wherein the handlebar comprises an inclined or horizontally mounted pivot handlebar.

6. The method as in claim 1 wherein the handlebar is biased to a central position by at least one damper.

7. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:
receiving, by the controller, a rotational orientation of the handlebar; and
computing, by the controller, the desired direction based at least in part on the rotational orientation.

8. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:
computing, by the controller, a yaw component of the command signal by:
applying a first gain to the yaw component of the command signal at a first range of speeds; and
applying a second gain to the yaw component of the command signal at a second range of speeds.

9. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:
filtering, by the controller, a yaw component of the command signal based on a roll rate of the transporter.

10. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:
low-pass filtering, by the controller, the desired yaw if a roll rate of the transporter is greater than a pre-selected rate.

11. The method as in claim 10 further comprising:
computing, by the controller, a yaw component of the command signal based on F*(the desired yaw)+(1×F)*(the filtered desired yaw) where F=a continuously varying signal.

12. A system for controlling a transporter, the system comprising:
at least one ground-contacting element;
a handlebar supported by the at least one ground-contracting element; and
a controller operatively communicating with the at least one ground-contacting element, the controller including:
receiving a desired yaw and a desired yaw rate of the transporter, the desired yaw and the desired yaw rate being based on a body orientation of a load on the transporter;
computing a desired direction of motion of the transporter based on the received desired yaw and the received desired yaw rate;
receiving a pitch of the transporter;
computing a pitch command signal based on the pitch;
computing a command signal based on the desired direction and the pitch command signal; and
providing the command signal to maintain balance of the transporter and motion in the desired direction.

13. The system as in claim 12 wherein the controller further includes:
computing, by the controller, the command signal based on the body orientation and roll of the transporter sensed by a plurality of sensors in electronic communication with the controller, the command signal modified by a deadband.

14. The system as in claim 12 wherein the controller further includes:
executing a ramp function reversing a yaw command component of the command signal when the transporter moves in reverse.

15. The system as in claim 12 wherein the controller further includes:
receiving a lean of the transporter with respect to gravity; and
computing the command signal K(φ HB −φ Roll ) where K=a constant, φ HB =an angle between the handlebar and the at least one ground-contacting element, and φ Roll =the received lean.

16. The system as in claim 12 wherein the controller further includes:
computing a yaw component of the command signal by
applying a first gain to the yaw component of the command signal at a first range of speeds; and
applying a second gain to the yaw component of the command signal at a second range of speeds.

17. The system as in claim 12 wherein the controller further includes:
receiving, from shaft sensors, the position of the handlebar with respect to vertical, or with respect to a direction fixed with respect to at least a portion of the transporter.

18. The system as in claim 12 wherein the controller further includes:
filtering a yaw component of the command signal based on a roll rate of the transporter.

19. The system as in claim 12 wherein the controller further includes:
low-pass filtering the desired yaw if a roll rate of the transporter is greater than a pre-selected rate.

20. The system as in claim 11 wherein the controller further comprises:
receiving a relative height offset of at least one handlebar segment disposed upon the transporter, the desired direction based at least in part on the relative height offset.

Assignees

• Deka Products Lp

Inventors

• Kamen Dean
• Ambrogi Robert R
• Dattolo James J
• Duggan Robert J
• Field J Douglas
• Heinzmann Richard Kurt
• Mccambridge Matthew M
• Morrell John B
• Piedmonte Michael D
• Rosasco Richard J

Classifications

• B62J45/4151

  for sensing lateral inclination of the cycle · CPC title

• B62J45/4152

  for sensing longitudinal inclination of the cycle · CPC title

• B60L2200/24

  Personal mobility vehicles · CPC title

• A63C17/08

  single-wheel type {with single axis} · CPC title

• B60L2240/423

  Torque · CPC title