Self-balancing two-wheeled vehicle
AssigneeSpin Master Ltd.
InventorsIan Patterson, Robert M. O'Brien, Daryl R. Tearne
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In an aspect, a self-balancing two-wheeled vehicle is provided, having a body, and first and second wheels rotatably coupled to the body. The second wheel has at least one lateral roller rotatable about an axis that is one of oblique and orthogonal to a rotation axis of the second wheel. At least one motor is coupled to the second wheel to control rotation of the second wheel and the at least one lateral roller. At least one sensor is coupled to the body to generate orientation data therefor. A control module is coupled to the at least one motor to control operation thereof at least partially based on the orientation data generated by the at least one sensor.
Claims11
A self-balancing two-wheeled vehicle, comprising:
- a body;
- a first wheel rotatably coupled to the body;
- a second wheel rotatably coupled to the body, the second wheel having at least one lateral roller rotatable about a roller axis that is one of oblique and orthogonal to a rotation axis of the second wheel;
- at least one motor coupled to the second wheel to control rotation of the second wheel and the at least one lateral roller;
- at least one sensor coupled to the body to generate orientation data therefor;
- a control module coupled to the at least one sensor and the at least one motor to control operation thereof at least partially based on the orientation data generated by the at least one sensor;
- and
- a receiver coupled to the control module to communicate operational commands received from a remote control unit to the control module, the remote control unit having a set of user controls and communicating the operational commands generated by actuation of the user controls,
- wherein the control module at least partially controls the at least one motor at least partially based on the operational commands to maintain a center-of-gravity of the self-balancing two-wheeled vehicle over an area of contact of the first wheel and the second wheel with a travel surface, and
- wherein the first wheel is pivotable relative to the body, and wherein pivoting of the first wheel is controlled by the control module at least partially based on the operational commands received from the remote control unit.
A self-balancing two-wheeled vehicle, comprising:
- a body;
- a first wheel rotatably coupled to the body;
- a second wheel rotatably coupled to the body, the second wheel having at least one lateral roller rotatable about a roller axis that is one of oblique and orthogonal to a rotation axis of the second wheel;
- at least one motor coupled to the second wheel to control rotation of the second wheel and the at least one lateral roller;
- at least one sensor coupled to the body to generate orientation data therefor;
- a control module coupled to the at least one sensor and the at least one motor to control operation thereof at least partially based on the orientation data generated by the at least one sensor;
- and
- a receiver coupled to the control module to communicate operational commands received from a remote control unit to the control module, the remote control unit having a set of user controls and communicating the operational commands generated by actuation of the user controls,
- wherein the control module at least partially controls the at least one motor at least partially based on the operational commands to maintain a center-of-gravity of the self-balancing two-wheeled vehicle over an area of contact of the first wheel and the second wheel with a travel surface, and
- wherein the operational commands comprises a wheelie command, and wherein the remote control unit, upon receiving the wheelie command from the remote control unit, controls the second wheel to accelerate in a first direction away from the first wheel and immediately subsequently accelerate in a second direction towards the front wheel to reorient the self-balancing two-wheeled vehicle so that the center-of-gravity of the self-balancing two-wheeled vehicle is over the area of contact of the second wheel with the travel surface, wherein the control module controls the at least one motor at least partially to maintain the center-of-gravity of the self-balancing two-wheeled vehicle is over the area of contact of the second wheel with the travel surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.