Steering system for a mower
AssigneeFireFly Automatix, Inc.
InventorsSteven R. Aposhian, Eric E. Aston, Mark C. LeBlanc, Joshua W. Landry
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A steering system for a mower can include a wheel-specific driving unit for each wheel and a controller for providing control signals to each wheel-specific driving unit to thereby cause each wheel to be independently rotated at a different speed during a turn. By independently rotating each wheel, the mower can complete a turn without damaging the grass. The controller may also provide control signals to cause each steerable wheel to be positioned in a different wheel direction during the turn.
Claims16
A mower comprising:
- a main body;
- one or more mower decks supported from the main body;
- wheels that support the main body, the wheels including front wheels and rear wheels, wherein either the front wheels, the rear wheels or both the front and rear wheels are steerable wheels;
- wheel-specific driving units for the wheels;
- and
- a controller that:
- (1) calculates different wheel speeds for the wheels during a turn and provides the different wheel speeds to the wheel-specific driving units to thereby cause the wheels to be rotated at the different wheel speeds during the turn;
- and
- (2) calculates different wheel directions for the steerable wheels during the turn and provides the different wheel directions to the wheel-specific driving units for the steerable wheels to thereby cause the steerable wheels to be positioned in the different wheel directions during the turn.
A steering system for a mower comprising:
- wheels including front wheels and rear wheels, wherein the front wheels, the rear wheels or the front and rear wheels are steerable wheels;
- a wheel-specific driving unit for each of the wheels;
- and
- a controller that is configured to:
- detect a current ground speed and a steering direction of the mower;
- calculate different wheel speeds for the wheels during a turn based on the current ground speed and the steering direction;
- provide the different wheel speeds to the wheel-specific driving units to thereby cause the wheels to be rotated at the different wheel speeds during the turn;
- calculate different wheel directions for each of the steerable wheels during the turn based on the steering direction;
- and
- provide the wheel directions to the wheel-specific driving units for the steerable wheels to thereby cause the steerable wheels to be positioned in the different wheel directions during the turn.
A method, performed by a controller, for steering a mower comprising:
- detecting a current ground speed and a steering direction of the mower during a turn, the mower having wheels including front wheels and rear wheels, wherein the front wheels, the rear wheels or the front and rear wheels are steerable wheels;
- based on the current ground speed and the steering direction, calculating a different wheel speed for each of the wheels of the mower;
- causing each of the wheels to be rotated at the corresponding different wheel speed during the turn;
- calculate different wheel directions for each of the steerable wheels during the turn based on the steering direction;
- and
- cause each steerable wheel to be positioned in the corresponding different wheel direction during the turn.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.