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US 12,065,166 B1Granted
Switchable ride frequency for bidirectional vehicles
AssigneeZoox, Inc.
InventorsJohannes Edren, Johannes Andreas Huennekens
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A bidirectional vehicle may be capable of traveling in either of two directions and may change its direction of travel at any point for various reasons. In response to a change in the direction of travel, systems of a bidirectional vehicle may adjust one or more suspension components using various techniques to configure the vehicle with a higher ride frequency at the trailing axle than at the leading axle to enhance the ride quality and handling capabilities of the vehicle.
Claims20
A bidirectional autonomous vehicle comprising:
- a first suspension subsystem associated with a first axle of the bidirectional autonomous vehicle;
- a second suspension subsystem associated with a second axle of the bidirectional autonomous vehicle;
- and
- a vehicle computing system comprising one or more processors and one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions executable by the one or more processors, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the vehicle computing system to perform operations comprising:
- determining that the bidirectional autonomous vehicle has altered its direction of travel from a first direction to a second direction, wherein altering its direction of travel comprises modifying a mode of a planner component of the bidirectional autonomous vehicle to primarily operate in the second direction and wherein the first direction opposes the second direction;
- and
- based at least in part on determining that the bidirectional autonomous vehicle has altered its direction of travel from the first direction to the second direction:
- determining, based on the second direction, that the first axle is a leading axle of the bidirectional autonomous vehicle;
- determining, based on the second direction, that the second axle is a trailing axle of the bidirectional autonomous vehicle;
- based at least in part on determining that the first axle is the leading axle, reducing a first ride frequency at the first axle by reducing stiffness of an adjustment component of the first suspension subsystem;
- based at least in part on determining that the second axle is the trailing axle, increasing a second ride frequency at the second axle by increasing stiffness of an adjustment component of the second suspension subsystem;
- and
- controlling the bidirectional autonomous vehicle to travel in the second direction in an environment.
10 more elements
A method comprising:
- determining that a bidirectional vehicle has altered its direction of travel from a first direction to a second direction;
- and
- based at least in part on determining that the bidirectional vehicle has altered its direction of travel from the first direction to the second direction:
- determining a leading axle and a trailing axle of the bidirectional vehicle for the second direction;
- based at least in part on determining the leading axle, reducing a first ride frequency at the leading axle by reducing stiffness of an adjustment component of a first suspension subsystem associated with the leading axle;
- and
- based at least in part on determining the trailing axle, increasing a second ride frequency at the trailing axle by increasing stiffness of an adjustment component of a second suspension subsystem associated with the trailing axle.
4 more elements
A bidirectional vehicle suspension system comprising:
- a first suspension component configured at a first axle of a bidirectional vehicle;
- a second suspension component configured at a second axle of the bidirectional vehicle;
- and
- a suspension controller communicatively connected to the first suspension component and the second suspension component and configured to perform operations comprising:
- receiving an indication of a change in vehicle direction of travel from a first direction to a second direction;
- and
- based at least in part on the indication:
- determining that the first axle is a leading axle and the second axle is a trailing axle;
- based at least in part on determining that the first axle is the leading axle, reducing a first ride frequency at the first axle by reducing stiffness of the first suspension component;
- and
- based at least in part on determining that the second axle is the trailing axle, increasing a second ride frequency at the second axle by increasing stiffness of the second suspension component.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.