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US 12,640,049 B2Granted
Virtual reality forklift simulator and methods of use thereof
OwnerKyler Lemeryinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A virtual reality forklift simulator and methods of use thereof are described. The virtual reality forklift simulate may simulate real-world physics providing comprehensive and accurate training to a user. The virtual reality forklift simulator may comprise one or more controllers, a non-transitory computer readable medium, and a processor. The virtual reality forklift simulator may provide a user with objectives to complete, guidance, and warnings of unsafe conditions.
Claims20
A method of training a user in forklift operation, the method comprising:
- booting up a virtual reality forklift simulator having a virtual reality environment and a physics simulation system configured to simulate a virtual reality forklift comprising a body, a set of tynes, and four wheels, the four wheels each having a rigid body and a circle collider that provides friction with virtual ground in the virtual reality environment, the virtual reality forklift further comprising four wheel colliders configured to provide a three-point suspension system for the virtual reality forklift that defines a safety triangle for a center of mass of the virtual reality forklift, wherein the virtual reality forklift simulator bases movements of the virtual reality forklift on physics simulations that dynamically update the center of mass of the virtual reality forklift based on at least a weight and a position of cargo carried on the tynes, a height and tilt of the tynes, a speed of the virtual reality forklift, and a slope of virtual ground in the virtual reality environment;
- instructing the user to complete one or more objectives using a virtual reality forklift;
- completing the one or more objectives using one or more controllers;
- determining a respective force on each of the four wheels based on the dynamically updated center of mass of the virtual reality forklift and the three-point suspension system implemented by the four wheel colliders;
- determining, based on the respective forces, a state of the safety triangle, wherein the state of the safety triangle comprises one of a safe state, an approaching unsafe state, or an unsafe state, wherein the unsafe state occurs when the respective force on one of the four wheels exceeds a support threshold;
- providing guidance and/or warnings to the user based on a performance of the user in the virtual reality forklift, the guidance and/or warnings provided by an assist overlay system in the virtual reality forklift simulator, the assist overlay system comprising a safety triangle indicator that graphically indicates a level of danger to stability of the virtual reality forklift based on the safety triangle;
- in response to determining the approaching unsafe state, causing the assist overlay system to display, via the safety triangle indicator, a tilted virtual reality forklift warning;
- and
- in response to determining the unsafe state or detecting at least one of a crash, a mishandling of cargo, a dropped cargo, or an excessive speed that exceeds a safety speed threshold, halting the virtual reality forklift simulator, displaying a warning describing an unsafe condition to the user, and requiring the user to restart at least a current objective of the one or more objectives before resuming operation of the virtual reality forklift.
6 more elements
A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations for training a user in forklift operation, the operations comprising:
- receiving a first input from the user to boot-up a virtual reality forklift simulator having a virtual reality environment and a physics simulation system configured to simulate a virtual reality forklift comprising a body, a set of tynes, and four wheels, the four wheels each having a rigid body and a circle collider that provides friction with virtual ground in the virtual reality environment, the virtual reality forklift further comprising four wheel colliders configured to provide a three-point suspension system for the virtual reality forklift that defines a safety triangle for a center of mass of the virtual reality forklift, wherein the virtual reality forklift simulator bases movements of the virtual reality forklift on physics simulations that dynamically update the center of mass of the virtual reality forklift based on at least a weight and a position of cargo carried on the tynes, a height and tilt of the tynes, a speed of the virtual reality forklift, and a slope of virtual ground in the virtual reality environment;
- receiving one or more inputs from one or more controllers operated by the user to move a virtual reality forklift to complete one or more objectives;
- determining a respective force on each of the four wheels based on the dynamically updated center of mass of the virtual reality forklift and the three-point suspension system implemented by the four wheel colliders;
- determining, based on the respective forces, a state of the safety triangle, wherein the state of the safety triangle comprises one of a safe state, an approaching unsafe state, or an unsafe state, wherein the unsafe state occurs when the respective force on one of the four wheels exceeds a support threshold;
- providing guidance and/or warning to the user based on a performance of the user with the virtual reality forklift, the guidance and/or warnings provided by an assist overlay system in the virtual reality forklift simulator, the assist overlay system comprising a safety triangle indicator that graphically indicates a level of danger to stability of the virtual reality forklift based on the safety triangle;
- in response to determining the approaching unsafe state, causing the assist overlay system to display, via the safety triangle indicator, a tilted virtual reality forklift warning;
- and
- in response to determining the unsafe state or detecting at least one of a crash, a mishandling of cargo, a dropped cargo, or an excessive speed that exceeds a safety speed threshold, halting the virtual reality forklift simulator, displaying a warning describing an unsafe condition to the user, and requiring the user to restart at least a current objective of the one or more objectives before resuming operation of the virtual reality forklift.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.