Sand grooming vehicle with automated rake lift

A sand grooming vehicle, comprising:

• a traction system capable of moving said sand grooming vehicle in a reverse direction;
• a rake movable between a plurality of positions;
• and
• a vehicle control unit including at least one memory and at least one processor, the vehicle control unit operable to:
• detect a reverse request;
• in response to a reverse request, execute an automatic rake lift operation,
• comprising:
• determine a current position of the rake;
• determine whether the current position of the rake meets a first
• criterion;
• if the current position of said rake does not meet the first criterion, command movement of said rake such that it meets said first criterion;
• and
• command said traction system to move in said reverse direction;
• determine whether a user requests movement of said rake to a different
• position;
• if the user requests movement of the rake to a different position, then:
• stop said automatic rake lift operation;
• command movement of the rake to the user-requested different
• position;
• and
• command said traction system to move in said reverse direction.

A computer-implemented method of controlling a sand grooming vehicle, said sand grooming vehicle including a rake and a traction system, comprising:

• detecting a user-inputted reverse request;
• determine whether said rake meets a minimum height;
• if said rake meets a minimum height, then commanding said traction system to move said sand grooming vehicle in a reverse direction;
• if said rake does not meet said minimum height, then
• commanding movement of said rake to at least said minimum height;
• and
• commanding said traction system to move said sand grooming vehicle in said reverse direction.