Transportation vehicles with stability enhancement using CG modification

A vehicle for transporting a payload over ground having a surface that may be irregular, the vehicle comprising:

• (a) a support for supporting the payload;
• (b) a ground-contacting module, movably attached to the support for suspending the payload in the support over the surface, the orientation of the ground-contacting module defining fore-aft and lateral planes;
• the support and ground-contacting module being components of an assembly;
• the ground-contacting module having:
• (i) a module drive for moving the ground-contacting module in relation to the support;
• and
• (ii) a set of clusters of wheels, the set including exactly two clusters, each cluster having a plurality of wheels for contacting the ground, each cluster being rotatably mounted on, and motor-driven about, a laterally disposed central axis common to both clusters of the set, each of the wheels being rotatably mounted about a wheel axis, all the wheel axes being parallel to the central axis and pairwise disposed at fixed angles with respect to the central axis, the wheels capable of being motor-driven independently of either cluster, ground contact of the ground-contacting module being limited to the wheels of the clusters;
• (c) a motorized drive, mounted to the assembly, for causing unassisted locomotion of the assembly and the payload over the surface;
• (d) CG modifying means for actively modifying the location of the center of gravity of the assembly with payload;
• and
• (e) a CG control loop in which the CG modifying means is included for dynamically creating stability of the vehicle in the fore-aft plane by operation of the motorized drive to vary, among other things, angular orientation of the assembly in the fore-aft plane, such stability being created even while the assembly experiences varying forces and accelerations.