US 7,731,588 B2 · Remote vehicle control system

Abstract

An apparatus for remotely controlling the movements of a vehicle includes a user input means, such as a gamepad with a plurality of joystick-controlled and button-controlled outputs, a tracker, and optional sliding foot pedals; a processor for running a control mapping algorithm; and a remote vehicle controller. A control mapping algorithm maps the outputs to the remote-controlled vehicle's course, heading, displacement, and camera view, with the joysticks mapped to provide open loop directional control over the vehicle's course and heading, the tracker providing open loop control over the camera view, and the optional sliding foot pedals providing open loop control over the vehicle's displacement. The remote vehicle controller sends commands to on-board controls to direct the vehicle's movement. A video stream from an on-board camera is transmitted back to the operator station for viewing on a computer desktop display or a head mountable display.

Claims36

Dependent claims

An apparatus for controlling the movements of a vehicle having on-board controls for independently controlling the course and heading of the vehicle in response to a remote operator's control and an on-board camera/video transmitter for recording and transmitting a video stream of the camera's view of the physical environment within which the vehicle is operating, comprising:

a gamepad comprising a first joystick and a second joystick and having a plurality of outputs responsive to user-controlled movements of the first and the second joystick and one or more user-controlled buttons, wherein the first joystick is mapped to provide an open loop directional control over steering of the vehicle, the second joystick is mapped to provide an open loop directional control over offset of the vehicle to thereby provide an open-loop control over the vehicle course and heading;
a tracker configured to control a head-pose of the remote vehicle as an open-loop control by providing yaw, pitch, and roll orientation angles as outputs;
a processor comprising a control mapping algorithm and a remote vehicle controller, wherein the control mapping algorithm is configured to map the gamepad and the tracker outputs to control the course, heading, displacement, and head-pose of the remote-controlled vehicle, and the remote vehicle controller sends commands to the on-board controls to direct the movement of the remote vehicle;
and
a display for receiving the video stream and displaying the movement of the vehicle to the operator.

2 more elements

a first and a second dual axis directional input control device having a plurality of outputs responsive to user-controlled operations of the directional control axes and user-controlled buttons;
a third directional input control device that is mapped to direct a head-pose of the vehicle as an open-loop control by providing yaw, pitch, and roll orientation angles as outputs;
a processor for running a remote vehicle control software program which sends commands to the vehicle's on-board controls to direct the movement of the remote vehicle;
a control mapping algorithm for mapping the outputs of the directional input control devices to the vehicle's course and heading, wherein the directional control axes are mapped to provide open loop directional control of the vehicle's course and heading;
and
a display for receiving the video stream and displaying the view from the vehicle's cameras to the operator.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Remote vehicle control system

Life of this patent

Remote vehicle control system

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims36