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AssigneeDEKA Products Limited Partnership
InventorsDean L. Kamen, Richard Kurt Heinzmann, John David Heinzmann, Robert R. Ambrogi, Christopher C. Langenfeld, J. Douglas Field
Estimating the term…
A transporter for transporting a subject over a surface that may be irregular. The transporter includes a support platform for supporting a load, the loaded support platform defining fore-aft and lateral planes and characterized by a load distribution. A plurality of ground contacting elements are coupled to the support platform such that the transporter is statically stable with respect to tipping in the fore-aft plane. At least one of the plurality of ground contacting elements is driven by a motorized drive arrangement. A sensor module generates a signal indicative of the local distribution. Based at least on the load distribution, a controller commands the motorized drive arrangement.
A transporter comprising:
A method for controlling a transporter having a support platform for supporting a load, the support platform defining fore-aft and lateral planes, the transporter including a plurality of ground-contacting elements such that the transporter is statically stable with respect to tipping, the transporter further including a pivot element pivotally coupled to a rotation axis of at least one of the ground contacting elements, the pivot element capable of pivoting around the rotation axis such that the pivot element is capable of tilting, and a motorized drive arrangement for driving at least one of the plurality of ground-contacting elements, the method comprising:
A method for controlling a transporter having a support platform for supporting a load, the support platform defining fore-aft and lateral planes, the transporter including a plurality of ground-contacting elements such that the transporter is statically stable with respect to tipping, the transporter further including a pivot element pivotally coupled to a rotation axis of at least one of the ground contacting elements, the pivot element capable of pivoting around the rotation axis such that the pivot element is capable of tilting, and a motorized drive arrangement for driving at least one of the plurality of ground-contacting elements, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.