Kit to adapt an automotive vehicle for remote operation, automotive remote control conversion pedestal, and system
AssigneeRaytheon Company
InventorsJacob Kyle Layton, Morgan J. Bakarich, Donald J. Lacey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Embodiments of a kit, automotive control pedestal and system to adapt an automotive vehicle for remote operation are disclosed. The pedestal mounts in place of a driver's seat of the vehicle to allow both human and remote operation of the vehicle. The kit includes the pedestal with a steering servo, a hydraulic brake servo, a throttle control servo, and a gear-selection linear actuator mounted thereon. The kit may also include a control system and a video transmission system for remote operation.
Claims20
A kit to adapt an automotive vehicle for remote operation, the kit comprising:
- a steering servo for coupling to a steering wheel of the vehicle, the steering servo mounted on a tiltable plate, the tiltable plate mounted on a vertically-extendable stand;
- a bottom plate coupled to the vertically-extendable stand, the bottom plate adapted to bolt to a floor of the vehicle in place of a driver's seat;
- a platform to support a seat, the platform being coupled to a vertical stand which is coupled to the bottom plate;
- a throttle control servo mounted to a vertical surface of a side plate configured to couple with a throttle body of the vehicle using a throttle cable, the side plate coupling the vertical stand with the vertically-extendable stand;
- a gear-selection linear actuator mounted to an opposite vertical surface of the side plate configurable to couple with a gear selection mechanism of an automatic transmission of the vehicle using a flexible push-pull cable to allow gear selection;
- and
- an electrically operated hydraulic brake servo to mount on the bottom plate and configured to couple with hydraulic brake lines of the vehicle.
A remote-control conversion pedestal to mount in place of a driver's seat in an automotive vehicle to allow remote operation of the vehicle, the pedestal comprising:
- a vertically-extendable stand;
- a tiltable plate mounted on the vertically-extendable stand;
- a bottom plate coupled to the vertically-extendable stand, the bottom plate adapted to bolt to a floor of the vehicle in place of the driver's seat;
- a seat socket to accept a seat, the seat to support a human for human operation of the vehicle while the pedestal remains mounted to the floor;
- a platform to support a seat, the platform supported by a vertical stand which is coupled to the bottom plate;
- and
- a side plate to couple the vertical stand with the vertically-extendable stand,
- wherein the pedestal is configured to remain in place during human operation of the vehicle, wherein the tiltable plate allows the steering servo to be decoupled from the steering wheel to allow human operation of the vehicle.
A system for remote operation of an automotive vehicle comprising:
- a remote-control conversion pedestal to mount in place of a driver's seat in the vehicle;
- and
- a control system,
- wherein the pedestal comprises servos for steering control, throttle control, braking control, and gear selection mounted thereon and is configured to allow the steering servo to be decoupled from a steering wheel to allow human operation of the vehicle while the pedestal remains in place,
- wherein the pedestal is configured to allow a human to sit thereon to allow human operation of the vehicle while the pedestal remains in place,
- a seat socket to accept a seat, the seat to support a human for human operation of the vehicle while the pedestal remains mounted to the floor;
- and
- wherein the control system is configured to provide control signals for the servos during remote operation of the vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.