Patent ID: 11952072
Assignee: BRYANT ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT, LLC
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A self-stabilizing vehicle comprising:
a front wheel and a rear wheel substantially aligned along a longitudinal axis;
a base frame portion coupled to the front wheel and to the rear wheel;
an operator frame portion to support an operator of the vehicle;
a hinge assembly operably coupling the base frame portion and the operator frame portion; and
a control unit receiving, from an inertial sensor, inertial data related to deviation of the base frame portion from a vertical plane through the longitudinal axis, receiving, from a speed sensor, instantaneous speed data related to a rate of travel of the vehicle, and receiving, from a steering control input mechanism, a steering control input signal related to an intended direction of travel;
wherein the control unit is operative to drive the hinge assembly causing the operator frame portion to rotate about a hinge axis as a function of the inertial data and the instantaneous speed data;
wherein the control unit is further operative to cause each of the front wheel and the rear wheel to deflect, independently, at a respective angle from the longitudinal axis as a function of the steering control input to direct the vehicle in the intended direction of travel; and
wherein the control unit is further operative to vary the deflection angle of at least one of the front wheel and the rear wheel, from the longitudinal axis, additionally as a function of the inertial data and the instantaneous speed data, in combination with the driving of the hinge assembly, to stabilize the vehicle.