Patent ID: 11884320
Assignee: HYDRO-GEAR LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A control system for use in a vehicle having a pair of drive units, each drive unit independently powering one of a left driven wheel and a right driven wheel of the vehicle, the control system comprising:
one or more controllers in communication with the pair of drive units; and
a joystick assembly in communication with the one or more controllers, the joystick assembly comprising a joystick stalk (i) pivotable from a neutral pivot position to a plurality of non-neutral pivot positions about an X-axis and a perpendicular Y-axis meeting at a center point, and (ii) twistable in a first direction and a second direction from a neutral twist position about a stalk axis extending through the center point and the joystick stalk;
wherein when the joystick stalk is in the neutral pivot position, the stalk axis is perpendicular to both the X-axis and the Y-axis, and when the joystick stalk is in one of the plurality of non-neutral pivot positions the stalk axis is not simultaneously perpendicular to both the X-axis and the Y-axis; and
wherein the one or more controllers are configured to:
determine a current pivot position and a current twist position of the joystick stalk;
issue a first set of instructions to the pair of drive units when the joystick stalk is in the neutral twist position and a first non-neutral pivot position;
issue a second set of instructions to the pair of drive units when the joystick stalk is in the neutral pivot position and has been twisted from the neutral twist position to a first twisted position; and
issue a third set of instructions to the pair of drive units when the joystick stalk is in the first non-neutral pivot position and the first twisted position, wherein each of the first set of instructions, the second set of instructions, and the third set of instructions cause a different direction of travel of the vehicle relative to each other.