Abstract:
A remotely controlled vehicle for receiving control instructions and data from a remote control device and for transmitting control instructions and data back to said remote control device. The vehicle includes a radio antenna adapted for communication with a smart phone, a transceiver, compass unit, a GPS unit, an electric power source, a servo controlled drive motor, a programmable microcontroller (including sensors) and a servo controlled steering motor.

Description:
[0001]    The present invention is a Continuation-in-Part (CIP) application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/106,104, filed Dec. 13, 2013 (soon to issue as U.S. Pat. No. 9,956,954 on Feb. 14, 2017), which claims the benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 61/737,009 filed Dec. 13, 2012, all of which are incorporated by reference herein. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Radio Controlled Vehicles 
         [0003]    Radio controlled vehicles are well known, especially for toy models of automobiles airplanes, boats and helicopters. Examples are a toy motorcycle U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,583 and a motor vehicle U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,270 both of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
         [0004]    Arduino® Programmable Microcontrollers 
         [0005]    Arduino® programmable microcontrollers are known in the prior art. Arduino® is a registered trademark of Arduino, LLC and refers in general to microcontrollers and microcontroller modules. The Arduino® programmable microcontroller is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. 
         [0006]    The Arduino® programmable microcontroller hardware includes an open-source circuit board with a microprocessor and input/output (I/O) pins for communication and controlling physical objects (LED, servos, buttons, etc.). The board will typically be powered via USB or an external power supply which in turn allows it to power other hardware and sensors. 
         [0007]    The Arduino® programmable microcontroller also has an open-source software component which is similar to C++. The Arduino® programmable microcontroller integrated development environment (IDE) allows code to be written, compiled, and uploaded to the Arduino® programmable microcontroller for stand alone use in prototyping and projects. 
         [0008]    The Arduino® programmable microcontroller is intended to be relatively easy to use to let artists, designers, inventors, and makers freely develop their ideas into real objects. 
         [0009]    Arduino Uno Microcontroller 
         [0010]    The Arduino Uno has 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz ceramic resonator, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header, and a reset button. It contains everything needed to support the microcontroller; simply connect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with a AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get started. 
         [0011]    Smartphones 
         [0012]    A smartphone is a mobile phone built on a mobile operating system, with more advanced computing capability and connectivity than a feature phone. Recent models have added the functionality of portable media players, low-end compact digital cameras, pocket video cameras, and GPS navigation units to form one multi-use device. Many modern smartphones also include high-resolution touchscreens and web browsers that display standard web pages as well as mobile-optimized sites. The mobile operating systems used by modern smartphones include Google&#39;s Android, Apple&#39;s iOS, Symbian, Blackberry Ltd&#39;s BlackBerry 10, Samsung&#39;s Bada, Microsoft&#39;s Windows Phone, Hewlett-Packard&#39;s webOS, and embedded Linux distributions such as Maemo and MeeGo. Such operating systems can be installed on many different phone models, and typically each device can receive multiple OS software updates over its lifetime. 
         [0013]    Mobile Applications 
         [0014]    A Mobile application (also commonly known as Mobile App or an App) is a piece of software installed on a computing device. A mobile app is usually run on a smartphone or other mobile electronic device. It is also possible to run an app on a more stationary type device such as a desktop or laptop computer. The currently popular iPhone smart phone is equipped with a GPS system, a compass and an accelerometer. iPhone is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc. Tools are available from Apple to prepare applications providing remote control of systems and devices via the Internet and WiFi, cellular systems and other wireless communication networks. 
         [0015]    Ad Hoc Wi-Fi Networks 
         [0016]    An ad hoc Wi-Fi network is a type of temporary computer-to-computer connection. In ad hoc mode, a wireless connection is set up directly to another computer without having to connect to a wireless access point or router. 
         [0017]    What is needed is an improved remotely controlled vehicle. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0018]    The present invention provides a remotely controlled vehicle for receiving control instructions and data from a remote control device and for transmitting control instructions and data back to said remote control device. The vehicle includes a radio antenna adapted for communication with a smart phone, a transceiver, compass unit, a GPS unit, an electric power source, a servo controlled drive motor, a programmable microcontroller (including sensors) and a servo controlled steering motor. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0019]      FIG. 1  shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 2  shows another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0021]      FIG. 3  shows a preferred hardware control architecture. 
           [0022]      FIG. 4  shows a preferred microcontroller programming flowchart. 
           [0023]      FIG. 5  shows a preferred smartphone programming flowchart. 
           [0024]      FIGS. 6-8  show preferred user interface display screens. 
           [0025]      FIG. 9  shows a preferred user interface flowchart. 
           [0026]      FIG. 10  shows another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0027]    The present invention provides a method and system for remotely controlling a vehicle via a smartphone over a wireless connection. In a preferred embodiment the processing power of the smartphone is utilized to direct a vehicle utilizing sensor data sent from the on-board microcontroller to the smart phone. 
         [0028]    For example,  FIG. 1  shows remotely controllable vehicle  1 . In a preferred embodiment, vehicle  1  includes WiFi antenna  2 , battery pack  3 , servo controller drive motor  4 , programmable microcontroller  5  (including sensors), and servo controller steering motor  6 . In a preferred embodiment programmable microcontroller  5  is an Arduino® Uno programmable microcontroller. 
         [0029]    In a preferred embodiment, vehicle  1  also includes compass/accelerometer  7 , WiFi networking module  8 , and GPS module  9 . The WiFi unit is WiFly Shield WRL-09954 available from Sparkfun. The GPS unit is GPS shield Retail Kit RTL-10709 and the compass/accelerometer unit is a 9 degrees freedom MPU Sen-11486 also available from Sparkfun Electronics with offices in Boulder, Colo. ( FIG. 2  shows another preferred embodiment. In this embodiment cellular GSM network  13  is utilized instead of WiFi to allow for much greater range in the control of vehicle  1 .) 
         [0030]    Hardware Control Architecture 
         [0031]      FIG. 3  shows a preferred hardware control architecture utilized for control of vehicle  1 . Smartphone  10  an iPhone available from Apple and it is in communication remotely with vehicle  1  via a wireless connection through networking module  8 . Microcontroller  5  receives sensor inputs from networking module  8 , GPS module  9 , and accelerator/compass sensor  7 . Microcontroller sends control signals to servo controlled drive motor  4  and servo controlled steering motor  6 . 
         [0032]    Microcontroller Software Flowchart 
         [0033]      FIG. 4  shows a preferred flowchart  11  outlining programming utilized to program microcontroller  5  for the control of vehicle  1 . As is clearly shown by flowchart  11 , microcontroller  5  is programmed to receive sensor inputs from networking module  8 , GPS module  9 , and accelerator/compass sensor  7 . The sensory data is then used to control the steering and drive velocity of vehicle  1 . 
         [0034]    Smartphone Software Flowchart 
         [0035]      FIG. 5  shows a preferred flowchart  12  outlining programming utilized to program smartphone  10  for the control of vehicle  1 . In a preferred embodiment control software is downloaded to smartphone  10  via a computer network. For example, in one preferred embodiment the control software is an application that is downloaded via the Internet and installed on smartphone  10 . After the programming shown outlined in  FIG. 5  is installed on smartphone  10 , smartphone  10  can be utilized to control vehicle  1  as described above. 
         [0036]    Following are the general steps Applicants took to develop the iPhone application:
       *Applicants developed the iPhone application using the iOS SDK (iPhone Operating System Software Development Kit).   *Applicants used the built-in iOS SDK tools for capturing accelerometer data, GPS coordinates as well as the SDK&#39;s WiFi communication libraries.   *Applicants uses tilt detection from the accelerometer data to determine if the user is tilting the iPhone for steering purposes.   *Applicants uses the GPS data from the iPhone in conjunction with the data coming from the micro-controller and associated sensors (i.e. compass, accelerometers, GPS) to calculate a trajectory (direction and distance) between the micro-controller and the iPhone.       
 
         [0041]    The application can be used to control a vehicle in multiple ways.
       1) Manual steering by slider-bar control (touch activated)   2) Manual steering by iPhone tilt (accelerometer activated)   3) Automatic steering by GPS and compass guided path       
 
         [0045]    Preferred Smartphone User Interfaces 
         [0046]      FIGS. 6-8  show preferred smartphone user interfaces display screens.  FIG. 6  shows a preferred smartphone screen that allows the user to calibrate the position of vehicle  1 .  FIG. 7  shows a preferred smartphone screen that allows the user to receive and process sensor data from networking module  8 , GPS module  9 , and accelerator/compass sensor  7 .  FIG. 8  shows a preferred smartphone screen that allows the user to drive and steer vehicle  1 . 
         [0047]      FIG. 9  shows a preferred user interface flowchart outlining programming utilized for the display screens shown in  FIGS. 6-8 . 
         [0048]    Features of a Preferred Embodiment of the Present Invention 
         [0049]    As discussed above, vehicle  1  is preferably manually controlled over an ad hoc WiFi network with a smartphone. GPS and magnetometer data are used to move vehicle  1  to the general location of the connected iPhone, but this function is not very precise due to the inaccuracy of GPS data. Vehicle  1  will preferably stop whenever communication is lost between any of the components (the smartphone, Arduino® microcontroller, and the servo controller steering and drive motors). 
         [0050]    It is also possible to utilize a second Arduino® microcontroller with GPS in a known, fixed location used to calculate the error in the GPS satellite signals. In another preferred embodiment, sensor data is integrated utilizing Kalman filter for more accurate location tracking over short distances. A camera could be added to the vehicle with the view from the camera transmitted to the smartphone. 
         [0051]    Applicants&#39; Prototypes and Experiments 
         [0052]    Applicants reduced to practice the present invention by building and testing the remote control system depicted in  FIGS. 1 and 3 through 9  using an approximately 10 inch toy truck as shown in  FIG. 1 . The system proved to be fully effective. The Applicants also tested most of the features of the present invention using a modified golf cart. In this test Applicants utilized a steering controller described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/754,676 which is incorporated herein by reference. A driver sat in the golf cart to control the speed of the golf cart but the steering was controlled by the present invention. 
         [0053]    Preferred Uses of the Present Invention 
         [0054]    In one preferred embodiment, smartphone  10  is used to control tractors in the field and to view the status of tractors in the field and monitor data from their sensors. In this capacity, various automated routines may be selected from smartphone  10 . For example, autonomous soil-testing vehicles can be given specific locations to test using the smartphone  10  interface. 
         [0055]    In another preferred embodiment smartphone  10  is utilized in place of a dedicated remote to control a ship&#39;s automated navigation system. Additionally, to help new boat owners, smartphone  10  can display manual control suggestions, as well as giving tactile feedback by putting a slight force on the physical controls. 
         [0056]    In another preferred embodiment smartphone  10  is used to provide an inexpensive method of automating a tournament ski boat&#39;s steering, which is required to stay on a laser-calibrated path for the skier being towed to qualify for a world record. 
         [0057]    Still another potential market is the control of toy models of a variety of vehicles as suggested in the background section. A similar application could be small surveillance vehicles. 
         [0058]    Other Preferred Embodiment 
         [0059]      FIG. 10  shows another preferred embodiment of the present invention. In  FIG. 10  it is shown that vehicle  1  may be controlled by computer devices other than a smartphone. For example remote computer  75  is shown controlling vehicle  1  through a communications network. The communications network may be chosen from a variety of communication networks, such as the Internet, a Wi-Fi network, a GSM network, a Local Area Network or a combination of various types of communication networks. 
         [0060]    Additionally vehicle  1  includes transceiver  80  to transmit as well as receive commands and data. 
         [0061]    Although the above-preferred embodiments have been described with specificity, persons skilled in this art will recognize that many changes to the specific embodiments disclosed above could be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, although smartphone  10  was described as being an iPhone in one preferred embodiment, it should be understood that a variety of programmable smart intelligent devices could also be substituted (such as the iPad, the iPad Mini, and a variety of programmable cell phones and smartphones, to name just a few). Also, although the Aduino® microcontroller was specifically described, it should be clearly understood that a variety of programmable microcontrollers can be substituted to achieve the same result. Other types of drive motors and steering motors other than servo-controlled motors could be used, such as stepper motors and microcontroller controlled motors. Therefore, the attached claims and their legal equivalents should determine the scope of the invention.