Patent ID: 6871919

Claim:
A braking system for a vehicle having at least one wheel comprising: at least one battery capable of receiving and supplying power; a plurality of eddy current devices that provide a retarding torque to the wheel of the vehicle when energized; a brake pedal sensor; a brake pedal having the brake pedal sensor attached thereto; a generator driven by motion of said vehicle and capable of supplying power to the eddy current devices and the battery when the brake pedal sensor senses that the vehicle operator has placed the brake pedal in a predetermined pedal position; a battery switch for coupling said battery to said eddy current devices and said generator; and a controller having memory storage capability, the controller for storing an actual power output of the generator, an elapsed energization time, a predetermined ramp time, and a predetermined power requirement of the eddy current devices, in memory, and receiving inputs from the brake pedal sensor and the generator, and based on memory and in response to inputs from the brake pedal sensor, the eddy current devices, and the generator, the controller generates signals for the battery switch to couple said battery to said eddy current devices.