Patent ID: 7150332

Claim:
A vehicle speed controller, comprising: a rotary input device for human operation capable of continuous rotary motion mounted to a vehicle being mechanically independent of means for propelling said vehicle; speed sensing means responsive to changes in the angular velocity of said rotary input device; a power source carried by said vehicle; a motor connected to said means for propelling said vehicle, said motor being mechanically independent of said rotary input device; a controller electrically connected to said speed sensing means, said power source, and said motor, said controller being operative to proportionally regulate power supplied from said power source to said motor only relative to the sensed speed of said rotary input device in a continuous range from zero power when said rotary input device is halted; wherein said vehicle is a wheeled land vehicle and said motor is an electric motor which mechanically drives one or more vehicle wheels and further wherein said speed sensing means is an electric generator mechanically driven by said rotary input means operative to selectively provide mechanical resistance to the rotation of said rotary input device by electrical resistance means; and said electrical resistance means being connected to the electrical output of said generator.