Patent ID: 7833080

Claim:
A toy vehicle system, comprising: a toy vehicle track that includes at least one guide groove to guide movement of a toy vehicle and electrically conductive traces that carry a DC vehicle drive voltage; a remote controller, comprising: at least one user actuable element that generates an input signal, a processor that receives the input signal from the at least one user actuable element and that generates a digital vehicle control signal having a digital waveform that includes (1) an address portion identifying a specific toy vehicle and (2) a vehicle operation control portion that contains a command to instruct a toy vehicle to take a particular action, and a transmitter that couples the digital vehicle control signal to the electrically conductive traces of the track, so that the digital vehicle control signals generated by the remote controller are transmitted over the electrically conductive traces of the track; and a toy vehicle that includes: a guide member that extends down into the guide groove of the track when the vehicle is mounted on the track to guide the vehicle along the track; electrical pickups that contact the electrically conductive traces on the track; an electrical motor that drives the toy vehicle along the track; and a vehicle controller coupled to the electrical pickups and the electrical motor, wherein the vehicle controller receives digital vehicle control signals that are transmitted from the remote controller through the at least one electrically conductive trace on the track, wherein the vehicle controller compares an authentication code stored in the address portion of the digital vehicle control signals to a predetermined value, and wherein the vehicle controller acts on the commands contained in the vehicle operation control portion of a digital vehicle control signal when the authentication code stored in the address portion of the digital vehicle control signal matches the predetermined value.