Patent ID: 7222684

Claim:
A method for controlling acceleration of a toy vehicle configured to be operated by a person, said method comprising: detecting a change in a throttle signal from a first level to a second level or from the second level to the first level, the throttle signal operable to induce motion via a motor operating as a drive mechanism of the toy vehicle in response to a throttle switch controlled by a person in physical contact with the toy vehicle, wherein the first level corresponds to the throttle signal produced when the person engages the throttle switch, and wherein the second level corresponds to the throttle signal produced when the person disengages the throttle switch; generating a transition signal based on the change in the throttle signal, the transition signal comprising at least one signal level intermediate to a third signal level corresponding to the first level and a fourth signal level corresponding to the second level, wherein a transition from the third signal level to the at least one intermediate signal level to the fourth signal level occurs over a significantly longer time period than a time period for the change in the throttle signal from the first level to the second level; and applying the transition signal to affect operation of the motor.