Patent ID: 8214108

Claim:
A vehicle system for selectively coupled vehicles, comprising: a primary vehicle (PV) having a propulsion system (PS), a braking system (BS), and a directional control system (DCS) for controlling steering of at least one steerable wheel of the PV; an auxiliary vehicle (AV) having a propulsion system (PS), a braking system (BS), and a directional control system (DCS) for controlling steering of at least one steerable wheel of the AV, the AV selectively connectable to the PV for operation as a combined vehicle; an interactive control system for cooperatively controlling the PS, the BS and the DCS of the PV and the AV, the interactive control system including a PV electronic control unit (ECU) on the PV and an AV ECU on the AV that are in communication with one another; and a docking system for mechanically coupling the AV selectively to the PV while allowing limited relative movement between the PV and the AV, the docking system including an automatic docking actuator (ADA) that initiates automatic docking of the AV with the PV through the interactive control system to couple the AV to the PV when actuated.