2226results about "Vehicle body stabilisation" patented technology

An air drag reducing apparatus for use with a vehicle having a rear end closed by a pair of doors consists of a rectangular shaped panel having a leading edge hingedly connected to the vehicle, the panel extending at about 16 degrees relative to the rearward projection of a side of the vehicle in a drag reducing position. As the door is opened, an element allows the panel to be moved between the door and the side of the vehicle to a position adjacent the side of the vehicle. As the door is moved back from the opened position to a closed position, the element causes the panel to return to its drag reducing position. The rear of a vehicle includes two side panels and two top panels.

An air drag reducing apparatus for use with a vehicle having a rear end closed by a pair of doors consists of a rectangular shaped panel having a leading edge hingedly connected to the vehicle, the panel extending at about 15 degrees relative to the rearward projection of a side of the vehicle. An element positions the panel in a drag reducing position; this element is such that it allows the panel to be moved between the door and the side of the vehicle as the door is opened and moved to a position adjacent the side of the vehicle. As the door is moved back from the opened position to a closed position, the element causes the panel to return to its drag reducing position. The rear of a vehicle may include two side panels with or without two top panels.

Configurations are provided for vehicular robots or other vehicles to provide shifting of their centers of gravity for enhanced obstacle navigation. Various head and neck morphologies are provided to allow positioning for various poses such as a stowed pose, observation poses, and inspection poses. Neck extension and actuator module designs are provided to implement various head and neck morphologies. Robot control network circuitry is also provided.

An apparatus and method for transporting a payload over a surface is provided. A vehicle supports a payload with a support partially enclosed by an enclosure. Two laterally disposed ground-contacting elements are coupled to at least one of the enclosure or support. A motorized drive is coupled to the ground-contacting elements. A controller coupled to the drive governs the operation of the drive at least in response to the position of the center of gravity of the vehicle to dynamically control balancing of the vehicle.

A vehicle mode controller, a driving mode collecting means, and a plurality of subsystem controllers including an engine management system, a transmission controller, a steering controller, a brakes controller and a suspension controller, provide an improved system and method of operating a vehicle control system in a host vehicle in a manner suitable for a respective driving surface in a plurality of different off-road surfaces and terrains such as might be encountered when driving off-road. An improved method is provided for controlling a vehicle control system by avoiding unplanned combinations of subsystem configuration modes and minimizing the transition time when changing between subsystem configuration modes.

A device for transporting a human subject over a surface. The device is a dynamically balancing vehicle having a control loop for providing balance. The device includes a platform defining a fore-aft plane. The platform supports a payload including the human subject. A ground contacting module is included which may include one or more wheels. A ground-contacting member is movably coupled to the platform. The platform and the ground-contacting module form an assembly having a center of gravity that is defined with respect to the ground-contacting member and which includes any loads on the device. The device further includes a support. The support may be a seat for supporting the subject and the support is coupled to the platform in such a manner as to permit variation of the position of the center of gravity in the fore-aft plane by translation and rotation of at least a portion of the support. In one embodiment, translation and rotation of the seat of the device are mechanically coupled together.

Robotic systems according to the invention include a frame or body with two or more wheels rotatably mounted on the frame or body and a motor for independently driving each wheel. A system controller generates a signal for actuating each motor based on information provided by one or more sensors in communication with the system controller for generating feedback signals for providing reactive actuation of the motors for generating one or more functions selected from the group consisting of forward motion, backward motion, climbing, hopping, balancing, throwing and catching. A power source is included for providing power to operate the drive motors, system controller and the one or more sensors.

An improved method and device for reducing the base drag of bluff bodies, including large boxy highway vehicles such as semi-trailer trucks, which uses low drag vortex generators in combination with either a trailing panel or shortened boattail plates, to provide greater base drag reduction than other previously known methods. The preferred embodiment reduces the required length of boattail plates by over half, making it compatible with current U.S. regulations for trailer underride bars, and providing easier access for rear cargo doors. The device is easily installed as an add-on device on both new and existing truck bodies. In an alternate configuration, the shape of one or more sets of shortened boattail plates can be built into the rear body shape of vehicles, to maximize the interior volume for a given total vehicle length.

A device for reducing vehicle aerodynamic resistance for vehicles having a generally rectangular flat front face comprising a plurality of load bearing struts of a predetermined size attached to the flat front face adjacent the sides and top thereof, a pair of pliable opposing flat sheets having an outside edge portion attached to the flat front face adjacent the sides thereof and an upper edge with a predetermined curve; the opposing flat sheets being bent and attached to the struts to form effective curved airfoil shapes, and a top pliable flat sheet disposed adjacent the top of the flat front face and having predetermined curved side edges, which, when the top sheet is bent and attached to the struts to form an effective curved airfoil shape, mate with the curved upper edges of the opposing sheets to complete the aerodynamic device.

A leaning vehicle has a frame pivotally connected to the lower end of a shock tower, the pivotal connection defining a frame leaning axis wherein the frame is adapted to lean to a right side and to a left side relative to the shock tower about the frame leaning axis. The leaning vehicle includes an actuator operatively connected to the frame and to the shock tower which is adapted to impart a leaning motion to the frame relative to the shock tower about the frame leaning axis.

A system and method of controlling an automotive vehicle includes determining a steering wheel angle, determining a steering wheel direction, determining a steering wheel angular rate and applying brake-steer as a function of steering wheel angle, steering wheel angular rate and steering wheel direction.

An electrically driven single-axle vehicle with a platform for a driver, driven about a common wheel axis to improve its handling and its range of uses. The vehicle includes at least one attachment, the attachment being connected to the single-axle vehicle pivotably about at least one first attachment axis.

This invention provides an aerodynamic structure attached to the rear face of a truck cargo body, which rear typically contains a door assembly, with a plurality of doors that swing open on hinges, or a single, full-width door, which rolls upwardly. The various embodiments of the invention allow an aerodynamic structure to be permanently attached to the rear of the trailer in a manner that would obscure access to the door(s) in a deployed position, in which the aerodynamic structure generates reduced drag on the trailer body, yet enables ready access to the door(s) in a folded position. The folded position still allows the rear of the trailer to be fully accessible for loading and unloading, and in the case of swinging, hinged doors (among others), allows the doors to be folded through a full 270-degree arc from a closed position to a position flush along the sides of the vehicle, with a minimal sideways projection. The various embodiments also enable relatively rapid and easy transition between the folded position and the deployed position using a variety of actuators and linkages that tie the folding and deployment of various panels of the structure together. This allows an operator to selectively fold and deploy the structure without undue effort or strength.