Travel device

Abstract

A two-wheel vehicle having a roll axis rotation flexibility in which a servo motor is mounted to each of two wheels operating independently of each other fails to perform stable straight-forward traveling on a laterally inclined road because a neutral position by a spring force of a handle or a step varies with respect to a vertical axis as a vehicle body tilts in a roll axis direction due to a road slope. Further, in such a device, the handle or the step can tilt against intention due to a left and right unbalanced load of a passenger onto the step when getting on or off the vehicle. There is thus provided a control device that enables stable straight-forward traveling while maintaining a standing posture of a person vertically on a laterally inclined road through a motor control of the position of a handle or a step. There is also provided a control device that enables a rotation while a person maintains a vertical posture when a performing rotation operation on an inclined road. There is also provided a vehicle that prevents the occurrence of an unintended inclination of a handle and a step during loading or unloading of a passenger.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to a travel device suitable for application to a coaxial two-wheel vehicle including two wheels disposed on the same axis center line, for example. Particularly, the present invention realizes active control of the tilt of a step plate and / or a handle with use of a tilt driving unit so as to maintain the stability while traveling. The present invention is also applicable to a travel device including three or more wheels.[0003]2. Description of Related Art[0004]A coaxial two-wheel vehicle of a related art implements a posture control of a vehicle mainly in a pitch axis direction by detecting the tilt of the vehicle with a use of a plurality of gyroscopes or the like. For example, a related reference U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,091 discloses such a technique.[0005]As another example, there is a device that includes a handle or a step which is constrained to a neutral position by a restoring force of ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0012]The present invention has been accomplished to solve the above problems, and one object of the present invention is to enable easier manipulation without requiring skill when proceeding straight on a canted road having a lateral inclination in the direction orthogonal to the inclination, for example. Another object of the present invention is to allow a passenger to get on and off a vehicle easily.

[0014]A passenger can thereby maintain his / her posture vertical to the horizontal plane without applying any control force to the handle in spite of a slope of a road, thus achieving natural rotation and forward motion.

Problems solved by technology

However, if such a vehicle travels straight on a canted road having a lateral inclination in the direction orthogonal to the inclination, it causes the following problems.

Further, if a passenger fails to make an appropriate control of the handle, it can lead to an unintended behavior of the vehicle.

However, because the vehicle tilts with respect to the gravitational axis in this state, it is difficult for the passenger to adjust a left-right balance if a lateral inclination of a road is large.

Further, when a passenger places one foot on a step upon getting on the vehicle having such a structure, the step and the handle tilt due to the load imbalance between right and left on the step as shown in FIG. 21C, and the tilt causes an accidental rotation control.

It is thus difficult for a passenger to get on or off the vehicle.

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