Autonomous tilting delivery vehicle

Abstract

An autonomous tilting three-wheeled vehicle comprises a pair of front wheels coupled to a tiltable chassis by a mechanical linkage, such that the pair of wheels and the chassis are configured to tilt in unison with respect to a roll axis of the chassis. An electronic controller of the autonomous vehicle controls a tilt actuator to selectively tilt the chassis. Optionally, a steering actuator is coupled to the front wheels and controlled by the electronic controller to selectively steer the wheels. A sensor configured to measure orientation-dependent information may be coupled to the chassis by a gimbal configured to compensate for vehicle tilt. In some examples, the autonomous vehicle comprises an autonomous delivery robot.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES[0001]This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62 / 807,622, filed Feb. 19, 2019, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.FIELD[0002]This disclosure relates to systems and methods for autonomous vehicles. More specifically, the disclosed embodiments relate to autonomous vehicles having a tilting suspension system.INTRODUCTION[0003]Using autonomous and robotic vehicles to deliver goods, food, and other commodities provides a number of business, customer and social advantages including decreased delivery costs for both buyer and seller, decreased order fulfillment times, decreased congestion, increased asset utilization and decreased labor for delivery. One category of high value delivery robots can operate at relatively high speed (e.g., exceeding sidewalk speeds) and is capable of operating in bike-lanes or roads. With a small footprint, these robots c...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent is about a type of autonomous car that has a tilting suspension system and steering system. It has two front wheels that tilt in tandem with the vehicle, a single rear wheel, and a motor to move it. It also has sensors that detect the force and orientation of the vehicle, and a system that controls the tilting of the vehicle based on the sensor information. The car can automatically align itself with the direction it's facing and adjust its speed based on the driver's needs. Overall, this invention allows for smoother, more precise navigation for autonomous vehicles.

Problems solved by technology

Additionally, the lighter weight of such a purpose-built delivery robot can save energy per delivery, increase safety for pedestrians and other drivers, and decrease embodied energy per vehicle.

However, when combining relatively high speed with a relatively small footprint, the narrowness of trackwidth (wheel to wheel lateral spacing) directly competes against vehicle roll-over stability.

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