Parking Robot Foldable Arms for Wheel Stability on Ramps
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional parking robots struggle to navigate ramps and inclines safely, particularly with vehicles having large wheels, as the contact point between the wheel and the robot shifts, leading to the vehicle rolling off the robot.
Innovation Solution
A parking robot design featuring foldable wheel support arms and a wheel holding arm with sliding rollers, allowing the robot to securely lift and fix the vehicle's wheel, ensuring stability on ramps and inclines by maintaining contact through adjustable positioning and gentle pressure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional parking robots use fixed wheel support arms to lift wheels, then the structure is simple, but the vehicle rolls off the robot when driving onto ramps or inclines
Solution Approach 1:
The wheel support arms are designed to be movable and adjustable rather than fixed. The arms can change their position and orientation dynamically to adapt to different wheel positions and ramp conditions, allowing the robot to maintain secure wheel contact while navigating inclines without requiring an overly complex structure
Solution Approach 2:
The robot structure is divided into modular components including multiple wheel support arms that can independently adjust their positions. This segmentation allows each arm to be optimized for specific functions while maintaining overall system simplicity through standardized modular design
2Ease of operation
If the parking robot uses a deeper structure to accommodate wheel support arms, then wheel support capability is improved, but the robot cannot approach vehicles from the outside effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The wheel support arms are designed to nest within the robot's base structure when not in use. The arms can be retracted into the base body, minimizing the robot's depth profile and allowing it to approach vehicles from the outside without obstruction, while still providing full wheel support capability when deployed
Solution Approach 2:
The wheel support arms feature dynamic extension and retraction capabilities, allowing them to extend outward to provide wheel support when needed and retract inward to minimize the robot's overall depth when approaching or moving between vehicles
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design enables reliable transportation of vehicles with both small and large wheels over ramps, steps, and uneven surfaces, reducing the likelihood of the vehicle rolling off and enhancing energy efficiency in lifting and lowering operations.
Implementation Method 1
The parking robot has sliding rollers on the wheel support arms and the wheel holding arm
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a parking robot (20) for a motor vehicle (10) and a method for operating such a parking robot (20). The parking robot (20) has a pair of wheel support arms (36) and a wheel holding arm (40) and is designed to autonomously drive up to a wheel (14) of the motor vehicle (10) from the outside with the wheel support arms (36) and wheel holding arm (40) folded in, to lift the wheel (14) by unfolding the pair of wheel support arms (36) and to fix it on the parking robot (20) by unfolding the wheel holding arm (40).