Passive Balance Board for Two-Wheeled Vehicle Roll Stabilization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tractors are impractical for small farms due to their large size and poor off-road capabilities, leading to constraints in maneuverability and accessibility, while modifications to motorcycles for farming purposes often compromise stability and width, making them unsuitable for tight spaces and turns.
Innovation Solution
A mechanically passive balance board for two-wheeled vehicles that maintains physical contact with the ground without external force, allowing the vehicle to turn and navigate narrow spaces while providing roll stabilization through user-implemented force, without increasing the vehicle's overall size or interfering with its ability to lean.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a conventional tractor is used for farming operations, then productivity and power are improved, but the vehicle size and width increase, reducing maneuverability in confined spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle is segmented into a two-wheeled configuration with the balance board as a separate, detachable component. This segmentation allows the main vehicle body to remain compact for maneuverability while the balance board can be attached when stability is needed, resolving the contradiction between productivity and vehicle size.
Solution Approach 2:
The balance board is designed to be dynamically attachable and detachable rather than permanently fixed. This dynamic configuration allows the vehicle to switch between compact two-wheeled mode for maneuverability and stabilized three-point support mode for productivity, adapting to different operational requirements.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a motorcycle is modified with a two-wheeled rigid rear axle assembly to improve stability, then static stability is improved, but the vehicle width increases, reducing ability to navigate narrow spaces
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than creating a permanent wide two-wheeled assembly, the invention segments the stability function into a separate balance board component that attaches to the existing narrow motorcycle, providing stability without increasing the vehicle's overall width.
Solution Approach 2:
The balance board extends in the longitudinal dimension (front-to-back) rather than the lateral dimension (side-to-side), allowing stability to be achieved without increasing vehicle width. The board projects backward from the rider and contacts the ground behind the rear wheel.
3Stability of the object's composition
If a user drags their feet on the ground surface to balance the motorcycle at low speed, then vehicle stability is maintained, but user fatigue increases and injury risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The balance board acts as an intermediary device between the user and the ground. Instead of the user's feet directly contacting and dragging on the ground surface, the balance board's ground-contacting surface provides the stabilization function, reducing user fatigue and injury risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The balance board provides self-service stabilization by automatically contacting the ground and providing mechanical support. The system serves itself to maintain stability without requiring continuous active user effort, reducing fatigue compared to manual foot-dragging balancing.
4Stability of the object's composition
If the balance board width is increased to improve stability, then roll stabilization is improved, but the vehicle width increases, interfering with ability to fit between crop rows
Solution Approach 1:
The balance board achieves roll stabilization by extending in the longitudinal dimension rather than the lateral dimension. The board's width (lateral dimension) remains narrow to fit between crop rows, while its length (longitudinal dimension) provides sufficient ground contact area for stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The balance board concentrates its stabilizing function locally at the rear of the vehicle where it contacts the ground, rather than requiring wide lateral extension. This localized stabilization approach provides roll control without increasing overall vehicle width.
Data Source
AI summary
A balance board coupled to a two-wheeled vehicle to provide a moving platform that an operator of the vehicle can use to stabilize the vehicle. The balance board includes a coupling mechanism, a frame, one or more moving elements, and one or more foot support pedals. In one example, the balance board is mechanically passive such that the balance board maintains contact with the ground surface without an externally applied force (e.g., by the operator/user of the vehicle). In one aspect, the balance board may be rotatable about multiple rotational degrees of freedom to allow the balance board to steer as the vehicle turns.