Tiltable Three-Wheel Vehicle Control for Stable Cornering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Three-wheeled vehicles face instability and handling issues during turns due to the single outside wheel bearing centrifugal load, leading to potential slipping and overturning, especially with heavy battery loads or in alternative fuel vehicles, which is exacerbated by the rising demand for self-driving and semi-autonomous systems.
Innovation Solution
A control system for tiltable vehicles that automatically tilts the chassis and actively steers the wheels to maintain alignment with the net force vector of gravity and centrifugal force, using a four-bar parallelogram linkage and sensors to adjust tilt and steering angles, ensuring equilibrium and reducing stress on suspension components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a three-wheeled vehicle negotiates a turn, then the vehicle can change direction, but the single outside wheel becomes overloaded with centrifugal force causing slip or overturning
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle employs active tilt control that dynamically adjusts the chassis orientation during turns. The tilt angle is continuously modified based on detected centrifugal force, allowing the vehicle to maintain stability by keeping the net force vector within the wheelbase. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by adapting the vehicle posture to turning conditions rather than relying on a fixed three-wheeled geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the physical parameter of chassis tilt angle in response to turning maneuvers. By actively modifying this parameter based on sensor feedback about centrifugal force and vehicle orientation, the system prevents the outside wheel from becoming overloaded, thereby maintaining stability during directional changes.
2Quantity of substance
If the center of gravity is raised to accommodate heavy battery loads, then alternative fuel vehicles can achieve required energy capacity, but vehicle stability and resistance to overturning deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The active tilt control system dynamically compensates for the destabilizing effect of raised center of gravity. By continuously adjusting the tilt angle in response to detected forces and moments, the system counteracts the increased overturning tendency caused by heavy battery loads, allowing high-capacity energy storage without sacrificing stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses sensors to detect the vehicle's orientation and force vectors, then feeds this information back to the tilt control mechanism. This closed-loop feedback enables real-time compensation for the instability introduced by heavy batteries, maintaining vehicle stability despite the elevated center of gravity.
3Extent of automation
If automated control systems are added to three-wheeled vehicles, then self-driving capability is achieved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tilt control system serves multiple functions: it maintains vehicle stability during turns, compensates for heavy battery loads, and enables automated operation. By integrating these functions into a single control architecture that uses common sensors and actuators, the system achieves high automation without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines stability control, tilt management, and automated steering functions into an integrated control system. This merging of functions allows the vehicle to achieve self-driving capability while sharing computational resources and control mechanisms across multiple functions, thereby limiting the increase in overall system complexity.
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 system enhances stability and traction during turns, reduces rollover risk, and improves handling by maintaining the net force vector parallel to the chassis, allowing safe operation on various terrains and conditions.
Implementation Method 1
determine a net force vector resulting from gravity and centrifugal force
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle of the present disclosure may include at least one pair of opposing wheels coupled to a tiltable central chassis by a four-bar linkage or the like, such that the wheels are configured to tilt in unison with the central chassis. A steering actuator and/or a tilting actuator may be discretely controllable by an electronic controller of the vehicle. The controller may include processing logic configured to maintain alignment between a median plane of the chassis and a net force vector caused by gravity and any induced centrifugal forces. Various control algorithms may be utilized to steer the vehicle along a desired path, either autonomously or semi-autonomously.