Cabled UGV Debug Controller With Enable Interlock and Joystick
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for debugging unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) are inconvenient and pose risks due to fixed human-machine interfaces and wireless remote control devices, which can lead to misoperation and equipment damage.
Innovation Solution
An electronic device with a portable body, enabling assembly, and operating assembly, including a joystick, that provides enabling and operation signals via a cable to control UGVs, ensuring safety and reliability by requiring manual operation through a cable connection and offering emergency stopping and parameter adjustment features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If wireless remote control devices are used for debugging UGVs, then operation convenience is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to signal tampering or transmission errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces wireless control with a cable-based physical connection between the electronic device and UGV. This mechanical connection ensures signal integrity by eliminating wireless transmission vulnerabilities, while the cable itself serves as both physical and electrical connection medium.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an enabling assembly as an intermediary component that mediates between the operator and UGV control. This assembly includes enabling components that must be activated to permit operation, creating a safety layer that prevents unauthorized or erroneous control signals.
2Reliability
If fixed human-machine interfaces are used for debugging UGVs, then equipment safety is improved, but operation convenience deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the control system into portable electronic device and UGV components, connected via cable. The enabling assembly is further segmented into enabling components that can be positioned outside the housing for easy access, separating safety functions from main control operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the fixed interface into a dynamic, portable electronic device that can be moved and positioned flexibly. The enabling components can be arranged both inside and outside the housing, allowing adaptive configuration based on operational needs while maintaining safety protocols.
3Device complexity
If enabling components are arranged inside the housing, then device compactness is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to reduced accessibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the enabling components into two groups: those arranged inside the housing for compact integration, and those arranged outside for easy accessibility. This segmentation allows the device to achieve both compactness and operational convenience by placing different components in optimal locations.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device and a method for controlling an unmanned ground vehicle. The electronic device includes a portable body which has a housing and a cable extending outward from the housing, wherein the cable is adapted to electrically connect the electronic device to an unmanned ground vehicle. The electronic device includes an enabling assembly that has an enabling component at least partially arranged outside the housing, wherein the enabling assembly is adapted to provide an enabling signal to the unmanned ground vehicle via the cable in response to the enabling component being operated. The electronic device includes an operating assembly at least partially arranged outside the housing and adapted to, in response to reception of the enabling signal, provide an operation signal to the unmanned ground vehicle to control an operation of the unmanned ground vehicle.