CONTROL OF A PERSONAL TRANSPORTER BASED ON USER POSITION

摘要

An apparatus controller for prompting a rider to be positioned on a vehicle in such a manner as to reduce lateral instability due to lateral acceleration of the vehicle. The apparatus has an input for receiving specification from the rider of a desired direction of travel, and indicating means for reflecting to the rider a propitious instantaneous body orientation to enhance stability in the face of lateral acceleration. The indicating may include a handlebar that is pivotable with respect to the vehicle and that is driven in response to vehicle turning.

主权项

1. A transporter comprising:
a ground contacting module including a platform, two wheels, and a motorized drive imparting torque to the two wheels, the ground contacting module being unstable with respect to tipping in a fore-aft plane of the transporter; a plurality of sensors; a control shaft pivotally coupled to the ground contacting module at a pivot, the control shaft generating a yaw input signal, the yaw input signal based at least in part upon an orientation of the control shaft; and a controller computing an amount of torque to maintain balance of the transporter, the controller modifying the yaw input signal based on a velocity of the transporter, the amount of torque based at least in part upon the modified yaw input signal and a pitch of the transporter sensed by at least one of the plurality of sensors; wherein the motorized drive arrangement supplies the amount of torque to the two wheels.