Vehicle System and Method for Accessing Denied Terrain
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A surface vehicle system, comprising:
- a frame;
at least three members coupled to said frame;
a horizontal propulsion system coupled to said frame and at least one of said members, said horizontal propulsion system adapted to provide motive force between said member and the surface to cause the vehicle to translate along the surface;
a vertical propulsion system coupled to said frame and said members, said vertical propulsion system adapted to provide a force to said members generally normal to the surface, said force being sufficient to generate a vertical vehicle velocity to cause said members to separate from the surface; and
an electronic control unit electronically coupled to said vertical propulsion system adapted to automatically control operation of said vertical propulsion system.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A surface vehicle capable of overcoming obstacles is disclosed in which the vehicle accelerates vertically while having a horizontal velocity. The vehicle has a frame and at least three wheels attached to the frame to which a horizontal propulsion system is coupled. Further, a vertical propulsion system is coupled to the frame and the wheels. The vertical propulsion system is capable of providing a force to such wheels normal to the surface so that the vehicle separates from the surface. The vehicle has an electronic control unit coupled to the vertical propulsion system to automatically control its operation.
-
Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A surface vehicle system, comprising:
-
a frame; at least three members coupled to said frame; a horizontal propulsion system coupled to said frame and at least one of said members, said horizontal propulsion system adapted to provide motive force between said member and the surface to cause the vehicle to translate along the surface; a vertical propulsion system coupled to said frame and said members, said vertical propulsion system adapted to provide a force to said members generally normal to the surface, said force being sufficient to generate a vertical vehicle velocity to cause said members to separate from the surface; and an electronic control unit electronically coupled to said vertical propulsion system adapted to automatically control operation of said vertical propulsion system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method to operate a vehicle, comprising:
- actuating a vertical propulsion device, said vertical propulsion device being coupled between a frame of the vehicle and a member of the vehicle in contact with the ground wherein such actuation of said vertical propulsion device causes said member to apply a substantially normal force to the surface such that the resulting acceleration of the vehicle is greater than 2 gs.
- View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
-
29. A surface vehicle system, comprising:
-
a frame; at least three members coupled to said frame; a horizontal propulsion system coupled to said frame and at least one of said members, said horizontal propulsion system adapted to provide motive force between said member and the surface to cause the vehicle to translate along the surface; and a vertical propulsion system coupled to said frame and said members, said vertical propulsion system adapted to provide a force to said members generally normal to the surface, said force being sufficient to cause the vehicle to attain a vertical velocity greater than 1.5 m/sec. - View Dependent Claims (30)
-
Specification