MODEL VEHICLE REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM

• US 20140249697A1
• Filed: 05/09/2014
• Published: 09/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fredriksson, Lars-Berno
• Original Assignee: Fredriksson, Lars-Berno
• Inventors: Fredriksson, Lars-Berno
• Granted Patent: US 9,233,315 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/2
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 27/02 Model aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 30/04 using wireless transmission

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus for remotely piloting a vehicle. In one aspect, a system includes a transmitter capable to receive vehicle control signals and transmit the vehicle control signals to a vehicle including at least one receiver; one or more modules; and at least one power supply; wherein the at least one receiver receives the transmitted vehicle control signals and transmits the vehicle control signals in a CAN message format to all of the one or more modules; and each of the one or more modules selectively chooses which of the vehicle control signals in a CAN message format the module will respond to.

Claims

1. A system of vehicle remote control comprising:

a transmitter, the transmitter able to receive vehicle control signals and transmit the vehicle control signals;

a vehicle including;

at least one receiver;

one or more modules, wherein each of the one or more modules are embedded in a distributed network architecture; and

at least one power supply;

wherein the at least one receiver receives the transmitted vehicle control signals and transmits the vehicle control signals to all of the one or more modules;

wherein each of the one or more modules selectively chooses which of the transmitted vehicle control signals the module will respond to.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein a housing of the transmitter has vehicle control inputs.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the transmitter translates the received vehicle control signals into a CAN message format.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the receiver transmits the vehicle control signals in a CAN message format over a CAN network with a bus topology.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the transmitter has a CAN bus.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the CAN bus of the transmitter can be temporarily joined to a CAN bus of the vehicle.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein a module can receive and store a scheme.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein a module can engage in wireless transmission of CAN messages.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein a module has an additional data interface.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the additional data interface is a USB interface.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the CAN bus of the vehicle can be connected to a computer.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the computer disseminates one or more schemes to the one or more modules.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein a module is self-configuring, the self-configuring occurring through the module'"'"'s interrogation of other modules connected on a common CAN bus.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the one or more modules supplement a continuous power supply through a distributed power scheme.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein a power source of a module can be recharged using power from the continuous power supply.

16. The system of claim 1 wherein the one or more modules supply power to the vehicle and the one or more modules through a distributed power scheme.

17. A method of remotely piloting an autonomous vehicle comprising:

establishing radio communication with a vehicle via a transmitter, the transmitter configured to receive pilot control signals and transmit the pilot control signals to the vehicle;

transmitting pilot control signals to the vehicle, wherein the transmitted pilot control signals are received by a receiver dedicated to the vehicle;

retransmitting each received pilot control signal to all of one or more modules, each module located within the vehicle and, wherein each of the one or more modules selects which retransmitted pilot control signals to respond to.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein each of the retransmitted pilot control signals are transmitted in a CAN message format.

19. A system of powering a remote controlled vehicle comprising:

a transmitter, the transmitter able to receive vehicle control signals from a user and transmit the vehicle control signals;

a vehicle including;

at least one receiver;

one or more modules, wherein a non-empty subset of the one or modules is a powered module and a powered module is a module having a power supply distinct from a primary power supply;

a distributed network to which each of the one or more modules is connected;

wherein the distributed network is capable of transmitting power from any module to any other module;

and

at least one primary power supply, the at least one primary power supply capable of servicing a base line power need of the vehicle.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the vehicle receiver is able to receive the transmitted vehicle control signals and transmit the vehicle control signals to all of the one or more modules, wherein each of the one or more modules selectively chooses which of the transmitted vehicle control signals the module will respond to.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein a powered module can draw power from its power supply to supply power on an as needed basis to the powered module and other modules.

22. The system of claim 19 wherein the vehicle further includes a power charging interface operationally connected to the primary power supply and operationally connected to each power supply of each powered module.

23. The system of claim 19 wherein the receiver transmits the vehicle control signals in a CAN message format over a CAN network with a bus topology.

24. The system of claim 19 wherein a module can receive and store a scheme.

25. The system of claim 20 wherein the transmitter translates the received vehicle control signals into a CAN message format.

26. The system of claim 20 wherein the CAN bus of the transmitter can be temporarily joined to a CAN bus of the vehicle.

27. The system of claim 20 wherein at least one module has a USB interface.