Apparatus for measuring the displacement of a vehicle, in particular an all-terrain robot, and a vehicle equipped with such apparatus
First Claim
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1. Apparatus for measuring the displacement of a vehicle, the apparatus including:
- a tread strip whose length constitutes a closed loop, the strip constructed such that it does not slip lengthwise relative to the terrain on which it is made to bear;
an odometer member carrying and guiding the tread strip by enabling it to move lengthwise over a tread-way which is formed by the odometer member and which enables the strip to be made to bear on said terrain; and
an odometer sensor for supplying an odometer distance which is the distance travelled by the tread strip over the tread-way;
the apparatus further including;
means for defining a measurement axis;
contact-inclination measuring means for supplying a contact angle of inclination which, relative to the measurement axis, is the angle of inclination of the tangent to the tread-way at a point of contact where the tread strip bears against the terrain; and
displacement calculating means fed by said odometer sensor and by the contact-inclination measuring means, said calculating means, at least indirectly, multiply the odometer distance by the cosine of the angle of inclination so as to supply a corrected distance representative of the displacement of the odometer member relative to the terrain along the measurement axis.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A primary odometer velocity is measured by a sensor on an odometer member travelling over terrain. The velocity is corrected by a calculating unit to take account of the inclination of the terrain at the point of contact where the member is in contact with the terrain. The inclination is measured by means of force sensors, e.g. measuring the forces applied to said member as a whole. An inertial unit supplies the orientation and the angular velocities of the vehicle. The device has application to navigation of all-terrain robots.
27 Citations
12 Claims
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1. Apparatus for measuring the displacement of a vehicle, the apparatus including:
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a tread strip whose length constitutes a closed loop, the strip constructed such that it does not slip lengthwise relative to the terrain on which it is made to bear; an odometer member carrying and guiding the tread strip by enabling it to move lengthwise over a tread-way which is formed by the odometer member and which enables the strip to be made to bear on said terrain; and an odometer sensor for supplying an odometer distance which is the distance travelled by the tread strip over the tread-way; the apparatus further including; means for defining a measurement axis; contact-inclination measuring means for supplying a contact angle of inclination which, relative to the measurement axis, is the angle of inclination of the tangent to the tread-way at a point of contact where the tread strip bears against the terrain; and displacement calculating means fed by said odometer sensor and by the contact-inclination measuring means, said calculating means, at least indirectly, multiply the odometer distance by the cosine of the angle of inclination so as to supply a corrected distance representative of the displacement of the odometer member relative to the terrain along the measurement axis. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A vehicle comprising:
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a vehicle body; and a set of displacement members bearing against a terrain to carry the vehicle body and to enable it to be displaced, at least one member in the set constituting an odometer member, said odometer member including; a tread strip whose length constitutes a closed loop, the strip constructed such that it does not slip lengthwise relative to the terrain when it bears thereagainst; a core forming a tread-way for the tread strip so as to hold the strip and to enable it to move lengthwise over the tread-way, the tread-way bringing the strip to bear against the terrain at a point of contact; and a connection member connecting the core to the vehicle body; said vehicle further including displacement measuring apparatus including an odometer sensor for supplying an odometer distance which is the distance travelled lengthwise by the tread strip of the odometer member over the tread-way; wherein said displacement measuring apparatus is operative to measure a continuous succession of distinct odometer distances corresponding to a plurality of time lapses succeeding one another continuously from an initial instant to a measurement instant, each of the odometer distances constituting a primary unit distance travelled during a time lapse corresponding thereto, said displacement measuring apparatus further including; means for defining at least one measurement axis; contact-inclination measuring means for measuring a contact angle of inclination corresponding to each of said time lapses, said angle is the angle of inclination of the tangent to said tread-way at said point of contact relative to one of said measurement axes during the time lapse; and displacement calculating means constituting; distance-correcting means for allocating a coefficient to each of said primary unit distances, said coefficient is equal to the cosine of the corresponding angle of inclination so as to obtain a corrected unit distance representative of the displacement of the odometer member relative to the terrain during the corresponding time lapse and along said at least one measurement axis; and integration means for supplying the sum of said corrected unit distances, the sum constituting the odometer member displacement, the displacement being measured along the measurement axis and between said initial instant and said measurement instant. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification