Traveling apparatus and method for controlling thereof

• US 7,178,614 B2
• Filed: 09/08/2004
• Issued: 02/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Ishii, Shinji
• Primary Examiner(s): Morris; Lesley D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LUM VANNUCCI, LEE SIN YEE
• Application Number:
  US10/935,621
• Publication Number:
  US 20050092533A1
• Time in Patent Office: 895 Days
• Field of Search: 180/7.1, 180/65.1, 180/65.3, 180/218, 180/220, 280/5.507, 320118-122
• US Class Current: 180/7.1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 1/02 comprising more than one electric motor
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/16 Single-axle vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/34 Stabilising upright position of vehicles, e.g. of single axle vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/15 Preventing overcharging
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 7/18 Controlling the braking effect B60L7/12, B60L7/14, B60L7/16 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 61/00 Motor vehicles or trailers, characterised by the arrangement or number of wheels, not otherwise provided for, e.g. four wheels in diamond pattern
• CPC Class Codes: B62K 11/007 Automatic balancing machines with single main ground engaging wheel or coaxial wheels supporting a rider
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/64 Electric machine technologies in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

A traveling apparatus and a method for controlling thereof performs efficient charging with regenerative electrical power. An angle θ₀ of a table (not illustrated) is detected by a gyroscopic sensor and an acceleration sensor to be supplied to a central control unit. Then, positional command signals Pref1(t) and Pref2(t) formed are supplied to motor control units which perform control of driving left and right motors respectively. Further, rotational positions θm1 and θm2 of the motors are respectively detected in rotary encoders, those det signals are fed back to the motor control units, and control is performed so as to comply with the positional command signals Pref1(t) and Pref2(t) formed in the central control unit. At the same time, a regenerative state is detected by comparing the rotational positions θm1 and θm2 with the positional command signals Pref1(t) and Pref2(t), and information thereon is transmitted to a regenerative charging circuit by serial communication to perform a control of discharging and charging a secondary battery (battery).

Claims

1. A traveling apparatus comprising means for driving a plurality of wheels independently and a chassis connecting said plurality of wheels, in which means for detecting a barycentric shift of a rider is provided in said chassis to perform traveling by respectively setting rotational velocity of said plurality of wheels in accordance with information on said detected shift of the barycenter, further comprising:

means for detecting the rotational velocity of said plurality of wheels, and

control means for performing control of charging with regenerative energy from said means for driving the plurality of wheels, when said detected rotational velocity of the wheel is faster than said set rotational velocity of the wheel.

2. The traveling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of wheels includes two wheels whose rotational axes are disposed on a straight line and keeping said chassis horizontal is included as an element in setting the rotational velocity of said plurality of wheels.

3. The traveling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein charging with said regenerative energy is performed with respect to a chargeable battery in which a plurality of secondary battery cells are connected in series, a charging terminal is provided for each of said secondary battery cells, and when an amount of said regenerative energy is not large, said control means performs control of selecting an arbitrary cell in said secondary battery to charge said charging terminal.

4. The traveling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein charging with said regenerative energy is performed by either raising or lowering a voltage generated from the regenerative energy to a predetermined charging voltage.

5. The traveling apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an incorporated safety protecting circuit that prevents overcharge by operating a regenerative resistance, when fully charged with said regenerative energy.

6. The traveling apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a temperature sensor is provided and said control means performs control for regulating a charging voltage by computing the charging voltage in accordance with the temperature of said secondary battery.

7. The traveling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein setting rotational velocity of said plurality of wheels and control for charging with said regenerative energy are respectively performed by providing individual control means;

and high velocity data communication is mutually performed between those individual control means.

16. The traveling apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a comparator configured to compare said detected rotational velocity of the wheel and said set rotational velocity of the wheel.

8. A method for controlling a traveling apparatus which drives a plurality of wheels independently and has a chassis connecting said plurality of wheels, in which said chassis is provided with means for detecting barycentric shift of a rider to perform traveling by respectively setting rotational velocity of said plurality of wheels in accordance with information on said detected barycentric shift, comprising:

detecting the rotational velocity of said plurality of wheels, and performing control of charging with the regenerative electrical power from said means for driving the plurality of wheels, when said detected rotational velocity of the wheel is faster than said set rotational velocity of the wheel.

9. The method for controlling the traveling apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said plurality of wheels includes two wheels whose rotational axes are disposed on a straight line and keeping said chassis horizontal is included as an element in setting the rotational velocity of said plurality of wheels.

10. The method for controlling the traveling apparatus according to claim 8, wherein charging with said regenerative energy is performed with respect to a chargeable battery in which a plurality of secondary battery cells are connected in series, a charging terminal is provided for each of said secondary battery cells, and when an amount of said regenerative energy is not large, control of selecting an arbitrary cell of said secondary battery to charge said charging terminal is performed.

11. The method for controlling the traveling apparatus according to claim 8, wherein charging with said regenerative energy is performed by either raising or lowering a voltage generated from the regenerative energy to a predetermined charging voltage.

12. The method for controlling the traveling apparatus according to claim 8, wherein regenerative resistance is operated to prevent overcharge, when fully charged with said regenerative energy.

13. The method for controlling the traveling apparatus according to claim 10, wherein control for regulating a charging voltage by computing the charging voltage in accordance with temperature of said secondary battery is performed.

14. The method for controlling the traveling apparatus according to claim 8, wherein setting rotational velocity of said plurality of wheels and control for charging with said regenerative energy are respectively performed by providing individual control means;

and high velocity data communication is mutually performed between those individual control means.

15. The method for controlling the traveling apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising:

comparing said detected rotational velocity of the wheel and said set rotational velocity of the wheel.

17. A traveling apparatus comprising:

a motor configured to drive a plurality of wheels independently;

a chassis connecting said plurality of wheels;

a barycentric shift detector configured to detect a barycentric shift of a rider in said chassis;

a wheel controller configured to set a rotational velocity of said plurality of wheels based on said detected shift of the barycenter;

a wheel velocity detector configured to detect the rotational velocity of said plurality of wheels, and

a charging controller configured to compare said detected rotational velocity of the wheel and said set rotational velocity of the wheel and to charge a battery with regenerative energy from said motor when said detected rotational velocity of the wheel is faster than said set rotational velocity of the wheel.