Two wheel robot with convertibility and accessories

• US 10,828,973 B2
• Filed: 01/07/2020
• Issued: 11/10/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ReconRobotics Inc.
• Original Assignee: Reconrobtics, Inc.
• Inventors: Kossett, Alex J., Drenner, Andrew, Bromback, Luke William
• Primary Examiner(s): Meyer, Jacob B
• Application Number:
  US16/736,519
• Publication Number:
  US 20200254863A1
• Time in Patent Office: 308 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 1/02 comprising more than one electric motor
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2007/0038 the motor moving together with the wheel axle
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2007/0061 the motor axle being parallel to the wheel axle
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 7/0007 the motor being electric
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2200/20 Off-Road Vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2200/24 Military vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: F41H 7/005 Unmanned ground vehicles, i.e. robotic, remote controlled or autonomous, mobile platforms carrying equipment for performing a military or police role, e.g. weapon systems or reconnaissance sensors F41H11/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0016 characterised by the operator's input device input arrangements for computing systems in general G06F3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0094 involving pointing a payload, e.g. camera, weapon, sensor, towards a fixed or moving target

Abstract

A two wheeled robot with a pair of motorized wheels mounted on each end of a body and a rearwardly extending tail. The body comprising a chassis with sides and exterior side surfaces and providing an accessory mounting interface. The interface having a matrixical arrangement of threaded holes and one or more landings, the landings having an outwardly facing planar landing surface with hole openings at the landing surface. An accessory with a robot mounting interface cooperates with the chassis at the accessory mounting interface such that prior to fastening the accessory has a single degree of freedom of movement. Screws extend through portions of the accessory into select ones of the threaded holes of the matrixical arrangement.

Claims

1. A two wheeled throwable robot in combination with an accessory backpack assembly, the robot having a chassis extending between two motor driven wheels, the chassis having a tail interface for a rearwardly extending tail, the accessory backpack assembly attached to the rearwardly extending tail interface and providing a second tail interface, and wherein a tail is attached to and extends rearwardly from the backpack assembly at the second tail interface.

2. The two wheeled throwable robot of claim 1, wherein the accessory backpack assembly comprises a backpack unit that is secured to a back sidewall of the chassis and an operational unit that is electrically connected to the backpack unit and is mechanically attached to a top surface of the backpack unit.

3. The two wheeled throwable robot of claim 2, wherein the operational unit provides one of sensing, communicating, illuminating, and gas dispensing.

4. The two wheeled throwable robot of claim 1, wherein an additional tail is attached to the second interface.

5. A backpack unit mountable on a two wheeled throwable robot, the backpack unit comprising:

a backpack body including a robot interfacing portion having an outward robot interfacing surface, a recessed robot interfacing surface and a plurality of interface sidewalls extending between the outward robot interfacing surface and the recessed robot interfacing surface, the recessed robot interfacing surface and the interface sidewalls defining a robot interfacing recess, the robot interfacing recess receiving a protrusion of the robot when the backpack unit is placed on the robot;

the robot interfacing portion of the backpack body defining a plurality of holes arranged in a matrixical pattern, each hole extending between the outward robot interfacing surface and the recessed robot interfacing surface.

6. The backpack unit of claim 5, in combination with the two wheeled throwable robot.

7. The combination of claim 6, wherein the robot comprises an elongate body and a pair of motorized wheels mounted on each of the opposite ends of the elongate body, the elongate body comprising a robot chassis, the chassis having a landing portion, the landing portion including of a plurality of threaded holes arranged in a matrixical pattern, each threaded hole extending inwardly and not extending to the interior of the chassis.

8. The combination of claim 7, further comprising a threaded fastener extending through a selected one of the holes defined by the backpack body and threadingly engaging a corresponding one of the threaded holes of the landing portion of the robot chassis.

9. A backpack unit mountable on a two wheeled throwable robot, the robot comprising an elongate body, the elongate body having a top side, a bottom side, a forward side, a rearward side, and a pair of opposite ends;

a pair of motorized wheels mounted on each of the opposite ends of the elongate body;

the elongate body further comprising a chassis having an exterior chassis surface that has a forward facing side, a top side, a bottom side, and a rearward side, at least one of the sides having a landing portion having a plurality of landing features,

the backpack unit comprising;

a backpack body having a robot interfacing portion comprising a plurality of mating features, one of the landing features and the mating features comprising protrusions and the other of the landing features and the mating features comprising voids, each protrusion being received in a void when the backpack unit is placed on the robot;

wherein when the backpack unit is placed on the robot without threaded fasteners attaching the backpack unit to the robot, the backpack unit has one degree of freedom of motion relative to robot, the one degree of freedom allowing the backpack unit to be pulled outwardly away from the robot.

10. The backpack unit mountable on the two wheeled throwable robot of claim 9, in combination with the two wheeled throwable robot.

11. The backpack unit and the two wheeled throwable robot of claim 10, wherein each wheel has an undeflected radius, and each wheel of the two wheeled robot may deflect upon impact when thrown to a deflected radius, and wherein the deflected radius defines a cylindrical envelope, and wherein the space between the body and the cylindrical envelope defines an annular accessory mounting space.

12. The backpack unit and the two wheeled throwable robot of claim 11, wherein the backpack unit is entirely within the annular annular accessory mounting space.

13. The backpack unit on the two wheeled throwable robot of claim 9, wherein the backpack unit is one of a sensor, munition, communication device, illumination device, and gas dispensing device.

14. The backpack unit and the two wheeled throwable robot of claim 11, wherein the backpack unit is one of a sensor, munition, communication device, illumination device, and gas dispensing device.

15. The backpack unit and the two wheeled throwable robot of claim 14, wherein a plurality of threaded fasteners are utilized to attach the backpack unit to the robot on a top side and on a rearward side of the chassis, each threaded fastener extending through a selected one of the holes defined by the backpack body and extending into a corresponding one of the threaded holes of the landing portion of the robot chassis.