Two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus

• US 20050233285A1
• Filed: 03/21/2005
• Published: 10/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Miyamaru, Yukio, Yonehana, Atsushi
• Granted Patent: US 7,090,619 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/61
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 9/058 for teaching control of cycles or motorcycles

Abstract

A two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus includes a vehicle simulator having a saddle which the driver sits on and handlebars operated by the driver, a mat switch laid on a floor in the vicinity of the vehicle simulator, and a monitor displaying information and images based on signals obtained from pedals, the handlebars, and the mat switch. Two or more of the mat switches are provided to independently sense respective placement of one or both feet on the floor by the driver. When two detectors substantially alternately detect placement of the driver'"'"'s right and left feet on the floor, an image of a two-wheeled vehicle and a person walking the two-wheeled vehicle is displayed on the monitor. The vehicle simulator permits simulation of the action of a driver putting his/her foot on a road surface to achieve more realistic simulation.

Claims

1. A two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus comprising:

a two-wheeled vehicle simulator including a seat upon which a driver sits and a steering section operated by the driver;

a driver sensing section which senses placement of a foot of the driver on a floor adjacent to the two-wheeled vehicle simulator; and

a display section which displays information based on operation of the steering section and a signal of the driver sensing section.

2. The two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the driver sensing section is a mat switch disposed on the floor adjacent to the two-wheeled vehicle simulator, the mat switch sensing the placement of the driver'"'"'s foot on the mat switch.

3. The two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

two or more of the driver sensing sections are provided, each of the driver sensing sections operating independently of the remaining driver sensing sections.

4. The two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

when two driver sensing sections substantially alternately detect the placement of the driver'"'"'s feet thereon, images of a two-wheeled vehicle and a person walking the two-wheeled vehicle are displayed on the display section.

5. The two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the driver sensing section is provided on the floor substantially underlying the seat such that the driver can step on the driver sensing section with his/her foot while sitting on the seat.

6. The two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

when the driver sensing section senses placement of the driver'"'"'s foot thereon, an image of a person placing his/her foot on a road surface while sitting on a seat of a two-wheeled vehicle or an image of a person standing beside the two-wheeled vehicle is displayed on the display section.

7. The two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

any one of starting and terminating of a driving simulation is automatically performed by the two-wheeled vehicle simulator based on the signal of the driver sensing section.

8. The two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus according to claim 1 wherein

the two-wheeled vehicle simulator further includes a voice recognition section.

9. The two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus according to claim 1 wherein

the two-wheeled vehicle simulator further includes a voice recognition section operably connected to the display section such that the images presented by the display section are altered based on voice commands received by the voice recognition section.

10. The two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus according to claim 1 wherein

the two-wheeled vehicle simulator further includes a voice recognition section comprising a phrase database, the phrase database comprising plural dictionaries, each dictionary directed to a unique user group.

11. A two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus comprising:

a two-wheeled vehicle simulator including a seat upon which a driver sits and a steering mechanism operated by the driver;

a foot placement detector which senses placement of a foot of the driver thereon; and

a visual display which displays images based on operation of the steering mechanism and a signal of the foot placement detector.

12. The two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus of claim 11 wherein operation of the two-wheeled vehicle simulator is automatically initiated upon an initial signal from the foot placement detector.

13. The two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus of claim 11 wherein the foot placement detector comprises a first detector for detecting placement of a first foot of the driver and a second detector for detecting placement of a second foot of the driver,

wherein the first detector and the second detector are both positioned on the same side of the two wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus.

14. The two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus of claim 11 wherein the foot placement detector comprises a first detector for detecting placement of a first foot of the driver, and a second detector for detecting placement of a second foot of the driver,

wherein the first detector and the second detector are positioned on opposed sides of the two wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus.

15. The two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus of claim 11 wherein the foot placement detector comprises a first detector for detecting placement of a first foot of the driver, a second detector for detecting placement of a second foot of the driver, and a third detector,

wherein the first detector and the second detector are both positioned on a first side of the two wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus, and the third detector is positioned on a side of the two wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus opposed to the first side.

16. The two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus according to claim 11 wherein

the two-wheeled vehicle simulator further includes a voice recognition section.

17. The two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus according to claim 11 wherein

the two-wheeled vehicle simulator further includes a voice recognition section operably connected to the visual display such that the images presented on the visual display are altered based on voice commands received by the voice recognition section.

18. The two-wheeled vehicle simulation apparatus according to claim 11 wherein

the two-wheeled vehicle simulator further includes a voice recognition section comprising a phrase database having plural dictionaries, each dictionary directed to a unique user group.