Powering a vehicle and providing excess energy to an external device using photovoltaic cells
First Claim
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1. A self-propelled vehicle comprising:
- a vehicle body;
a vehicle propulsion mechanism for propelling the vehicle body over a surface;
a vehicle motor carried by the vehicle body for driving the propulsion mechanism;
a battery carried by the vehicle body for supplying power to the vehicle motor; and
a photovoltaic powering system carried by the vehicle body, the photovoltaic powering system including a movable platform connected to the vehicle body and comprising an array of at least on photovoltaic cell a platform movement mechanism for moving the platform, and a platform alignment module carried by the vehicle body, the platform alignment module connected to the platform movement mechanism for aligning the moveable platform relative to ambient sunlight.
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Abstract
A photovoltaic powering system is provided that includes a movable platform connected to a self-propelled vehicle. An array of one or more photovoltaic cells is carried by the movable platform. A platform movement mechanism carried by the vehicle moves the movable platform. A platform alignment module carried by the vehicle and connected to the platform movement mechanism causes the photovoltaic cells to be aligned relative to ambient sunlight. The one or more photovoltaic cells converts ambient sunlight to energy that is supplied to a battery carried by the vehicle to thereby recharge the battery if a charge associated with the battery is less than a predetermined threshold.
215 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A self-propelled vehicle comprising:
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a vehicle body;
a vehicle propulsion mechanism for propelling the vehicle body over a surface;
a vehicle motor carried by the vehicle body for driving the propulsion mechanism;
a battery carried by the vehicle body for supplying power to the vehicle motor; and
a photovoltaic powering system carried by the vehicle body, the photovoltaic powering system including a movable platform connected to the vehicle body and comprising an array of at least on photovoltaic cell a platform movement mechanism for moving the platform, and a platform alignment module carried by the vehicle body, the platform alignment module connected to the platform movement mechanism for aligning the moveable platform relative to ambient sunlight. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A photovoltaic powering system comprising:
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a movable platform connected to a self-propelled vehicle and comprising an array of at least one photovoltaic cell;
a platform movement mechanism carried by the vehicle for moving the platform; and
a platform alignment module carried by the vehicle, the platform alignment module connected to the platform movement mechanism for aligning the moveable platform relative to ambient sunlight;
wherein the at least one photovoltaic cell converts ambient sunlight to energy that is supplied to a battery carried by the vehicle to thereby recharge the battery. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of generating and supplying power using solar energy, the method comprising:
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automatically aligning an array of at least one photovoltaic cell relative to ambient sunlight, the array connected to a self-propelled vehicle;
converting the ambient sunlight to usable energy; and
supplying the usable energy to a battery carried by the vehicle to thereby recharge the battery if a charge associated with the battery is less than a predetermined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification