Remotely controlled vehicle

• US 20060178085A1
• Filed: 02/06/2006
• Published: 08/10/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: George Sotereanos, Nicholas Sotereanos
• Original Assignee: George Sotereanos, Nicholas Sotereanos
• Inventors: Sotereanos, Nicholas, Sotereanos, George
• Granted Patent: US 8,083,569 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 446/456
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 17/006 Missile-launching means on toy vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 17/05 Trucks; Lorries
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 17/14 Endless-track automobiles or trucks
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 30/04 using wireless transmission

Abstract

A remotely-controlled vehicle is disclosed. According to various embodiments, the vehicle includes components that may be added to an existing vehicle or added at the time of manufacture. The components include at least one of a pneumatic projectile launcher and a water cannon, a rocket launcher having one or more rockets launchable from the vehicle, at least one video camera system for capturing and transmitting video images, and a controller for controlling the projectile launcher, water cannon, rocket launcher, and video camera system. Each of the one or more rockets may include at least one solid-propellant rocket motor, and each of the one or more video camera systems may include at least one video camera mounted for selective orientation in at least one plane.

Claims

1. A remotely-controlled vehicle comprising:

a vehicle;

at least one projectile launcher mounted to the vehicle;

a rocket launcher mounted to the vehicle for movement through at least one plane; and

a controller for remotely controlling the movement of the vehicle and at least one of the projectile launcher and the rocket launcher.

2. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 1 wherein said projectile launcher is structured to launch a stream of liquid and said vehicle further comprises a reservoir for holding liquid and a conduit for transporting said liquid under pressure from said container to said projectile launcher and wherein said controller controls the release of liquid from said container to said projectile launcher.

3. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 2 further comprising a pneumatic system for pressurizing the reservoir and a valve for controlled release of the liquid from the reservoir.

4. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 3 further comprising an adjustable nozzle for shaping and directing the stream of liquid.

5. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 1 wherein said projectile launcher is structured to launch solid projectiles and said vehicle further comprises a container connected to said projectile launcher for holding a plurality of said solid projectiles.

6. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 5 wherein said solid projectiles are paint balls.

7. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 6 wherein the paint balls comprise colored paint encapsulated in a shell structured to fragment upon impact.

8. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 6 wherein the paint balls comprise phosphor paint encapsulated in a shell structured to fragment upon impact.

9. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 5 wherein said solid projectiles are made of a soft material selected from the group consisting of foam, sponge, cloth and soft plastic.

10. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 1 wherein said projectile launcher is mounted to the vehicle for movement through at least one plane.

11. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 10 further comprising a clevis member mounted to said vehicle, said projectile launcher being mounted to said clevis member for pivotal movement through one plane relative to said clevis member.

12. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 11 wherein said clevis member is rotationally mounted to said vehicle to define an axis of rotation for movement of said projectile launcher about said axis of rotation.

13. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 1 further comprising at least one camera system mounted to the vehicle comprising a camera for capturing images, said camera being controllable by said controller.

14. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 13 wherein said camera is a video camera and said camera system further comprises a transmitter for transmitting said captured images to a remote receiver.

15. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 14 further comprising a video display for remotely viewing the captured images transmitted to said receiver.

16. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 13 wherein said camera system is pivotally mounted to said vehicle to allow said camera to pan an area for images.

17. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 1 wherein the rocket launcher has one or more launchable rockets, each rocket including at least one solid-propellant rocket motor.

18. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 1 further comprising at least one safety interlock system for disabling the operation of one or more of said projectile launcher and said rocket launcher unless predetermined conditions are detected.

19. The remotely controlled vehicle of claim 18 wherein said safety interlock system comprises at least one of a motion detector and an angle detector.

20. A remotely-controlled vehicle comprising:

a vehicle and, mounted thereto, at least two enhancements selected from the group consisting of a projectile launcher, a rocket launcher, a water cannon, and a camera system;

a controller for remotely controlling the movement of the vehicle and the operation of said enhancements; and

,

a safety interlock system for disabling at least one of said enhancements unless predetermined conditions are detected.

21. A system for enabling surveillance of a location of interest from a remote location via a network, the system comprising:

a radio-controlled vehicle for movement in the vicinity of the location of interest, the radio-controlled vehicle comprising one or more video camera systems for capturing and transmitting video images, each video camera system comprising at least one video camera mounted for selective orientation in at least one plane;

a computer at the remote location configured to transmit control commands for controlling the speed and direction of the vehicle, and the orientation of the video camera via the network; and

a controller for receiving the control commands from the computer via the network and for transmitting the control commands to the radio-controlled vehicle.