Patent Application
20240424914
The present disclosure relates in general to multi-unit vehicles and more particularly to multi-unit road vehicles with separate per-unit drive control.
Multi-unit (MU) vehicles such as trains typically include a main train vehicle and multiple carriages trains connected to one another, where each of the carriages of the MU train is driven by a single main controller, typically located at the train vehicle of the MU train/vehicle.
When towing one or more connected vehicles by a carrier main vehicle, especially when driving over a road (rather than over train rails), it is difficult to steer all the vehicles in a safe manner, especially under rough road and/or other external conditions, depending on weight and length of each of the main and towed vehicles and the overall weight and length of the entire “MU vehicle”.
Aspects of disclosed embodiments pertain to a multi-unit road vehicle (MURV) comprising at least:
According to some embodiments, the independent and separate controlling of operation of the at least one wheel of the corresponding wheel set of the VU may be done by controlling one or more of: rotation speed of each wheel of each wheel set of the corresponding VU; steering position of each wheel of each wheel set of the corresponding VU.
Other aspects of disclosed embodiments pertain to a method for controlling multiple vehicle units (VUs) of a multi-units road vehicle (MURV), the method comprising at least:
According to some embodiments, the method may further include receiving updated sensor data from sensors located in one or more of the VUs of the MURV and analyzing received updated sensor data for determining control commands of each wheel set of each VU.
According to some embodiments, the method may further include accumulating sensor data over time for each VU of the MURV, analyzing the accumulated sensor data and adjusting analysis of received updated sensor data, based on results of the analysis of the accumulated sensor data.
The figures illustrate generally, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, various embodiments discussed in the present document.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity of presentation. Furthermore, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. References to previously presented elements are implied without necessarily further citing the drawing or description in which they appear. The figures are listed below.
Aspects of disclosed embodiments pertain to multi-unit road vehicles including multiple vehicle units moveably (and optionally removably) connectable to one another, with a separate per vehicle unit drive control. The multi-unit road vehicle, according to some embodiments, may be designed especially yet not exclusively for optimal vehicle steering and driving of the multiple vehicle units in rugged terrain as well as for easy turning and maneuvering of the multi-unit road vehicle in twisted roads especially when using a long chain and/or large number of connected vehicle units.
According to some embodiments, there is provided a multi-unit road vehicle (MURV) may include at least:
For example, each VU may include: a VU body; at least one connecting mechanism for moveably connecting the VU to at least one other VU; two or more wheel sets, wherein each of at least two opposite sides of the VU body connects to a different wheel set; and two or more controllable motors, each motor connecting to a different wheel set of the VU and separately and independently controls the operation of the respective wheel set to which it connects.
Each motor of each wheel set of each VU of the MURV, may be independently and separately controllable, at least for independent and separate controlling of rotation speed of each of the one or more wheels of each wheel set. Since each wheel set is located at a different side of the respective VU, each side of the VU can be separately and independently driven, improving thereby adaptivity of the respective VU and the entire MURV to local road conditions.
According to some embodiments, each motor of each wheel set of each VU may be separately controllable via a main controller, e.g., located at the main VU and/or via a local controller configured to control only the specific motor. The main controller may in any case be configured to communicate with all local controllers and/or motors, for coordinating steering of wheel(s) of each wheel set of each VU, in relation to all other wheel sets of the same and other VUs to optimize responsivity to road conditions (bumps, obstacles, curves and turns, etc.).
According to some embodiments, the main controller may be configured to process, in real time, data, indicative of the road and/or of several or all of the MURV's VUs, using one or more analysis software-algorithms and/or hardware based devices, for determining, for each wheel of each wheel set of each VU of the MURV, its current optimal speed, and adjust the speed of each wheel according to its determined current optimal speed.
In some embodiments, the MURV may also be configured for real time per-VU and per wheel set steer control, e.g. by controlling wheels rotation speed of the wheel set, determining an optional optimal steering position (angular position/orientation) of each wheel of each wheel set and/or controlling elevation level/position of each wheel of each wheel set of the VU (e.g., by controlling length of an extendible element(s) connected to the wheel) for optimal responsivity to road conditions and real time MURV steering requirements.
The determination of the optimal current speed (and optionally optimal current steering position) of each wheel of each VU of the MURV, may be done based on detected road conditions as well as based on information related to the specific MRVU and its VUs (herein “MURV information”). For example, the MURV information may include details related to: the overall number of VUs, the size of each of the VUs, the steering limits and span of each wheel in each wheel set of each VU, motor drive shaft speed limit/motor output power limit, weight and/or weight limit of each VU, the relative location of each VU in respect to the other VUs of the MURV, etc.
In some embodiments, the main VU of the MURV may include a road sensing and estimation device, including one or more sensors for enable sensing one or more VU and/or the entire MURV external and/or internal parameters such as for identifying road topography of the area in which the specific VU of the MURV or the MURV is located based on known information such as topography updated maps coordinated with on automatic identification of the location of the MURV, e.g., based on global positioning system (GPS) detection and devices, etc. Information and/or sensor data, collected in real time, may be processed, in real time, to determine each motor's operation characteristics including optimal output power (associated with optimal wheel rotation speed) and optionally also to determine optimal steering position of each wheel o each wheel set. Once the optimal characteristics have been determined the motors and/or other parts operating each wheel set can be controlled, according to the determined optimal characteristics.
According to some embodiments, the sensors may include one or more of: accelerometer(s) for sensing vibrations and shocks and/or VU orientation, GPS(s), microphone(s), thermometer(s), camera(s), pressure-meter(s), tactile sensor(s) for sensing vibrations and shocks, etc.
According to some embodiments, each VU may be equipped with one or more sensors for autonomous sensing of local road and/or VU state and autonomous motor control of each of its wheel sets.
Optionally, the VU may also be configured to transmit updated sensor data indicative to the main controller of the MURV for further steering and/or motors control adjustment and/or coordination.
According to some embodiments, the MURV may be modular i.e., enabling to adjust and change its number of carriages VUs and their types. The main controller may be further configured to adjust the manner in which optimal characteristics are determined, based on input information indicating the number and type of currently connected VUs. The type of each VU may be associated with the VU properties such as, weight, size, dimensions, wheel sets number and configuration, motor power/speed ranges, and the like.
Reference is now made to
As shown in
Similarly, carriage VUs 120 and 130 may each include:
According to some embodiments, each VU may also include at least one separate per-VU power supply unit including for instance one or more batteries for powering the motors of the specific VU. According to embodiments, each wheel set may be separately powered by a different power supply unit of the VU. According to other embodiments all motors of all wheel sets of the same VU may be powered by the same single power supply unit.
According to some embodiments, each VU 110/120/130 or only some or one of them may have one or more sensors, for sensing thereby one or more physical characteristics of the respective VU 110/120/130 such as shaking and movement of the VU, orientation of the VU, bouncing of the VU, etc., and/or for sensing physical characteristics of a proximate environment of the specific VU 110/120/130 such as road conditions, temperature, moisture (precipitation identification), close-by obstructions or objects (including people, endangering holes, bumps or large still object ion the road. etc.) and the like. For example, each of the VUs 110, 120 and 130 may include two sensors: main VU 110 includes sensors 115a and 115b, VU 120 includes sensors 125a and 125b, and VU 130 includes sensors 135a and 135b.
The sensors of each VU 110/120/130 may include any one or more of: proximity sensor, movement sensor, camera, optical sensor, moisture sensor, thermometer, acoustic sensor, etc. for sensing VU and/or VU-proximal environment characteristics.
According to some embodiments, each controller 116a-136b of each motor 114a-134b of each VU 110/120/130 may be configured for receiving sensor data (from sensor(s) of the respective vehicle associated with the respective controller) and processing received sensor data to detect obstacles, road features, temperature, VU malfunctioning etc. and determine drive attributes such as steering parameters and/or wheel speed for each wheel of each wheel set, based on sensor data analysis results, in real time or near real time, in respect to the sensing and processing/analysis timing.
Reference is now made to
Accordion to some embodiments, the main controller 10 may include:
According to some embodiments, each towed VU such as VU2120 and VUN 130, may also include a VU controller such as VU controllers 23 and 33, e.g., serving as a relay point between the main controller 10 and the VUs 120/130 for example by receiving sensors data from the local sensors of each VU and transmitting it to the main controller 10 and/or by receiving wheels control commands or control signals and transmitting them per wheel to the controller that control each wheel of each wheel set of the respective VU.
It is to be noted that the term data may refer to any information and/or signals that are indicative of any condition of the VU or an environment thereof detected in real time e.g., via sensing, or any other means (such as receiving power consumption data/signals from each motor of each VU.
It is to be noted as mentioned above, that each side, out of two opposite sides, of each VU is separately and individually controllable such that at each moment in time, at least rotation speed of wheel(s) of one side of the VU can differ from rotation speed of wheel(s) of the opposite side of the same VU, for improved steering and responsivity of the row of VUs of each MURV to road conditions, MURV limitations such as number of VUs connected, sizes and weight thereof etc., and type of connectivity between each two connected VUs.
For example, the connection between each two adjacent VUs allows rotational movement of the connector connecting them about a rotation axis such z axis as shown in
According to some embodiments, each VU may be electronically connected and/or communicative with one or more other VUs in an independent/separate manner in addition or instead of being connected and/or communicative with a main VU—such as, for example, to enable each VU become a leading VU (train) without necessarily requiring a main controller.
Reference is now made to
According to some embodiments, the control commands may be determined/received at the main controller of the main VU and transmitted (wirelessly or via communication cables) to each local VU controller of each VU of the MURV.
Example 1 is a multi-unit road vehicle (MURV) comprising at least:
In example 2, the subject matter of example 1 may include, wherein the independent and separate controlling of operation of the at least one wheel of the corresponding wheel set of the VU comprises controlling one or more of: rotation speed of each wheel of each wheel set of the corresponding VU; steering position of each wheel of each wheel set of the corresponding VU; elevation level of each wheel of each wheel set of the corresponding VU.
In example 3, the subject matter of any one or more of examples 1 to 2 may include, wherein the set of multiple VUs comprises at least one main vehicle and one or more carriage VUs, removably connectable in a chained sequence to one another.
In example 4, the subject matter of any one or more of examples 1 to 3 may include, wherein the main VU comprises a main controller configured to directly or indirectly and separately control motor operation of each wheel set of each VU, for separate control of one or more wheels of each wheel set of each VU of the MURV.
In example 5, the subject matter of example 4 may include, wherein each of one or more of the VUs of the MURV further comprises a local VU controller that is configured to directly or indirectly transmit control commands or control signals from the main controller to the two or more motors of the corresponding VU.
In example 6, the subject matter of any one or more of examples 4 to 5 may include, wherein one or more of the VUs of the MURV further comprises one or more sensors for sensing one or more external and/or internal parameters of the specific VU to which they are attached and/or of the entire MURV.
In example 7, the subject matter of example 6 may include, wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more of: accelerometer, camera, GPS, pressure sensor, thermometer, microphone.
In example 8, the subject matter of any one or more of examples 4 to 7 may include, wherein the main controller is configured to receive and analyze updated sensor data from the sensors, in real time or near real time, to determine one or more control parameters for controlling each wheel of each wheel set of each VU of the MURV, wherein the control parameters comprise one or more of: wheel speed, steering position, wheel elevation position.
In example 9, the subject matter of any one or more of examples 1 to 8 may include, wherein each wheel set of each VU further comprises a separate per-wheel-set, wheel-set controller, for direct per wheel set control.
In example 10, the subject matter of any one or more of examples 1 to 9 may include, wherein each VU further comprises at least one power supply unit for supplying power to the motors of the wheel sets of the corresponding VU.
In example 11, the subject matter of example 10 may include, wherein each wheel set of each VU is powered by a different power supply unit of the corresponding VU.
In example 12, the subject matter of 4 may include, wherein the main controller comprises one or more of:
Example 13 is a method for controlling multiple vehicle units (VUs) of a multi-units road vehicle (MURV), the method comprising at least:
In example 14, the subject matter of example 13 may include, wherein the method further comprises receiving updated sensor data from sensors located in one or more of the VUs of the MURV and analyzing received updated sensor data for determining control commands of each wheel set of each VU.
In example 15, the subject matter of example 14 may include, further comprising accumulating sensor data over time for each VU of the MURV, analyzing the accumulated sensor data and adjusting analysis of received updated sensor data, based on results of the analysis of the accumulated sensor data.
Although the above description discloses a limited number of exemplary embodiments of the invention, these embodiments should not apply any limitation to the scope of the invention, but rather be considered as exemplifications of some of the manners in which the invention can be implemented.
The method and/or processes described herein may be implemented by any one or more software, and/or hardware, element apparatus, device, mechanism, electronic and/or digital computerized system, unit, processing module, device, machine, engine, etc.
The system, module, unit, device etc. or parts thereof, may be programmed to perform particular functions pursuant to computer readable and executable instructions, rules, conditions etc. from programmable hardware and/or software based execution modules that may implement one or more methods or processes disclosed herein, and therefore can, in effect, be considered as disclosing a “special purpose computer” particular to embodiments of each disclosed method/process.
Additionally or alternatively, the methods and/or processes disclosed herein may be implemented as a computer program that may be tangibly or intangibly embodied by a special purpose computer readable signal medium. A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a non-transitory computer or machine-readable storage device and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with apparatuses, systems, platforms, methods, operations and/or processes discussed herein.
The terms “non-transitory computer-readable storage device” and “non-transitory machine-readable storage device” may also include distribution media, intermediate storage media, execution memory of a computer, and any other medium or device capable of storing for later reading by a computer program implementing embodiments of a method disclosed herein. A computer program product can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by one or more communication networks.
The computer readable and executable instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
A module, a device, a mechanism, a unit and or a subsystem may each comprise a machine or machines executable instructions (e.g. commands). A module may be embodied by a circuit or a controller programmed to cause the system to implement the method, process and/or operation as disclosed herein. For example, a module may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising, e.g., custom very large-scale integration (VLSI) circuits or gate arrays, an Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, and/or other discrete components. A module may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices and/or the like.
In the above disclosure, unless otherwise stated, terms such as “substantially”, “about”, approximately, etc., that specify a condition or relationship characterizing a feature or features of an embodiment of the invention, are to be understood to mean that the condition or characteristic is defined to within tolerances that are acceptable for operation of the embodiment for an application for which it is intended.
It is important to note that the methods/processes and/or systems/devices/subsystems/apparatuses etc., disclosed in the above Specification, are not to be limited strictly to flowcharts and/or diagrams provided in the Drawings. For example, a method may include additional or fewer processes or steps in comparison to what is described in the figures. In addition, embodiments of the method are not necessarily limited to the chronological order as illustrated and described herein.
It is noted that terms such as “processing”, “computing”, “calculating”, “determining”, “establishing”, “analyzing”, “checking”, “estimating”, “deriving”, “selecting”, “inferring”, “identifying ”, “detecting” and/or the like, may refer to operation(s) and/or process(es) of a computer, a computing platform, a computing system, or other electronic computing device(s), that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical (e.g., electronic or optical signal) quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories or other information storage medium that may store instructions to perform operations and/or processes.
Terms used in the singular shall also include a plural scope, except where expressly otherwise stated or where the context otherwise requires.
In the description and claims of the present application, each of the verbs, “comprise” “include” and “have”, and conjugates thereof, are used to indicate that the object or objects of the verb are not necessarily a complete listing of components, elements or parts of the subject or subjects of the verb.
Unless otherwise stated, the use of the expression “and/or” between the last two members of a list of options for selection indicates that a selection of one or more of the listed options is appropriate and may be made i.e. enabling all possible combinations of one or more of the specified options. Further, the use of the expression “and/or” may be used interchangeably with the expressions “at least one of the following”, “any one of the following” or “one or more of the following”, followed by a listing of the various options.
It is appreciated that certain features of the invention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments or example, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment and/or other known in the art or unknown in the art objects/parts/devices/systems/subsystems that are not mentioned or briefly described.
Additionally or alternatively, various features of the invention, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, example and/or option, may also be provided separately or in any suitable sub-combination or as suitable in any other described embodiment, example or option of the invention. Certain features described in the context of various embodiments, examples and/or optional implementation are not to be considered essential features of those embodiments, unless the embodiment, example and/or optional implementation is inoperative without those elements.
The number of elements shown in the Figures should by no means be construed as limiting and is for illustrative purposes only.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IL2022/050993 | 9/14/2022 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63243894 | Sep 2021 | US |
