This disclosure relates to generally to electric scooters, and more specifically to solar-powered light-chasing electric scooters.
Charging batteries for electric scooters is a burden for the users. For sharable scooters, it is also a challenge, as the scooters are frequently in use, and are normally left outdoors without easy access to battery charging points, e.g., electricity outlets. The electric scooter with solar-rechargeable batteries coupled with a solar panel may be consistently charged when the solar panel (e.g., attached to the electric scooter) is placed under a source of light. However, often times the sharable scooters are left in the shade after being used (especially in urban areas), which may decrease the charging efficiency of the batteries.
In general, one aspect disclosed features an electric scooter with one or more wheels, comprising: a frame; a deck assembly attached to the frame and comprising: an upper surface, a solar panel on the upper surface of the deck, and a battery pack electrically connected to the solar panel; an electric motor electrically connected to the battery pack; one or more light sensors; and a control circuit configured to: receive data collected by the one or more light sensors; and in response to the data indicating light being detected, identify a direction towards the light.
Embodiments of the electric scooter may include one or more of the following features. In some embodiments, the control circuit may be further configured to: in response to the direction being identified, send control signals to the electric motor for moving the electric scooter towards the identified direction for a predetermined distance.
In some embodiments, the electric scooter may further comprise one or more proximity sensors.
In some embodiments, the control circuit may be further configured to: in response to the one or more proximity sensors detecting an obstacle in the identified direction within the predetermined distance, send control signals to the electric motor to stop moving.
In some embodiments, the electric scooter may further comprise a steering assembly.
In some embodiments, the control circuit may be further configured to control the steering assembly.
In some embodiments, the control circuit may be further configured to: in response to the direction being identified, send control signals to the steering assembly and the electric motor for moving the electric scooter towards the identified direction for a predetermined distance.
In some embodiments, the control circuit may be further configured to: in response to an obstacle being detected in the identified direction within the predetermined distance, send control signals to the steering assembly and the electric motor to avoid the obstacle.
In some embodiments, the frame has an opening and an upper surface; the deck assembly is configured to be lifted out of the opening of the frame from above the upper surface of the frame, and is configured to be lowered into the opening of the frame from above the upper surface of the frame; and when the deck assembly is lowered into the opening of the frame, the solar panel is exposed from the upper surface of the frame.
In some embodiments, the electric scooter may further comprise a first electrical connector, wherein the first electrical connector is electrically coupled to the electric motor; wherein the deck assembly comprises a second electrical connector, wherein the second electrical connector is electrically coupled to the battery pack; and wherein when joined together, the first and second electrical connectors electrically couple the electric motor and the battery pack.
In some embodiments, the first and second electrical connectors become electrically coupled when the removable deck assembly is lowered into the opening of the frame.
In general, one aspect disclosed features an electric scooter, comprising: a frame; a steering assembly coupled to the frame to pivot in left and right directions, the steering assembly comprises one or more wheels; an electric motor coupled to at least one of the wheels; wherein the frame comprises an opening configured to receive a removable deck assembly, wherein the removable deck assembly comprises: a deck having an upper surface and a lower surface, a solar panel attached to the upper surface of the deck, and a battery pack is electrically connected to the solar panel; one or more sensors, comprising one or more light sensors; a control circuit configured to: receive data collected by the one or more sensors; and in response to light being detected by the one or more light sensors, determine a target location under the light.
Embodiments of the electric scooter may include one or more of the following features. In some embodiments, the control circuit may be further configured to: in response to the target location being determined, send control signals to the steering assembly and the electric motor to move the electric scooter from a current location to the target location.
In some embodiments, the control circuit may be further configured to: in response to the target location being determined, determine whether to move to the target location based at least on a distance between the current location and the target location, and a remaining capacity of the battery pack.
In some embodiments, in response to the target location being determined, the control circuit may be further configured to: determine, for each of a plurality of points in time, a location of the electric scooter at the point in time; determine, based on the location of the electric scooter at the point in time and the target location, one or more movements for the electric scooter, wherein each of the movements comprises a direction and a distance; and send, to the steering assembly and the electric motor, control signals for making the one or more movements.
In some embodiments, the one or more sensors may further comprise one or more image sensors, and the control circuit may be further configured to: detect, based on the sensor data collected by the image sensors, an obstacle on a path between the current location and the target location; and determine the one or more movements to avoid the detected obstacle.
In some embodiments, the frame has an upper surface; the deck assembly is configured to be lifted out of the opening of the frame from above the upper surface of the frame, and is configured to be lowered into the opening of the frame from above the upper surface of the frame; and when the deck assembly is lowered into the opening of the frame, the solar panel is exposed from the upper surface of the frame.
In general, one aspect disclosed features an electric scooter comprising: a frame; a plurality of wheels coupled to the frame; an electric motor coupled to at least one of the wheels; wherein the frame comprises an opening configured to receive a deck assembly, wherein the deck assembly comprises: a deck having an upper surface and a lower surface, and a battery pack attached to the lower surface of the deck; and a solar panel electrically connected to the battery pack; one or more light sensors; and a control circuit configured to: receive data collected by the one or more light sensors; and responsive to receiving the data, send control signals to the electric motor for moving the electric scooter from a current location to a target location under the light.
Embodiments of the removable deck assembly may include one or more of the following features. In some embodiments, the electric scooter may further comprise a first electrical connector, wherein the first electrical connector is electrically coupled to the electric motor; wherein the battery pack comprises a second electrical connector; wherein when joined together, the first and second electrical connectors electrically couple the electric motor and the battery pack; wherein the first and second electrical connectors become electrically decoupled responsive to the deck assembly being pivoted upward from the opening of the frame of the electric scooter; and wherein the battery pack becomes removable from the electric scooter responsive to the deck assembly being pivoted upward.
In some embodiments, the first and second electrical connectors become electrically coupled responsive to the deck assembly being pivoted downward into the opening of the frame of the electric scooter.
Embodiments of the described technology provide electric scooters having solar-powered batteries and light-detecting capabilities. In some embodiments, the batteries may form a battery pack attached to any number and any type of parts on the scooters. For example, if a scooter has a frame with a deck, the battery pack may be attached to the underside of the deck of the scooter (e.g., if the deck has a chassis, the battery pack and the chassis may form a removable deck assembly; if the deck does not have a chassis, the battery pack may still be attached to the deck); if the frame of the scooter has a bar, the battery pack may be attached to the bar. A solar panel may be electrically coupled (e.g., through a charging controller) to the battery. The deck assembly may be removed from the top of the scooter by operating a latch and lifting a handle of the assembly. The deck assembly may be returned to the scooter in a similar manner.
In some embodiments, one or more sensors may be installed on the scooter, such as light sensors for detecting lights, proximity sensors for detecting obstacles, image sensors to identifying a target location, other suitable sensors, or any combination thereof.
In some embodiments, a control circuit may be configured to receive and process sensor data collected by the sensors. The control circuit may identify a direction towards a light source detected by the sensors, a target location under the light source, detect obstacles, another suitable operation, or any combination thereof.
In some embodiments, the battery may be electrically coupled to a motor of the scooter by electrical cables and an electrical connector. The electrical connector may be a quick twist connector that is opened and closed by twisting its halves in opposite directions.
In some embodiments, instead of using electrical cables, the scooter and deck assembly may include electrical connectors that mate when the deck assembly is installed in the scooter. The electrical connectors may be surrounded by cushions that protect the connectors from micro-vibrations, dirt and water, and the like.
The scooter 100 in
The solar-powered electric scooter 100 depicted in
The electric scooter 100 is depicted in
In some embodiments, the sensor data may not be required. The control circuit may send control signals to move the scooter 100 to a location where one or more solar panels are installed, such as a permanent or temporary charging station equipped with solar panels. The scooter 100 may connect to the station to charge its batteries using the energy generated by the solar panels. The location of the station may be obtained in various ways, such as being pre-stored, pre-programmed, received from broadcasts, or received on the fly.
In some embodiments, the sensors 122 may comprise other types of sensors that may determine a target location under a light source. For example, image sensors may be installed around the scooters (e.g., on the sides of the frame of the scooter) to capture images of the surroundings. Subsequently, the light spots in the images and the corresponding brightnesses of the light spots may be determined (e.g., by using OpenCV). As another example, distance measuring sensors may be installed to measure the proximity of the brightest light spot relative to the current location of the scooter.
In some embodiments, the sensors 122 may be installed at other suitable locations, such as around the bar (referring back to 120 in
For example, a scooter 430 in the region 410 may be facing the direction 432, and the sensors on the scooter 430 may have detected the light source in the region 420. The control circuit of the scooter 430 may, based on the sensor data, determine the light source is in the direction 434 and send corresponding control signals to the electric motor (and/or the steering assembly) of the scooter 430 to move the scooter 430 towards the direction 434.
As another example, a scooter 440 may be in the region 420. The sensors on the scooter 440 may detect the light strengths surrounding the scooter are similar (e.g., the differences are within a predetermined threshold). The control circuit of the scooter may determine that the scooter is already in the ideal location for charging the battery through the solar panel and should not move.
In yet another example, a scooter 450 in the region 410 may be facing the direction 452, and the sensors on the scooter 450 may have detected the light source in the region 420. The control circuit of the scooter 450 may, based on the sensor data, determine the light source is in the direction 454 that is different from the direction 452. The control circuit of the scooter may send a first set of control signals to steering assembly of the scooter 450 so that it changes the facing direction from 452 to 454 (e.g., the facing direction of the scooter may be determined by the sensor facing front), followed by a second set of control signals to the electric motor (and/or the steering assembly) of the scooter 430 to move towards the direction 454.
After the target location 430 is determined, the control circuit of the scooter 410 may send control signals to the electronic motor (and the steering assembly) to navigate the scooter 410 in the direction 420 towards the target location 430. In some embodiments, the scooter 410 may detect obstacles 440 in the path between its current location and the target location 430. For example, the scooter 410 may be equipped with one or more proximity sensors that detect objects within a predetermined proximity. In response to an object 440 in the way being detected, the control circuit of the scooter 410 may adjust the navigation direction to avoid the object 440. For example, the control circuit may control the scooter to move towards a new direction 450 for a predetermined distance. This operation may be repeat for multiple times until there is no obstacle in the direction towards the target location 430.
In some embodiments, the control circuit of the scooter may at step 630 determine whether it should move in the direction towards the detected light source. The determination may be based on various factors, and may lead the scooter to stay at step 634. For example, if there is an object (e.g., an obstacle) in the same direction within a predetermined distance (e.g., 7 feet), the scooter stays. As another example, if the remaining capacity of the batteries is below a threshold, the scooter stays. In yet another example, if the scooter is already in a light source, the scooter stays.
In some embodiments, if the control circuit of the scooter determines to move, it may send control signals to the electric motor (and the steering assembly) to move the scooter in the direction towards the detected light source. The control signals may make the scooter move in the specific direction for a predetermined distance to a new location. In some embodiments, after the scooter moves to the new location, the sensors of scooter may collect updated data (e.g., direction towards the light source, obstacles). Based on the updated data, in some embodiments, the flow in
In some embodiments, after determining the target location, the control circuit of the scooter may determine whether to move to the target location at step 680. The determination may be similar to the process described for step 630 in
If the control circuit determines to move to the target location at step 680, the flow in
As used herein, the term “soft connector” is used to refer to a connector having two halves, where at least one of the halves is coupled to a flexible electrical cable. In some embodiments, the term “soft connector” is used to refer to a connector where both halves of the connector are coupled to respective flexible electrical cables. As described below, the flexible cable(s) serve to insulate the scooter from micro-vibrations, a problem unique to vehicles such as scooters that have small, hard wheels. Referring to
In some embodiments, one half of the soft connector may include a locking indicator 814. The locking indicator 814 may shine red until the soft connector is completely closed, whereupon the indicator 814 may switch to green to indicate a positive lock of the soft connector.
One advantage of the disclosed quick twist electrical soft connector is that it mitigates the problem of micro-vibrations. Vehicles such as automobiles and bicycles are subject to vibrations caused by imperfections in the road surface. Vehicles with small, hard wheels, such scooters, are subject to these vibrations, and also to micro-vibrations, which are caused by tiny imperfections in the road surface, for example such as the pebbles in a conglomerate road surface. Electrical connectors in particular are adversely affected by micro-vibrations, which cause the mating electrical parts to rub together and thereby deteriorate. Gold plating on electrical connectors is particularly subject to this deterioration. In the disclosed embodiments, the lengths of electrical cables 806, 808 isolate the electrical connector from these micro-vibrations, greatly reducing any wear the electrical connectors 812 experience.
Another advantage of the disclosed quick twist electrical soft connector is that it encourages users not to pull on the cables 806, 808 to open the soft connector. In conventional electrical connectors with no twist lock mechanism, users may be tempted to pull on the cables to open the connector. This abuse may shorten the life of the electrical cable and electrical connector considerably. But this is not possible with the twist connector. The user must grasp the soft connector halves in order to twist them in opposite directions. Consequently, the electrical soft connector and electrical cables 806, 808 may enjoy a longer lifespan.
Referring again to
In some embodiments, the electric lock 1008 may operate in parallel with the mechanical lock 1002. In such embodiments, the electric lock 1008 may insert the tab 1014 into a notch in the deck assembly. In such embodiments, both locks 1002, 1008 must be opened to release the deck assembly.
In some embodiments, the tab 1014 of the electrical lock 1008 may have multiple stops. In one of the stops, the tab 1014 engages the latch 1006 of the mechanical lock 1002, thereby preventing its operation, as illustrated in
In embodiments that include an electrical power cable, the scooter may include a mechanism to retain and protect the cable when the deck assembly is installed.
When the deck assembly 102 is installed in the frame 104 of the scooter 100, the retention device 1102 retracts, guides, organizes, and stores the loose portions of the electrical cables 806, 808, as shown in
In some embodiments, the latch that retains the deck assembly 102 within the frame 104 of the scooter 100 may be hidden within a structure such as the frame 104 or the housing 110 of the scooter 100 so that it cannot be seen, and to protect the latch from damage. One such embodiment is illustrated in
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
In some embodiments, the control circuit 1500 may a data collection component 1510, a determination component 1520, and a control component 1530. The control circuit 1500 may include one or more processors (e.g., a digital processor, an analog processor, a digital circuit designed to process information, a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, a microcontroller or microprocessor, an analog circuit designed to process information, a state machine, and/or other mechanisms for electronically processing information) and one or more memories (e.g., permanent memory, temporary memory, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium). The one or more memories may be configured with instructions executable by the one or more processors. The processor(s) may be configured to perform various operations by interpreting machine-readable instructions stored in the memory. The control circuit 1500 may be installed with appropriate software (e.g., platform program, etc.) and/or hardware (e.g., wires, wireless connections, etc.) to access other components of the scooter 100.
In some embodiments, the data collection component 1510 may be configured to collect various data, such as sensor data collected by one or more sensors, remaining capacity of the batteries, charging efficiency of the solar panel electrically coupled with the batteries, other suitable data, or any combination thereof.
In some embodiments, the determination component 1520 may be configured to make various determinations based on the data collected by the data collection component 1510. The determinations may include identifying a light source, identifying a direction towards a light source, identifying an obstacle, determining a distance of an object or a location in relative to the scooter 100, determining one or more movements for the scooter 100, determining whether to move, other suitable determinations, or any combination thereof.
In some embodiments, the control component 1530 may be configured to send control signals to various other components of the scooter 100, such as the electric motor 108, one or more of the wheels of the scooter, a steering assembly of the scooter, another suitable component, or any combination thereof.
The electronic device 1600 may also include a main memory 1606, such as a random-access memory (RAM), cache and/or other dynamic storage devices, coupled to bus 1602 for storing information and instructions executable by processor(s) 1604. Main memory 1606 also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions executable by processor(s) 1604. Such instructions, when stored in storage media accessible to processor(s) 1604, render electronic device 1600 into a special-purpose machine that is customized to perform the operations specified in the instructions. The electronic device 1600 may further include a read only memory (ROM) 1608 or other static storage device coupled to bus 1602 for storing static information and instructions for processor(s) 1604. A storage device 1610, such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, or USB thumb drive (Flash drive), etc., may be provided and coupled to bus 1602 for storing information and instructions.
The electronic device 1600 may implement the techniques described herein using customized hard-wired logic, one or more ASICs or FPGAs, firmware and/or program logic which in combination with the electronic device causes or programs electronic device 1600 to be a special-purpose machine. According to one embodiment, the operations, methods, and processes described herein are performed by electronic device 1600 in response to processor(s) 1604 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory 1606. Such instructions may be read into main memory 1606 from another storage medium, such as storage device 1610. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in main memory 1606 may cause processor(s) 1604 to perform the process steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions.
The main memory 1606, the ROM 1608, and/or the storage device 1610 may include non-transitory storage media. The term “non-transitory media,” and similar terms, as used herein refers to media that store data and/or instructions that cause a machine to operate in a specific fashion, the media excludes transitory signals. Such non-transitory media may comprise non-volatile media and/or volatile media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as storage device 1610. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as main memory 1606. Common forms of non-transitory media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, solid state drive, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic data storage medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical data storage medium, any physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, NVRAM, any other memory chip or cartridge, and networked versions of the same.
The electronic device 1600 may include a communication interface 1618 coupled to bus 1602. The communication interface 1618 may provide a multi-way data communication coupling to one or more connection links that are connected to one or more other components of the scooter 100.
As used herein, the terms “having,” “containing,” “including,” “comprising,” and the like are open ended terms that indicate the presence of stated elements or features, but do not preclude additional elements or features. The articles “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural as well as the singular, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
Although this invention has been disclosed in the context of certain implementations and examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention extends beyond the specifically disclosed implementations to other alternative implementations and/or uses of the invention and obvious modifications and equivalents thereof. Thus, it is intended that the scope of the present invention herein disclosed should not be limited by the particular disclosed implementations described above.
Furthermore, the skilled artisan will recognize the interchangeability of various features from different implementations. In addition to the variations described herein, other known equivalents for each feature can be mixed and matched by one of ordinary skill in this art to construct analogous systems and techniques in accordance with principles of the present invention.
It is to be understood that not necessarily all objects or advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular implementation of the invention. Thus, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other objects or advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.
The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 16/569,151, filed Sep. 12, 2019, entitled “ELECTRIC SCOOTER WITH TOP-SWAPPABLE BATTERY,” which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/864,927, filed Jun. 21, 2019, entitled “ELECTRIC SCOOTER WITH TOP-SWAPPABLE BATTERY,” the disclosures thereof incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62864927 | Jun 2019 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 16569151 | Sep 2019 | US |
Child | 16784533 | US |