We would like to propose a technology for dynamically-stable omnidirectional electric vehicle that vehicle body is always kept in upright position and consequently provides larger stability margin while driving. This technology from the research team at the Tokyo University of Science offers a technology of mechanism which is potential applicable for an innovative electric wheel chair or personal vehicle as well as a next-generation autonomous mobile robot or an automatic guided vehicle.
The research team are currently willing to seek collaboration opportunity for further development.
Background:
Personal mobility, which provides a means of energy-efficient assistance for short-distance transportation of a single person, is getting popular and increasing its importance in aging society. Currently available four-wheel vehicle weighs more than the driver and the center of gravity (COG) must be positioned low in order to preserve static stability while driving. However, the stability margin is still small, and the vehicle may tip over on a sloping road surface. Therefore, our research team has developed a dynamically-stabilized personal mobility, whose vehicle body is always kept in upright position and consequently provides larger stability margin while driving.
Technology Overview:
The technology relates to a personal mobility device having excellent posture stability of a boarding user. Conventionally known devices having a seating surface on a sphere have a problem in running stability on a stepped road surface or rough terrain because they make point contact with the ground. This technology secures a degree of freedom in the moving direction corresponding to point contact by connecting the vehicle body and the chassis with a universal joint. Furthermore, a feature of this technology is that it has a plurality of wheels, thereby increasing the contact area with the ground and realizing a device that is not easily affected by the road surface condition. We use this technology to develop dynamically stabilized personal mobility to solve conventional challenges.
Technology Features & Specifications:
1) Mechanism configuration of the device
The vehicle body (seat surface) is supported by a universal joint having a degree of freedom of rotation (paired even 2 in the present invention), and the chassis (wheels) is dynamically controlled to keep the posture of the vehicle body constant.
-Move the chassis so that the car body does not fall
The wheels mounted on the chassis are wheels that can move in all directions, such as omni wheels and mecanum wheels.
-The omni wheel is arranged in 4 directions and can be moved in all directions.
2)Control method
The torque of each wheel of the chassis is determined based on the angle and angular velocity of the angle sensor installed on the vehicle body, and the speed is fed back.
The physical arrangement of various wheels can be defined by the matrix T, and by calculating the inverse matrix of T, control can be realized in the same feedback loop.
Potential Applications:
• Next-generation electric wheelchair
• Small electric car for 1 or 2 people
Intellectual property status
Patent already applied for
Patent application number : WO2018216530
Where : USA, Japan, China
Current development status
Working prototypes
Desired business relationship
Technology development
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