Penny and Giles Controls, Limited

Matthew John Trowell

Jason David Lewis

A controller for a motorized vehicle having at least a left wheel and a right wheel is provided, where the left wheel and the right wheel are driven independently by a motor arrangement. The controller is arranged to receive control signals from a user input device of the motorized vehicle, the control signals determining a requested left wheel velocity and a requested right wheel velocity. A requested speed of the motorized vehicle is given by a mean of the requested left wheel velocity and the requested right wheel velocity and a requested spin of the motorized vehicle is given by a mean difference of the requested left wheel velocity and the requested right wheel velocity. A scaling unit determines a scaling factor in dependence on the requested speed and the requested spin and scales both the requested speed and the requested spin by the scaling factor to generate a target speed and a target spin. The controller is configured to convert the target speed and the target spin into a target left wheel velocity and a target right wheel velocity and the motor arrangement is responsive to the controller to drive the left wheel at the target left wheel velocity and to drive the right wheel at the target right wheel velocity.

Controller and control method for a motorised vehicle

The technology disclosed relates to a controller and a control method for a motorized vehicle, and in particular to the control of a motorized vehicle having at least a left wheel and a right wheel, the left wheel being driven by a left motor and the right wheel being driven by a right motor. In accordance with such motorized vehicles, linear motion of the vehicle is typically effected by driving the left motor and the right motor in the same direction, while spinning of the vehicle is typically effected by driving the left motor and the right motor in opposite directions. A typical example of such a motorized vehicle is an electric wheelchair.

A controller for a motorised vehicle is provided which is arranged to receive control signals from a user input device and the controller is configured to control a motor arrangement of the motorised vehicle in dependence on the control signals. The controller comprises an acceleration control unit configured to determine a centripetal force factor corresponding to a centripetal force which is currently acting on said motorised vehicle as a result of the control signals and is configured to calculate an acceleration limit for the motorised vehicle in dependence on the centripetal force factor. The acceleration control unit is configured to apply the acceleration limit by modifying a response of the controller to the control signals, such that the motorised vehicle does not exceed the acceleration limit.

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Christchurch, United Kingdom

Matthew John Trowell