Carnegie Mellon University

Polaris Industries Inc.

Nishant Pol

Matthew Glisson

Karl Muecke

Herman Herman

Bradley Roy Fishburn

Gabriel A Marshall

Blair A Donat

Gabriel Goldman

Michael J Fuchs

Andrew C Schmid

Edward Mutschler

Richard Pantaleo

Dimitrios Apostolopoulos

Suryansh Saxena

Louis Hiener

Krishna Pandravada

Stephen Novick

Prasanna Kannappan

An aquatic vessel, illustratively a pontoon boat including a thruster system is disclosed. The aquatic vessel executes a process to automatically position the aquatic vessel relative to a target location such as a mooring implement. Exemplary mooring implements include a dock, a slip, or a lift.

System and method for positioning an aquatic vessel

The Reconfigurable Wheel-Track (RWT) is a novel mechanism that allows a wheel to transform into a track, and vice-versa. The wheel permits a vehicle to travel quickly over smooth and semi-rough terrain, then, on-the-fly, transform rapidly into a powered track for crossing extreme terrain. The reconfigurable wheel-track consists of several main components: an outer tire/tread, drive mechanisms for the wheel and track, support mechanisms for the outer tread when in either wheel mode or track mode, and a reconfiguration mechanism that facilitates the transformation from a wheel to a track and vice-versa. The reconfigurable wheel-track includes sensing, actuation, and controls to facilitate efficient and effective transition from wheel to track and vice-versa, and securely maintain each shape.

Reconfigurable wheel-track for all-terrain mobility

Growing community of inventors

Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America

Nishant Pol