Invention:
This invention implements mechanisms to manage risks of vehicles overturning including means of outright avoiding obstacles, correcting for tilts, and mitigating consequences from rolls. Engineered guards passively protect from a wide variety of hazards. If the vehicle tilts, angled guards provide stabilization. If the vehicle does roll, certain guard parameters minimize impact and encourage resulting right-side up orientation. Vehicles are made inherently safer in a fundamental way and deployment/mission duration can be extended.
Background:
Overturning is an inherent risk of vehicles, especially in difficult terrain. Operationally, this is all-the-more concerning for remotely-operated or automated vehicles far from easy correction, such as in exploratory space missions or reconnaissance in remote areas or in mining and subterranean environments.
Applications:
- Space exploration rovers
- Military reconnaissance
- Automobiles
- Explosive ordinance disposal
- Robots and automated processes
- Mining
- Subterranean environments
Advantages:
- Failsafe passive engineering, requiring less need for monitoring or maintenance
- Self-correcting mechanisms that are independent from type of hazard encountered
- Simple and easily adaptable design
- Passive simplicity reduces system complexity and sensitivity to malfunction
- Mission or deployment duration extension
Status: issued U.S. patent #11,110,878
