Highly maneuverable utility vehicles having Mecanum wheels capable of traveling in a variety of different directions and turning in a zero turn manner may include one or more controllers in communication with drive units for powering the Mecanum wheels. A multi-axis interface, such as a joystick, may be connected to the controller for proportionally controlling the direction and speed of the vehicle, and for providing different manners in which the vehicle may enter zero-turn mode. The joystick may include at least one pushbutton for switching between programmed travel modes or selecting an auxiliary function. The controller may be programmed to permit the vehicle to operate in different operating modes.

In a torque sensor, a sleeve is an annular member that is attached to a first rotating member. An intermediate member is an annular member that is placed on an outer circumferential surface of the sleeve. A magnet is an annular member that is placed on an outer circumferential surface of the intermediate member. A yoke is attached to a second rotating member and faces the magnet in a radial direction. A rotating member connecting portion of the sleeve has a cylindrical shape and is contact with the first rotating member. An intermediate member connecting portion is at a position shifted with respect to the rotating member connecting portion in an axial direction. The intermediate member includes a thin portion and a thick portion having a thickness greater than that of the thin portion.

In a torque sensor, a sleeve is an annular member that is attached to a first rotating member. An intermediate member is an annular member that is placed on an outer circumferential surface of the sleeve. A magnet is an annular member that is placed on an outer circumferential surface of the intermediate member. A yoke is attached to a second rotating member and faces the magnet in a radial direction. A rotating member connecting portion of the sleeve has a cylindrical shape and is contact with the first rotating member. An intermediate member connecting portion is at a position shifted with respect to the rotating member connecting portion in an axial direction. The intermediate member includes a thin portion and a thick portion having a thickness greater than that of the thin portion.

A method for steering correction in a mobile machine having at least one ground-engaging device including one or more tracks or one or more wheels includes detecting a steering request with an electronic control unit, the steering request being generated by an input device configured to control steering of the mobile machine. The method also includes determining that the steering request is a request to propel the mobile machine in a straight path and determining, during travel of the machine, an amount of deviation of the mobile machine from the straight path. The method further includes generating an adjusted steering command based on the amount of deviation from the straight path.

A vehicle control system includes a controller configured to, when a collision of a host vehicle with another vehicle traveling in a direction that intersects with a front-rear direction of the host vehicle is predicted (Yes in S20), when the collision with the other vehicle is unavoidable (No in S70) and when the other vehicle comes into collision with the host vehicle in the intersecting direction, automatically turn a steered wheel of the host vehicle before the host vehicle collides with the other vehicle. The controller is configured to vary a direction of the steered wheel that is turned by the controller (S100 or S110) in response to whether there is a target, other than the other vehicle, around the host vehicle (Yes or No in S90).

The invention provides a steering hub system driven by a ball joint universal rotary motor, including a hub body and a connection mechanism. The hub body is connected to a vehicle suspension via the connection mechanism. The hub body includes a ball joint universal rotary motor inside; the ball joint universal rotary motor includes a rotatable spherical shell-shaped rotor body having an opening, a spherical stator body disposed within the rotor body and connected to the connection mechanism, a first coil assembly and a second coil assembly both wound on the spherical stator body; when the first coil assembly is energized, the spherical shell-shaped rotor body rotates with respect to a first axis of the spherical stator body, and when the second coil assembly is energized, the spherical shell-shaped rotor body rotates with respect to a second axis of the spherical stator body, the first axis is not identical to the second axis. A sealing block is disposed at the opening of the spherical shell-shaped rotor body. The motor is a self-starting synchronous servo permanent magnet motor having wide range of stepless speed variation, self-steering power and dustproof ability, and the steering of the motor is sensitive, accurate, smooth, reliable, and convenient for operation, and the steering angle is large.

A smart parking assist apparatus and method are provided. The smart parking assist apparatus operates a smart parking assist function after a vehicle stops and searches a parking slot using a plurality of imaging devices. In addition, the searched parking slot is set to a target parking slot and parking slot information regarding the target parking slot is output. The apparatus recognizes a parking line of the target parking slot and an object adjacent to the target parking slot and sets a parking reference line based on the recognized information, after the parking slot information is output. The vehicle is then operated to be parked in the target parking slot based on the parking reference line.

A system and method of retrieving a vehicle includes generating a path from a final destination to a starting position, receiving a command to retrieve the vehicle, and autonomously operating the vehicle along the path from the final vehicle destination to the starting vehicle position.

A system and method of retrieving a vehicle includes generating a path from a final destination to a starting position, receiving a command to retrieve the vehicle, and autonomously operating the vehicle along the path from the final vehicle destination to the starting vehicle position.

The present invention is a guidance computing system used by the driver of a vehicle towing a trailer while backing-up that rapidly calculates and predicts the direction in which the tow vehicle and trailer will become generally in-line for a given position of the steering wheel, thereby enabling the use of slower, lower cost microcomputers. This is accomplished by using a predetermined table, based on a baseline trailer of known length, having a measure of turning as one of its axes; such an axis is necessary to facilitate ratiometric scaling to convert table values to correspond to any length trailer. In a specially equipped vehicle incorporating servomechanisms to enable the vehicle to steer itself, the driver indicates the direction desired for the trailer to travel. The present invention also predicts left and right path limits for controlling the direction of the trailer when maneuvering complex paths.