Patents by Inventor Kazushi Akimoto

Kazushi Akimoto has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8838338
    Abstract: In a mobile vehicle 1 having a vehicle body 2, a front wheel 3f, and a rear wheel 3r, the steered wheel 3f can be steered by a steering actuator 8 about a steering axis Csf which is tilted backward. A control device 15 controls the steering actuator 8, on the basis of a dynamics model of the mobile vehicle 1A configured by a mass point system having an inverted pendulum mass point 123 and a ground surface mass point 124, so as to stabilize a motional state quantity of the inverted pendulum mass point 123 and a motional state quantity of the steering angle of the steered wheel 3f.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Takenaka, Kazushi Akimoto
  • Patent number: 8825254
    Abstract: A controller 21 of a vehicle 1 is equipped with a first control 24, which is configured to control a first actuator 8 so as to move a traveling motion unit 3 according to tilting of an occupant mounting section 5, and a second control unit 25, which is configured to control, in a case where a turning command is output from a joystick 12, an electric motor 14 such that a steering direction of a wheel 4 viewed from above the vehicle 1 becomes tilted with respect to a direction of a moving velocity vector V of the traveling motion unit 3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shinichiro Kobashi, Kazushi Akimoto, Hideo Murakami
  • Publication number: 20140188342
    Abstract: In a mobile vehicle 1A having a front wheel 3f and a rear wheel 3r, the steered wheel 3f can be steered by an actuator 8. A control device 15 controls the actuator 8 so as to stabilize the inclination angle ?b in the roll direction of the vehicle body 2 and the steering angle ?f of the steered wheel 3f. The control device 15 causes the sensitivity of the steering of the steered wheel 3f to the change in observed value of the inclination angle ?b to be changed in accordance with the steering angle of the steered wheel 3f.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2013
    Publication date: July 3, 2014
    Applicant: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Toru Takenaka, Kazushi Akimoto
  • Publication number: 20140188341
    Abstract: In a mobile vehicle 1A having a front wheel 3f and a rear wheel 3r, the steered wheel 3f can be steered by an actuator 8. A control device 15 controls the actuator 8 so as to stabilize the inclination angle ?b in the roll direction of the vehicle body 2 and the steering angle ?f of the steered wheel 3f. The control device 15 causes a ratio between the sensitivity of the steering of the steered wheel 3f to the change in observed value of the inclination angle ?b and the sensitivity of the steering of the steered wheel 3f to the change in observed value of the steering angle ?f to be changed in accordance with the traveling speed of the mobile vehicle 1A.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2013
    Publication date: July 3, 2014
    Applicant: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Toru Takenaka, Kazushi Akimoto
  • Publication number: 20140129086
    Abstract: In a mobile vehicle 1 having a vehicle body 2, a front wheel 3f, and a rear wheel 3r, the steered wheel 3f can be steered by a steering actuator 8 about a steering axis Csf which is tilted backward. A control device 15 controls the steering actuator 8, on the basis of a dynamics model of the mobile vehicle 1A configured by a mass point system having an inverted pendulum mass point 123 and a ground surface mass point 124, so as to stabilize a motional state quantity of the inverted pendulum mass point 123 and a motional state quantity of the steering angle of the steered wheel 3f.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2013
    Publication date: May 8, 2014
    Applicant: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Toru Takenaka, Kazushi Akimoto
  • Publication number: 20140129087
    Abstract: In a mobile vehicle 1 having a vehicle body 2, a front wheel 3f, and a rear wheel 3r, the steering control wheel 3f can be steered by a steering actuator 8 about a steering axis Csf which is tilted backward. The steering actuator 8 is controlled by a control device 15. The height a, from a ground surface 110, of the intersection point Ef of the steering axis Csf of the steering control wheel 3f and a virtual straight line connecting the ground contact point of the steering control wheel 3f and the center of axle of the steering control wheel 3f in a basic posture state of the mobile vehicle 1 is set to satisfy a prescribed condition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2013
    Publication date: May 8, 2014
    Applicant: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Toru Takenaka, Hiroshi Gomi, Kazushi Akimoto, Hiroyuki Makino, Yoichi Nishimura, Taihei Setoguchi, Naoyuki Saito, Kenji Muto, Keisuke Koitabashi, Shunichi Nakabayashi
  • Patent number: 8700268
    Abstract: In an inverted pendulum type vehicle having a traveling motion unit, when a component about an axis in a second direction and a component about an axis in a first direction from within a tilt error between an actual tilt angle and a desired tilt angle of the payload supporting part are defined as ?be_x_s and ?be_y_s, respectively, and when a component in the first direction and a component in the second direction from within a traveling velocity of a representative point of the vehicle in a stationary state in which ?be_x_s and ?be_y_s are retained constant are defined as Vb_x_stb and Vb_y_stb, respectively, a traveling motion of the traveling motion unit is controlled so that a ratio of a magnitude of Vb_x_stb with respect to a magnitude of ?be_x_s and a ratio of a magnitude of Vb_y_stb with respect to ?be_y_s becomes a ratio different from each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2014
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Takenaka, Kazushi Akimoto, Shinichiro Kobashi, Hideo Murakami
  • Publication number: 20140067177
    Abstract: A controller 21 of a vehicle 1 is equipped with a first control 24, which is configured to control a first actuator 8 so as to move a traveling motion unit 3 according to tilting of an occupant mounting section 5, and a second control unit 25, which is configured to control, in a case where a turning command is output from a joystick 12, an electric motor 14 such that a steering direction of a wheel 4 viewed from above the vehicle 1 becomes tilted with respect to a direction of a moving velocity vector V of the traveling motion unit 3.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 13, 2013
    Publication date: March 6, 2014
    Applicant: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shinichiro KOBASHI, Kazushi AKIMOTO, Hideo MURAKAMI
  • Patent number: 8645030
    Abstract: Provided is a controller for an inverted pendulum type vehicle capable of moving the vehicle smoothly. The inverted pendulum type vehicle 1 is provided with a grip 18 at a upper end portion of a base body 9. A grip-acting external force F acting on the grip 18 is detected by a force sensor 55. According to the detected grip-acting external force F, a required center-of-gravity velocity generator 74 determines required center-of-gravity velocities Vb_x_aim and Vb_y_aim, and on the basis thereof, a traveling motion unit controller determines a manipulated variable for control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2014
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shinichiro Kobashi, Kazushi Akimoto, Hideo Murakami, Toru Takenaka, Hiroshi Gomi
  • Patent number: 8583302
    Abstract: An electric vehicle includes a base; a front wheel that can be driven omnidirectionally; a rear wheel that is mounted on the base so that a symmetry axis is parallel with a symmetry axis of the front wheel; a seat member that is mounted so that a straight line connecting a wheel center of the front wheel and a wheel center of the rear wheel specifies a fore-and-aft direction; an controller that detects an acceleration and deceleration command and a turning command; an inclination sensor that detects inclination of the base; and a control unit that controls acceleration and deceleration of the base based on the acceleration and deceleration command detected by the controller, that controls turning of the base based on the turning command detected by the controller, and that controls translational motion of the base based on inclination of the base detected by the inclination sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2013
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazushi Akimoto, Toru Takenaka, Hiroshi Gomi, Shinichiro Kobashi
  • Patent number: 8583338
    Abstract: Provided is a controller of an inverted pendulum type vehicle capable of being moved smoothly by a guided subject as a support. In the inverted pendulum type vehicle 1, an upper portion of a base body 9 is fixed with a grip 18 extending vertically, and a joystick 20 is disposed at an upper end of the grip 18 and is configured to be held by a guided subject to issue commands to every direction of 360° according to thumb operations thereof. A manipulated variable of the joystick 20 is detected by a position sensor 55, a required center-of-gravity velocity generator 74 determines required center-of-gravity velocities of Vb_x_aim and Vb_y_aim according to the detected manipulated variable of the joystick 20, and on the basis thereof, a traveling motion unit controller determines a manipulated variable for control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2013
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Takenaka, Kazushi Akimoto, Shinichiro Kobashi, Hideo Murakami
  • Patent number: 8583342
    Abstract: A control device of an inverted pendulum type vehicle capable of simplifying the steering of the vehicle, and of improving handling quality thereof, is provided. A control unit 50 of an inverted pendulum type vehicle sequentially determines a target-of-retaining velocity magnitude amount which is a magnitude of a desired velocity of a predetermined representative point in a predetermined period of time, or a magnitude of a component in a predetermined direction of the desired velocity, to be retained stable to a value identical to the target-of-retaining velocity magnitude amount in relation to the desired velocity determined immediately before start of the period of time, in the case where a predetermined condition is satisfied, and control the traveling motion of a traveling motion unit 5 in accordance with the determined desired velocity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2013
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Takenaka, Kazushi Akimoto, Shinichiro Kobashi, Hideo Murakami
  • Patent number: 8577576
    Abstract: An inverted pendulum type vehicle includes a travelling motion unit capable of moving on a floor surface, an actuator for driving the travelling motion unit, a base body mounted with the travelling motion unit and the actuator, a tilt detector configured to detect a tilt of the base body, and a controller configured to control the actuator. The controller controls an operation of an actuator so as to restrict a representative point velocity which is a travelling velocity of a predefined representative point located above a ground contact point of the vehicle and is determined according to a travelling velocity of the travelling motion unit and a tilt of the base body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2013
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Takenaka, Kazushi Akimoto, Hideo Murakami
  • Patent number: 8577516
    Abstract: A control device of an inverted pendulum type vehicle capable of easily performing a circling movement of the vehicle, without requiring complex maneuvering operation. A control unit 50 of an inverted pendulum type vehicle 1 determines a desired tilt angle of a payload supporting part 3 according to a yaw rate measured value by a yaw rate sensor 53 equipped to the vehicle 1, and controls a traveling motion of a traveling motion unit 5 so as to bring an actual tilt angle close to the desired tilt angle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2013
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Takenaka, Kazushi Akimoto, Shinichiro Kobashi, Hideo Murakami
  • Patent number: 8567535
    Abstract: An inverted pendulum type moving body comprising: a base body; a moving behavior unit movable in all directions on a floor surface; an actuator driving the moving behavior unit; and a control unit controlling the actuator so that at least a tilt angle of the base body equals a predetermined target angle, the control unit also controlling the actuator so that the moving behavior unit moves along a predetermined trajectory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2013
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Takenaka, Kazushi Akimoto
  • Patent number: 8567537
    Abstract: In an inverted pendulum type vehicle having a lower frame (22) and an upper frame (21) detachably joined to an upper end of the lower frame, the lower and upper frames each defining a hollow interior, a drive unit (3) is incorporated in the lower frame, and a battery unit (10) is received in the upper frame and configured to supply electric power to the drive unit via an electric unit (11) received in a narrow section intermediate between the upper and lower frames. Thereby, the vehicle may be of a compact and small foot print design. In particular, when this structure is applied to a vehicle using a main wheel having a relatively small width, by matching the upper part of the vehicle to have a corresponding small width, the overall profile of the vehicle may have a highly small width. Furthermore, the total weight of the vehicle can be relatively evenly distributed between the upper and lower parts for easy handling and control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2013
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd
    Inventors: Hiroshi Gomi, Kazushi Hamaya, Kazushi Akimoto, Yuichi Uebayashi, Shinichiro Kobashi, Hironori Waita
  • Patent number: 8554391
    Abstract: Provided is a control device of an inverted pendulum type vehicle capable of moving the vehicle toward a desired direction easily. In the inverted pendulum type vehicle 1, one end of a cord member C is connected to a seat 3 via an engagement member 4. A tension of the cord member C is detected by a triaxial force sensor. According to the detected tension of the cord member C, a required center-of-gravity velocity generator 74 determines required center-of-gravity velocities Vb_x_aim and Vb_y_aim, and a manipulated variable for control is determined according thereto.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2013
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Takenaka, Kazushi Akimoto, Shinichiro Kobashi, Hideo Murakami, Yuichi Uebayashi
  • Patent number: 8548711
    Abstract: Provided is a control device of an inverted pendulum type vehicle capable of adjusting a deviation of a tilt angle of a base body from a desired tilt angle so as to maintain the vehicle in a normal state where the tilt angle matches the desired tilt angle and the vehicle is in halt. When an update condition for updating a tilt offset adjusting variable ?b_xy_offset is satisfied (STEP 21), a posture control calculator 80 performs a first mode arithmetic process (STEP 22) to update the tilt offset adjusting variable ?b_xy_offset, and meanwhile determines imaginary wheel rotational angular acceleration commands ?wdot_x_cmd and ?wdot_y_cmd via a second mode arithmetic process (STEP 23) by using the tilt offset adjusting variable ?b_xy_offset updated in the first mode arithmetic process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Takenaka, Kazushi Akimoto, Shinichiro Kobashi, Hideo Murakami, Yuichi Uebayashi
  • Patent number: 8543307
    Abstract: Provided is a control device capable of imparting a driving force appropriate for controlling a tilt angle of a loading part to a traveling motion unit, despite the weight of an object to be transported mounted on the loading part capable of freely tilting of an inverted pendulum type vehicle. Velocity command values for defining a desired value of a traveling velocity of a traveling motion unit 5 so as to bring an tilt error between a measured value of the tilt angle of a loading part 3 of an inverted pendulum type vehicle 1 and a desired tilt angle of a predetermined value close to 0 is sequentially determined, and an actuator 7 is controlled so as to make the actual traveling velocity of the traveling motion unit 5 follow a desired value of the traveling velocity defined by the velocity command value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2013
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Takenaka, Kazushi Akimoto, Shinichiro Kobashi
  • Patent number: 8532898
    Abstract: An omnidirectional vehicle capable of enhancing straight-line stability is provided. Within a period from the instant the execution of velocity component attenuation processing for reducing continuously or stepwise the magnitude of a desired velocity vector ?Vb_aim of a predetermined representative point of a vehicle 1 having a traveling motion unit 5 capable of moving in all directions, including a first direction and a second direction, on a floor surface is started to the instant the magnitude of ?Vb_aim attenuates to zero, the orientation of ?Vb_aim is brought closer to the first direction. The first direction is defined as the fore-and-aft direction of an occupant aboard the vehicle 1, while the second direction is defined as the lateral direction of the occupant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2013
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Takenaka, Kazushi Akimoto, Shinichiro Kobashi, Hideo Murakami