Crawler vehicle with automatic probe normalization
Number of patents in Portfolio can not be more than 2000
United States of America Patent
Stats
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Jan 10, 2023
Grant Date -
Jun 4, 2020
app pub date -
Nov 20, 2019
filing date -
Nov 29, 2018
priority date (Note) -
In Force
status (Latency Note)
Importance
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US Family Size
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Non-US Coverage
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Abstract
A robotic vehicle for traversing surfaces comprises a chassis having a plurality of wheels mounted thereto. Two magnetic drive wheels are spaced apart in a lateral direction and rotate about a rotational axis while a stabilizing wheel is provided in front of or behind the two drive wheels. The drive wheels are configured to be driven independently, thereby driving and steering the vehicle along the surface. The vehicle also includes a sensor probe assembly that is supported by the chassis and configured to take measurements of the surface being traversed. In accordance with a salient aspect, the vehicle includes a probe normalization mechanism that is configured to determine the surface curvature and adjust the orientation of the probe transducer as a function of the curvature of the surface, thereby maintaining the probe at the preferred inspection angle irrespective of changes in the surface curvature with vehicle movement.
First Claim
Other Claims data not available
Family
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International Classification(s)
- H04N:PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- G06T:IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL
- G01N:INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMININ....
- B60R:VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT ....
- G01S:RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMI....
- B60K:ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF ....
- B60G:VEHICLE SUSPENSION ARRANGEMENTS
- B62D:MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS
- G05D:SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC....
- B64D:EQUIPMENT FOR FITTING IN OR TO AIRCRAFT; FLYING SU....
- G01B:MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIME....
- B64C:AEROPLANES; HELICOPTERS
- 2019 Application Filing Year
- H04N Class
- 18309 Applications Filed
- 13726 Patents Issued To-Date
- 74.97 % Issued To-Date
Cited Art Landscape
Patent Citation Ranking
- 18 Citation Count
- H04N Class
- 99.81 % this patent is cited more than
- 2 Age
Maintenance Fees
| Fee | Large entity fee | small entity fee | micro entity fee | due date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Year Payment | $1600.00 | $800.00 | $400.00 | Jul 10, 2026 |
| 7.5 Year Payment | $3600.00 | $1800.00 | $900.00 | Jul 10, 2030 |
| 11.5 Year Payment | $7400.00 | $3700.00 | $1850.00 | Jul 10, 2034 |
