Granted Patent B2

US 12,441,211 · App. 17/901,201 · Granted Oct 14, 2025

Inventor: Samuel Bruneau (Montreal, CA)

Assignee: TAIGA MOTORS INC.

B60L58/12G01C21/005G01C21/20G07C5/008B62M27/02

Abstract

Claims (81)

1. A computer-implemented method facilitating travel of an electric off-road vehicle on an uncharted off-road route, the method comprising:

receiving, via an operator interface, a digital definition of the uncharted off-road route to be travelled by the electric off-road vehicle;

at a computer in data communication with the operator interface:

accessing digital map data of a geographic area overlaid by the uncharted off-road route, the uncharted off-road route being undefined on a trail map of the map data;

assigning one or more geographic characteristics extracted from the map data to the uncharted off-road route; and

determining, using the one or more geographic characteristics assigned to the uncharted off-road route and predetermined battery consumption data associated with the one or more geographic characteristics, an estimated battery consumption for the electric off-road vehicle to travel the uncharted off-road route;

communicating, via the operator interface, the estimated battery consumption to an operator of the electric off-road vehicle;

as the electric off-road vehicle travels along the uncharted off-road route:

using a global positioning system receiver to determine a current location of the electric off-road vehicle; and

based on the current location of the electric off-road vehicle, causing the operator interface to provide a revised estimated battery consumption for a remainder of the uncharted off-road route.

2. The computer-implemented method as defined in claim 1 , comprising:

receiving, via the operator interface, an identification of a starting location for the electric off-road vehicle and an identification of a destination for the electric off-road vehicle;

determining, at the computer and using the map data, a path of the uncharted off-road route between the starting location and the destination, the map data defining one or more obstacles for the electric off-road vehicle, the uncharted off-road route avoiding the one or more obstacles; and

communicating, via the operator interface, the uncharted off-road route to the operator of the electric off-road vehicle.

3. The computer-implemented method as defined in claim 2 , wherein the one or more obstacles include one or more of the following: an incline, a decline, a body of water, and a forest.

4. The computer-implemented method as defined in claim 2 , wherein:

determining the path of the uncharted off-road route includes:

determining a first potential path between the starting location and the destination; and

determining a second potential path between the starting location and the destination; and

the method includes:

receiving, via the operator interface, a preference for the first potential path over the second potential path; and

selecting, at the computer, the first potential path for the uncharted off-road route to be travelled by the electric off-road vehicle.

5. The computer-implemented method as defined in claim 4 , wherein:

the estimated battery consumption is a first estimated battery consumption required for the electric off-road vehicle to complete the first potential path;

a second estimated battery consumption greater than the first estimated battery consumption is required for the electric off-road vehicle to complete the second potential path; and

the preference is indicative of a least battery consumption to complete the uncharted off-road route.

6. The computer-implemented method as defined in claim 4 , wherein:

the estimated battery consumption is a first estimated battery consumption required for the electric off-road vehicle to complete the first potential path;

a second estimated battery consumption greater than the first estimated battery consumption is required for the electric off-road vehicle to complete the second potential path;

the preference is indicative of a desire to complete the uncharted off-road route with a current state of charge (SoC) of a motoring battery of the electric off-road vehicle;

the method includes:

receiving the current SoC of the motoring battery of the electric off-road vehicle;

determining that the first estimated battery consumption is lower than the current SoC; and

determining that the second estimated battery consumption is greater than the current SoC.

7. The computer-implemented method as defined in claim 4 , wherein:

the first potential path includes a first change in elevation;

the second potential path includes a second change in elevation different from the first change in elevation; and

the preference is for the first change in elevation of the first potential path.

8. The computer-implemented method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the uncharted off-road route includes an operator-defined path between a starting location and a destination for the electric off-road vehicle.

9. The computer-implemented method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the uncharted off-road route includes a computer-defined path between a starting location and a destination for the electric off-road vehicle.

10. The computer-implemented method as defined in claim 1 , comprising

using the current location of the electric off-road vehicle, causing a navigation display to display visual instructions guiding the operator of the electric off-road vehicle along the uncharted off-road route as the electric off-road vehicle travels along the uncharted off-road route.

11. The computer-implemented method as defined in claim 1 , wherein when the electric off-road vehicle is travelling on the uncharted off-road route, determining, at the computer, the revised estimated battery consumption for the remainder of the uncharted off-road route based on an actual battery consumption of the electric off-road vehicle.

12. The computer-implemented method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the one or more geographic characteristics of the uncharted off-road route include a change in elevation over a segment of the uncharted off-road route.

13. The computer-implemented method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the one or more geographic characteristics of the uncharted off-road route include a terrain condition over a segment of the uncharted off-road route.

14. The computer-implemented method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the predetermined battery consumption data is based on historical battery consumption data recorded from previous travel on one or more routes other than the uncharted off-road route.

15. A system facilitating travel of an electric off-road vehicle on an uncharted off-road route, the system comprising:

an operator interface operable to receive a definition of the uncharted off-road route to be travelled by the electric off-road vehicle;

a global positioning system receiver operable to determine a current location of the electric off-road vehicle;

one or more data processors operatively connected to the operator interface and to the global positioning system receiver; and

non-transitory machine-readable memory storing:

map data of a geographic area overlaid by the uncharted off-road route, the uncharted off-road route being undefined on a trail map of the map data;

predetermined battery consumption data; and

instructions executable by the one or more data processors and configured to cause the one or more data processors to:

using the map data, assign one or more geographic characteristics extracted from the map data to the uncharted off-road route;

relate the one or more geographic characteristics to the predetermined battery consumption data;

determine, using the predetermined battery consumption data, an estimated battery consumption for the electric off-road vehicle to travel the uncharted off-road route;

cause the operator interface to output the estimated battery consumption; and

based on the current location of the electric off-road vehicle determined using the global positioning system receiver, cause the operator interface to provide a revised estimated battery consumption for a remainder of the uncharted off-road route as the electric off-road vehicle travels along the uncharted off-road route.

16. The system as defined in claim 15 , wherein:

the map data defines one or more obstacles for the electric off-road vehicle; and

the instructions are configured to cause the one or more data processors to:

use an identification of a starting location for the electric off-road vehicle, an identification of a destination for the electric off-road vehicle, and the map data to determine a path of the uncharted off-road route between the starting location and the destination, the uncharted off-road route avoiding the one or more obstacles; and

cause the uncharted off-road route to be communicated to the operator of the electric off-road vehicle via the operator interface.

17. The system as defined in claim 16 , wherein:

determining the path of the uncharted off-road route includes:

determining a first potential path between the starting location and the destination; and

determining a second potential path between the starting location and the destination; and

the instructions are configured to cause the one or more data processors to, using a preference for the first potential path over the second potential path, select the first potential path as the uncharted off-road route to be travelled by the electric off-road vehicle.

18. The system as defined in claim 15 , wherein the predetermined battery consumption data is based on historical battery consumption data recorded from previous travel on one or more routes other than the uncharted off-road route.

19. An electric snowmobile comprising:

a motoring battery;

an electric motor for propelling the electric snowmobile, the electric motor being operatively connected to be driven by electric power from the motoring battery;

an operator interface; and

one or more controllers operatively connected to the operator interface, the one or more controllers being configured to:

relate an uncharted off-road route to be travelled by the electric snowmobile to map data of a geographic area overlaid by the uncharted off-road route, the uncharted off-road route being undefined on a trail map of the map data;

determine, using the map data, one or more geographic characteristics of the uncharted off-road route;

relate the one or more geographic characteristics to predetermined battery consumption data;

determine, using the predetermined battery consumption data, an estimated battery consumption for the electric snowmobile to travel the uncharted off-road route; and

cause the estimated battery consumption to be communicated to an operator of the electric snowmobile via the operator interface.

20. The electric snowmobile as defined in claim 19 , comprising a satellite positioning system receiver operatively connected to the one or more controllers, wherein the one or more controllers are configured to, using a current location of the electric snowmobile determined using the satellite positioning system receiver, cause the operator interface to guide the operator of the electric snowmobile along the uncharted off-road route.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (16)