Granted Patent B2

US 12,397,759 · App. 18/108,809 · Granted Aug 26, 2025

Inventors: Alex R. Scheuerell (White Bear Lake, MN); Jonathon P. Graus (Stacy, MN)

Assignee: POLARIS INDUSTRIES, INC.

B60T8/1755B60T8/171

Abstract

Claims (22)

1. An all-terrain vehicle, comprising:

a frame;

a plurality of ground-engaging members supporting the frame, wherein each of the plurality of ground-engaging members is configured to rotate about an axle, and wherein the plurality of ground-engaging members comprises a first ground-engaging member and a second ground-engaging member;

a powertrain assembly supported by the frame;

at least one sensor configured to provide sensor information; and

a controller operatively coupled to the at least one sensor, wherein the controller is configured to:

receive user input indicating a change from a first driving mode to a second driving mode;

receive, from the at least one sensor, the sensor information;

determine, based on the sensor information, a wheel speed percentage difference that represents a difference between a first wheel speed of the first ground-engaging member and a second wheel speed of the second ground-engaging member expressed as a percentage of one of the first wheel speed or the second wheel speed;

determine whether the wheel speed percentage difference is less than a threshold percentage; and

in response to determining that the wheel speed percentage difference is less than the threshold percentage, provide one or more commands to transition the all-terrain vehicle into the second driving mode.

2. The all-terrain vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first driving mode is a 2 wheel drive (WD) mode and the second driving mode is an all wheel drive (AWD) mode.

3. The all-terrain vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises a wheel speed sensor.

4. The all-terrain vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first ground-engaging member is a front ground-engaging member and the second ground-engaging member is a rear ground-engaging member.

5. The all-terrain vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine, based on the sensor information, whether the vehicle is encountering an event.

6. The all-terrain vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the event is a direction change event.

7. The all-terrain vehicle of claim 6 , wherein the direction change event is a cornering event, a rock crawling event, or a hill sliding event.

8. The all-terrain vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the event is an airborne event.

9. The all-terrain vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the event is a speed change event.

10. The all-terrain vehicle of claim 9 , wherein the speed change event is a braking event, an acceleration event, or a deceleration event.

11. The all-terrain vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

determine, based on the sensor information, an amount of time elapsed since the event, and wherein the providing the one or more commands to transition the all-terrain vehicle into the second driving mode is further based on determining whether the amount of time elapsed is greater than a time threshold.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (5)

References Cited (297)