ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY REAL LIFE TOYS

Abstract

The following submission for U.S. patent filing is based on the concept of real life experience of a city driving on a simulated carpet in day to day life using miniature toys like, four wheelers of all kinds; police cars, ambulances, fire engines, multi axle vehicles, choppers, monorail, boats, buildings, construction vehicles and many more such interactive devices. Back in 1969-1976, I used to play using hair combs of different sizes in length over a bed sheet, especially selected with checks/stripes to make it look like roads and cross roads. As an electronics and communications engineer, in 1996/1997 formulated an idea to implement the same using real life miniature electronic devices/toys. This was scribbled on a paper as a block diagram and could not be further developed and filed for patent due to lack of time and possible restrictions from employers until now. These devices creates a real life experience for kids in their young age and not only gives them a playful real time driving experience, but also gives a great sense of driving responsibility as they grow to become responsible citizens of a country.

Description

BACKGROUND/FIELD OF INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates generally to advanced technology simulation of Transport System (Roadways, Waterways, and Airways) using state of the art microprocessor controller activated toys like 4 to 18 wheelers, Helicopter, Monorails, Boats etc. This invention is also related to advanced technology toys for age 5 years and older.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] The Patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided to the office upon request with payment of the necessary fee.

[0003] A better understanding and appreciation of the foregoing and of the attendant advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the example embodiment of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. While the foregoing and following written and illustrated disclosure focuses on disclosing example embodiment of the invention, it should be clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and the invention is not limited thereto.

[0004] The drawings captured under `Drawing sheet` nos. 1-of-112, 36-of-112, 41-of-112, 42-of-112, 47-of-112, 48-of-112 and 49-of-112 are very large color 3D drawings. If these are printed on standard letter size portrait paper, it will yield a .about.10,000 feet bird view. Therefore to make these illustrations easy to understand and comprehend, two of these drawings namely Reach-1 (FIG. 36) and Reach-3 (FIG. 38) are split over 4 letter size portrait sheets and numbered as FIGS. A, B, C and D. Other Reach-2,4,5,6 drawings are all captured under one letter portrait sheet, however, the individual components on these drawings are shown under discrete component drawings in FIGS. 2 through FIG. 35 for better comprehension.

[0005] The following 3D rendering represents brief description of the drawings, wherein:

[0006] FIG. 1 is a 3D rendering of the sample Carpet City (Reach-1--Basic Model)

[0007] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the Chassis Controller (common to all chassis)

[0008] FIG. 3 is a compact chassis model with car body sitting on top

[0009] FIG. 4 is a midsize chassis model

[0010] FIG. 5 is a van chassis model with full size van body sitting on top

[0011] FIG. 6 is a multi-axle truck chassis model with full size trailer truck body sitting on top

[0012] FIG. 7 is a Remote Steering Control (RSC) unit

[0013] FIG. 8 is a Specialized Control Center (SCC) unit with smartphone device

[0014] FIG. 9 is a commercial smartphone as control unit

[0015] FIG. 10 is the HDTV display for SCC output (video streaming)

[0016] FIG. 11 is a heliport center that would sit on Reach-3 carpet city

[0017] FIG. 12 is waterway vehicles for aquatic sports that would sit on Reach-3 carpet city.

[0018] FIG. 13 is a drive through restaurant for ordering actual listed food served at SCC

[0019] FIG. 14 is a vehicle device charging station

[0020] FIG. 15 is a public facility Police station for city security and emergencies

[0021] FIG. 16 is a public facility Fire station for city safety and emergencies

[0022] FIG. 17 is a public facility city Bus stand with public transport vehicles

[0023] FIG. 18 is a public school

[0024] FIG. 19 is a car dealership and car carrier vehicle. Provides new car purchase experience

[0025] FIG. 20 is a towing truck station with private charger

[0026] FIG. 21 is a Residential complex with drive-in parking deck

[0027] FIG. 22 is a mountain terrain

[0028] FIG. 23 is a worship complex where actual free food can be delivered to SCC

[0029] FIG. 24 is a construction site and equipment. Construction vehicles are all part of it

[0030] FIG. 25 is a monorail system that would sit on Reach-3 carpet city

[0031] FIG. 26 is a Go Carting fun activity as part Reach-5 (amusement park)

[0032] FIG. 27 is depict of hospital and medical emergency vehicles

[0033] FIG. 28 is a cable car (ropeway) system

[0034] FIG. 29 is Ferris wheel and roller coasters that would sit on Reach-5 carpet city

[0035] FIG. 30 is the Grand Prix circuit for Formula-1 car race experience

[0036] FIG. 31 is an intercity carpet connect (highway runners)

[0037] FIG. 32 is a block diagram of the communication system across devices

[0038] FIG. 33 is the initial versions of author's view of remote steering controllers

[0039] FIG. 34 is an integrated view of SCC

[0040] FIG. 35 is the SCC+wireless remote steering controller in detached mode

[0041] FIG. 36 is the 3D rendering of Carpet City REACH-1 (basic model) and also serves as index to next 4 views.

[0042] FIG. 36A is the 3D rendering of Carpet City REACH-1 enlarged view 1 of 4

[0043] FIG. 36B is the 3D rendering of Carpet City REACH-1 enlarged view 2 of 4

[0044] FIG. 36C is the 3D rendering of Carpet City REACH-1 enlarged view 3 of 4

[0045] FIG. 36D is the 3D rendering of Carpet City REACH-1 enlarged view 4 of 4

[0046] FIG. 37 is the 3D rendering of Carpet City REACH-2 (waterways and extended roadways)

[0047] FIG. 38 is the 3D rendering of Carpet City REACH-3 [basic+heliport+waterways +monorail--REACH-1 U REACH-2] and also serves as index to next 4 views.

[0048] FIG. 38A is the 3D rendering of Carpet City REACH-3 enlarged view 1 of 4

[0049] FIG. 38B is the 3D rendering of Carpet City REACH-3 enlarged view 2 of 4

[0050] FIG. 38C is the 3D rendering of Carpet City REACH-3 enlarged view 3 of 4

[0051] FIG. 38D is the 3D rendering of Carpet City REACH-3 enlarged view 4 of 4

[0052] FIG. 39 is the 3D rendering of Carpet City REACH-4 (mountain terrain)

[0053] FIG. 40 is the 3D rendering of Carpet City REACH-5 (amusement park)

[0054] FIG. 41 is the 3D rendering of Carpet City REACH-6 (grand prix formula-1 circuit)

[0055] FIG. 42 is the embedded carpet controller suitable for this implementation

[0056] FIG. 43 is the complete embedded software (firmware) stack suitable for this implementation. Sits on all carpet controllers Reach-xC

[0057] FIG. 44 is the block diagram of a controller interconnect to devices on carpet city

[0058] FIG. 45 is a remote steering wheel (RSC) as point and select device

[0059] FIG. 46 is the block diagram of the RSC interaction with chassis controller/modules

[0060] FIG. 47 is the cycle performance of Li-ion with 1 C, 2 C, and 3 C charge and discharge

[0061] FIG. 48 is the `Point and Select` Device for target selection (Not to Scale)

[0062] FIG. 49 is the first example for Electro Mechanical Device of this product line

[0063] FIG. 50 is the second example for Electro Mechanical Device of this product line

[0064] FIG. 51 is the third example for Electro Mechanical Device of this product line

[0065] FIG. 52 is the fourth example for Electro Mechanical Device of this product line

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

[0066] Attempt is made here to bring in closest sense of reality using these electronic toys, which depicts every form of 4 or more wheeled vehicles on road. The platform to support this would be on a carpet like base with miniature electronic devices depicting Modern city of the world. Different types of vehicles resembling all manufacturers of the world making 4 wheelers and higher, like 18 wheeler vehicles that are made to run on roads of. carpets. These devices are made using electronic devices and radio/Bluetooth based wireless technology for communication to bring real life experience together. The control mechanism comes in wireless Remote Steering Control (RSC) hand held device and/or on a smartphone with high end graphics and/or on Specialized Control Center (SCC). Specialized control center will provide an exact replica of a driver seat with steering and dash board and leg pedal controls on smartphone display or HDTV interface. Some of the above devices as basic model components of this invention, expands with support of other enhancement devices as explained in next phases to provide a complete experience of the city driving.

[0067] As this new invention/innovative idea covers a very vast reality of city driving, it has to be achieved in divide-and-conquer method. This way it can also be presented in different configurations as explained in Reach-1 through Reach-x in next several phases to meet different depths of buyer's real estate to play and pocket depth to buy.

Detailed Description of the Related Art: Phase-1 (Basic Model):

[0068] A sincere attempt has been made in this submission to present graphically/pictorially all the parts of this original idea that shall be developed in phases. These phases are also the building blocks of this product line that shall evolve over time with coverage of more real life functions. What this means is that, the conceptualization is completed for every phase of the product line at the start. Enhancements will cover other types in real life as time goes on. An example is like, Reach-1 includes base city carpet with streets, landmarks, gas stations (battery charging in this case), school, police station, place of worship, fire station, street lights, traffic lights at junctions and many more. While the above base is ready, the moving devices such as, 4 wheeler cars or trucks, multi axle vehicle, police cars/vehicles, 911 emergency vehicles, towing trucks, and many more road transport vehicles will complete Reach-1 development. Extensions as said earlier may include, but not limited to new types of road transport vehicles, like ambulance, fire engine, limousine, heliport/helicopter, waterway device, construction vehicle etc. The city carpet shall also be developed in phases to cover different cities of the world. Intercity connections are accomplished using Highway Runners constituting and connecting different themes.

[0069] Each of these vehicles can be controlled by wireless remote hand held device. The person will be able to control one vehicle at a time from one remote control by selecting a particular frequency (RF/Bluetooth/IR enabled) to tune to a particular vehicle. The Specialized Control Center (SCC) device shall provide close to reality of drivers view in the real car by video streaming driver seat view camera output on to a smartphone LCD or HDTV. This can be on a dedicated specialized remote control with steering wheel, buttons, meters etc. or a smartphone application with graphics providing near real driver experience.

[0070] The SCC, specialized control centers are for more real simulation of driver's seat/place. This SCC will have a chair, steering wheel with actual controls, leg pedals for brake, acceleration, and clutch for manual transmission simulation (refer to FIGS. 34 & 35). This SCC will send commands to the device/vehicle selected to perform what has been activated on SCC/simulator. These are typically, steering command, acceleration command, wheel brake command, head light command, turning light command, parking light command and few more miscellaneous commands. The device/vehicle's embedded controller will respond to these SCC commands to perform specific action using onboard I/O devices such as traction motors/LEDs for light signals, piezo for engine noise and other audio visual actuators. FIG. 1 shows the carpet city in some sample form, where all individual components come together to form the basic delivery model called Carpet City--Reach-1.

[0071] The carpet city can be made in different sizes like 5'.times.7', 6'.times.8', and/or 8'.times.10', etc. The carpet is instrumented with soft circuit to attach/plug-and-play street light pedestals, traffic light pedestals, miniature building blocks, gas/recharge station, hospital, heliport, police station, fire station, restaurant, worship place, school and bus station, etc. These attachments will be instrumented to give real life experience of the miniature model. One example is, gas station where it is well lit with LED lights, direction to drive vehicles to sockets for recharging, visual indication of charge status etc. These four or more wheeler vehicles are designed to real life model and fits within the lane of the road. They are embedded with control instrumentation and indicators as explained in different chassis below.

Carpet City Vehicle Chassis Design:

[0072] The Chassis consists of a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) and contains Chassis Controller as shown in FIG. 2. The main blocks of this controller are, Computing node, Drive (Step) Motor, Brake System, Steering, Bluetooth Communication module and LED drivers. This controller will be common to all the chassis with other devices as pop/de-pop functions.

[0073] 1). Chassis Compact: This is a printed circuit board with all electronic control blocks as explained above and body (compact car) fitting is shown in FIG. 3.

[0074] This shall be used to build all compact size cars/vehicles. The control unit is a 16/32 bit embedded micro controller, programmable with external flash device for firmware storage. The I/O driver interphase connects to all other functions such as:

[0075] I. Front wheel steering control

[0076] II. Drive motor/stepper motor control

[0077] III. Brake systems

[0078] IV. All LED controls:

[0079] a. Head light

[0080] b. Front and Rear Turn/yellow light

[0081] c. White Parking light

[0082] d. Rear brake red light

[0083] e. Reverse white light

[0084] f. Laser/Select LED Status light (Dual Color)

[0085] g. Charge Status LED (Dual Color)

[0086] V. Communication block

[0087] This can be RF based/IR based or more popularly known as Bluetooth.

[0088] VI. Wi-fi interface block enables high definition (HD) 1080 lines resolution video stream for connect to Smartphone and/or HDTV.

[0089] VII. Last but not the least is battery/power unit with recharge monitoring and management.

[0090] 2). Chassis Midsize:

[0091] This shall be slightly bigger in size than compact and used for building cars, SUVs, pickups, jeeps, police cars, etc. FIG. 4 shows bare midsize chassis design.

[0092] 3). Chassis Full/Family:

[0093] These are even bigger in size than midsize and caters to full/family size cars, mini vans, police cars, pickups, small school buses, ambulances, etc.

[0094] 4). Chassis Van:

[0095] This is big size chassis compared to family size, though functionally the same as any other chassis, it is meant for building large vans, busses, trucks, recreation vehicles (RVs), Fire engines and etc. This is also made into multi axle chassis as in next paragraph. FIG. 5 shows Van chassis design.

[0096] 5). Chassis Truck/chassis Multi-Axle:

[0097] These are mainly 18 wheelers as popularly known. These are built with trailer attached to the drive chassis. The front one is a high power 4 wheeler pulling the trailer load. This is used mainly to build large transport vehicles and large fire engines, ladder trucks etc. FIG. 6 shows bare Truck chassis design.

[0098] 6). Chassis miscellaneous:

[0099] Besides standard chassis as explained earlier, miscellaneous chassis is designed on need basis to cater to specific type of vehicle. Boats are one such example. It could come in 2 or more sizes for building small to large size boats.

[0100] Other example of these type is, in building some specialized vehicles such as jet skis, accessory boards for police cars, fire and ambulance vehicles, limos and 3 wheeler auto rickshaws etc.

Remote Steering Control (RSC)

[0101] FIG. 7 shows wireless remote control unit that resemble a traditional remote control unit which is portable and shall have all necessary controls to drive a vehicle like, small steering wheel, horn, switches for all lights, etc. This wireless remote steering control comes as part of a basic model that controls all movable devices and provides all basic actual control functions. This unit can also be plugged into SCC as shown in FIG. 8 to provide advanced functions of remote control. This unit also has `point and select` Joy Stick (JS) control for device selection. Refer P4.7 for more details of this device as a JS control unit.

Specialized Control Center (SCC)

[0102] Specialized Control Center (SCC) is shown in FIG. 8. SCC unit shall provide a close reality model where a child/player can sit on an adjustable chair with a remote steering control plugged in front and leg pedal control underneath. Hand control device is also located on the left/right side as an automatic/manual drive. The steering wheel will have control for horn, head lights, parking lights, turning light switches as close to a real model in a car/vehicle. This unit also has `point and select` Joy Stick (JS) control for device selection. Refer P4-8 and P4-11 for more details of this JS control unit.

[0103] An application shall be developed on popular hand held devices such as Android and other popular handheld devices to show all controls to simulate. This includes but not restricted to drivers view simulation, navigation to destination and actual dash board control as shown in FIG. 9 on smartphone and FIG. 10 on HDTV.

[0104] Before going into finer details of integration of each one of these with advanced phase-2 components in next section, an author's view of next phases of developments are also captured here under. These next generation real toys are detailed under phase-2 (advanced) and beyond, which includes its integration among all individual components and are captured under phase-3: development and delivery model.

Detailed Description of the Related Art: Phase-2 (Advanced):

[0105] The advanced devices are in addition to Basic model devices and are meant to be placed on Reach-2 and beyond. The next generation advanced toys in this series are designed around aerial and water transport. The air/water ways activities lead a toy vehicle to parking lots and user would then switch to helicopter to fly using same wireless remote steering control within the city (under same room) or to a different city (next city carpet). Similarly a large painted plastic tray would emulate a lake where water sport toy vehicles such as, speed motor boats, jet skis, para sailing, etc. can be controlled using the same wireless remote steering control. FIG. 11 depicts heliport & related devices while FIG. 12 depicts water transport devices as attached to the carpet city Reach-2.

[0106] The carpet city includes drive through restaurants as shown in FIG. 13. The intent is for car drivers to look at the large display board for menu as they enter and order real eatable items that can be delivered if the driver is on SCC. The menu selection gets displayed on admin's smartphone as SMS and real snacks and drinks if arranged priory can be delivered to the driver's seat at SCC.

[0107] As these vehicles runs on rechargeable batteries, rechargeable centers are located at many places on the carpet city. The vehicles would drive up to these `Charge` centers where an Electromagnet would drive/guide these vehicles to charging pins. LED indicators would provide status of charging. FIG. 14 shows a typical charging station.

[0108] As part of public safety, health and transport, police stations with helipad, fire station with helipad which are fully equipped with tools like, police cars, vans, rapid mass movement vehicles, fire fighting vehicles, ladder vehicles for high rise buildings, ambulances and other emergency vehicles are included. FIG. 15 shows police station, FIG. 16 shows Fire Station. As part of public transport, city bus services are provided and a city bus station is shown in FIG. 17. Users would select one of these vehicles using the wireless remote steering control for moving them around the city carpet.

[0109] A public school is positioned on the base carpet and shown in FIG. 18. The purpose is for completeness and to add real life situations. The school functions of timing bell etc. are part of base carpet control/functionality.

[0110] Another interesting entity is the car dealership where user gets to drive car carriers and upon arrival at showroom they select each one to unload to storage as shown in FIG. 19.

[0111] As vehicles brake down on the roads, we need Towing Trucks to move these vehicles to charging stations/garage/body shops or even police station. Towing trucks are specialized four wheelers where they have mechanical arm to lift front axle of the car and drag them as trailers to safe place. These Trucks are parked in their stations like fire fighters in fire station to be ready to move on an emergency call as shown in FIG. 20. They are charged in their stations while idle and ready to move fully charged when need arise. The wireless remote steering control unit of the vehicle in trouble can select one of these towing vehicles and move to pick the broken down vehicle.

[0112] The next entity is the Residential complex where apartments and amenities are located. The user experience with this entity is in driving through the complex and park in fixed parking areas and also through multi-level parking deck. The user experience in driving through tight space of deck parking helps them to see the reality in city living as shown in FIG. 21.

[0113] On a different note a new experience in traveling through mountain. Terrain is being attempted here using this advanced entity-where drivers can drive through the rough mountain roads; spiral type, hairpin curves as many different man made types for real tough terrain drive experience. This individual object is shown in FIG. 22 and comes as one big unit over the entire carpet city Reach-4 as shown in FIG. 39. The driving through spiral and hairpin curvy roads is supported by the onscreen display at SCC as the vehicle navigate through rough and blocked road views.

[0114] Another unique venture in driving experience through video assistance is the Mountain Cable Car (Rope Way) driving. The cars can be driven to mountain tops where they are parked and using remote control select and drive cable car to hop to another hilltop. The mountain also has a helipad on its top where choppers can be landed and parked to ride on cable cars. The selection of a cable car which has built in driver view camera for display on large screens is through the wireless remote steering control. This entity is placed on Reach-4 carpet city and shown in FIG. 39.

[0115] Another interesting plug and play entity is the worship complex. User can choose type of their worship place like temple, church, synagogue, mosque, etc. to fit in the space and this entity provides some basic functions, like parking area, street lights, packed food etc. which are part of base carpet functionality as shown in FIG. 23.

[0116] Construction vehicles are bulldozers, tippers, etc. required in civil construction activities. These are available to operate using same remote steering control to execute construction activities. FIG. 24 shows some of these vehicles on carpet city (FIG. 36).

[0117] Monorail tracks and Monorail system is the advanced feature available under Reach-3 and shown in FIG. 25. It shows Mono Rail tracks, Monorail and Monorail stations. These tracks run along the edge of the carpet as shown in Reach-3 FIG. 38 and provide monorail access to all peripheral destinations on the carpet.

[0118] Go Carting (FIG. 26) is another activity on the Amusement carpet Reach-5, FIG. 40. This provides fast cars for driving through race lanes and as a beginning to formula Car racing.

[0119] Hospital is another important entity in the social fabric as shown in FIG. 27. There are many activities around this entity where ambulances, air ambulance, police and private/public vehicles move around. The ambulances are the most common vehicles around this place and they are made available in abundance for pick up and drive. These vehicles deliver very similar sound and light effects of a 911 emergency vehicle. Furthermore, when these vehicles run on roads the traffic signals synchronize with their movement for quick passage to hospitals.

[0120] Ropeway or Cable Car activity is an interesting device to operate using remote steering control shown in FIG. 28. RSC can select a particular cable car and can operate from mountain station to station while seeing driver's view on a HD TV for real life experience. Signaling and Collision control between cable cars is managed by the Base Carpet City controller. Cable Cars also lead to mountain top where users can un-pair their car from RSC and Point-Select a Helicopter if available to fly out to Heliport. Cable Car parking and managing their movement is Base carpet city controller's job.

[0121] There are many activities on Reach-5 Carpet City like, Ferris Wheel, Roller Coasters, Go Carting etc. (See FIG. 40). These are individual devices as shown in FIG. 29 and placed on Reach-5 carpet city. These are selected using RSC Point & Select to operate and experience the drive. These are fitted with Real cameras on Driver seat to stream HD video onto HDTV.

[0122] Last but not least is the fast driving experience within the carpet city: Grand Prix, Formula 1 Circuit as shown in FIG. 30 has a dedicated Reach-6 carpet city all for itself. This has functionality to drive into the circuit parking area and select using same remote steering control any available Fast Formula 1 Car from its saddle to try out on the race track. The embedded driver view camera is also fun to view on large screen in HD format for real life experience in miniature care racing scenario. Once registered on the formula 1 circuit, admin control functions are defined for selection and a particular theme will be run by the admin module. Statistics are provided during and after the racing experience. This can be one car racing for dry run or with multiple cars for real race experience. The formula cars are then parked in their saddle before leaving the circuit in their previously arrived vehicle from parking area. Formula Car 1 circuit provides many emergency vehicles as needed during fast racing.

[0123] Phase-1 & Phase-2 components as defined above completes all the basic building blocks of this product line. Next sections defines integrated products as Reach-1 through Reach-x and their functionality is explained with graphic's support.

Detailed Description of the Related Art: Phase-3: Development and Delivery Model.

[0124] The above defined individual modules/entities under phase-1 and phase-2 are now put into integration for real use and it is termed as Reaches (Reach-1 to Reach-x). Reach-1 is a basic model and is covered here below. Each Reach-x carpet is explained for its integral components and its function as a whole with a full page picture. The theme is explained in detail for its behavioral functionality and controls. Scope for possible expanded functions/configurations are also explained where applicable.

[0125] All carpet cities have white LED lit street lights which are controlled by the base carpet controller which is administered by the super user. All carpet cities are connected to AC outlets through adapters which take 110 v to 240 v AC input and provide all DC voltages for different devices on carpet city as needed.

[0126] Street Traffic Signals are devices in Red, Yellow and Green Color LEDs as standard signaling. This is controlled by the base carpet function across all carpets detected. Plug and Play function of devices are controlled by the onboard controller. The controller detects presence/insertion and removal of devices over the USB/I2C bus using simple handshake/broadcast mechanism (to be defined) such as tokens. Once plugged and detected an acknowledgement shows up on the device and an admin interface and the pertinent functionalities are performed as necessary. The base carpet is covered by the green-grass texture as default. This gives default view for missing plug-and-play device.

Reach-1: Component Details--Base Carpet City:

Definition:

[0127] The carpet city design incorporates modular and highly structured approach.

[0128] Carpet city comes in a size that embeds basic functions while advanced versions (names to the group to be assigned later) can be attached to basic version to add functionality, for example, carpet city with heliport or carpet city with lake for water sports. Carpet cities are designed modularly to attach to each other giving a new look/function of a larger carpet. This provides option to build from small/base to large carpet with all the functions. The size of a typical base carpet city though not finalized at this time, could be in size of 6 ft..times.8 ft. Advanced versions with specific functions can be in same size or half size or quarter size so as to add up to rectangular shaped carpet. Carpet city will be folding type for easy stow away, however the electronics (printed circuit) would be flexible enough to bend and fold or stretch to be laid down on floor/platform. Bigger components such as buildings, lakes, temples, bus stand etc. shall be plug and play type modules while the interface to the base carpet will ensure connect to power and control lines that provides power for lighting (LEDs) and communication over Bluetooth wherever necessary.

[0129] The components defined under phase-1 and phase-2 included under this Reach-1 carpet city are as follows:

TABLE-US-00001 1. Single and Double Roads lit with street lights 2. School as a plug in device 3. Wireless Remote Control Unit 4. Specialized Control Center 5. Residential complex with multi-level parking 6. Individual houses 7. Hospital 8. Police Station 9. Fire Station 10. City Bus stand 11. Charging Stations 12. Temple/Church 13. Construction Vehicles 14. Car Dealership

[0130] The carpet city as base function will provide street lighting during darkness (auto control) or forced on/off (manual control). It shall also operate public utilities like, Trams, monorail, metro services, etc. User shall have option to operate these vehicles, however generic functions like signaling, lighting (public) shall be the base carpet function. These functionalities can be easily visualized by referring to the full page FIG. 36. Furthermore, carpet city in its next generation design will include tram services and/or metro rail public services.

[0131] There shall be an administrator/parental control interface to this carpet city. This interface is mainly provided to define certain variables for providing the multiple basic functionalities as programmable feature of base carpet city over smartphone/Bluetooth/Wi-Fi interface. Inter carpet city interface is provided by Highway Runners depicting the interstate/city highways. These runners will not have any street light but will provide proper highway interface between two cities for fast connect as shown in FIG. 31.

[0132] Carpet city will have AC plug to draw power or will have 12 v battery connect socket. As part of basic functions, carpet city embedded controller will control all public services such as to name a few, school bell operation as per defined timing, Fire engine door operation for emergency vehicle entry/exit, bus stand general functions (signaling, lighting, board display, etc.), update clock towers and etc. Air traffic control (ATC) operations are part of ground operations under base carpet. Boat house ground functions are also considered ground base functions. Author has tried to capture all possible functions of base carpet city, however, next generation design may require enhanced and more complex ground functions.

[0133] Wireless Remote Steering Control Unit is the most essential and critical component of this submission. This device will be instrumental in communicating with all the other devices. It commands devices such as chassis cars, vans, trucks etc., in its movement of speed control, braking system, lighting/signaling system etc. It shall also use monitoring system to pick up signals/query devices for status. It can display these in the form of LEDs or on a simple 2.times.40 character LCD display. For advanced display model it shall interface with smartphone for HDMI graphic mode display. The advanced version of all chassis vehicles shall have a camera built into cars to get the driver's view of the road and horizon. The communication interface/protocol shall be based on state of the art, advanced Bluetooth Wi-Fi technology due to its small foot print and convenience in terms of interlock/interference etc. This mode is used in communicating with all the devices of this product line. The FIG. 32 shows this wireless communication technology between various devices of this Reach-1 carpet city.

[0134] In the event of a better communication protocol evolves suitable for this application, it shall be used as deemed fit. This wireless remote steering control device on its revision 6 is shown in FIG. 33. It works in standalone mode like portable mode or stationed/cradled mode. Under stationed mode it gives more feature as it interfaces with Specialized Control Center (SCC) directly plugged in. Under portable mode it gives realistic experience of moving with the device/vehicle such as helicopters in particular.

[0135] The remote steering control unit shall include a steering wheel with various controls on it like, turning light control, parking light control and audio controls etc. The steering wheel is connected at the center to a base station, this holds various controls such as head light on/off, dimmers, turning light controls. Parking/emergency light switch shall also be on the steering wheel. The other controls on the base station shall also be on steering wheel when under standalone mode. The indicators are mainly, brake lights (red), turning lights (yellow), reverse light (white) and others as required is shown in FIG. 34.

[0136] There shall be a small joystick like device for pointing the laser/IR red dot (tracking) to make a selection of the vehicle (FIGS. 45 & 48). This commands the device querying availability and if engaged, a red light at vehicle top and at steering wheel flashes, else the green color lights up to indicate availability. Once engaged it pairs together with wireless Remote Control/SCC until released. This remote steering control on recognizing smartphone presence and attached to base station along with RSC in cradle will initiate an Android or handheld app on smartphone to present views as seen sitting inside a vehicle in driver seat. This is possible through a HDMI camera placed at driver's seat in advanced devices. For other non-camera vehicles it shall display a fine dash board with speedometer, trip details, indicator status (battery charge status) etc.

[0137] Specialized Control Center (SCC) in FIG. 34 gives integrated one piece control unit where the player/driver would sit on a chair with pedal control under the leg like in automatic transmission or Manual transmission vehicles. There shall be two versions of Driver sitting like in Left Hand drive or Right Hand drive. There shall also be a drive handle with P, R, N, D steps for parking, Reverse, Neutral and drive as in Automatic cars. Dash board controls are part of SCC while steering and some controls on it shall be part of plug and play wireless remote control unit. Part of dash board includes cup holder, earphone plugs, speakers (works when activated) etc. for on board entertainment

[0138] As shown in FIG. 35 remote steering control can be detached from SCC for standalone control functions. Under this mode all the basic functions are available on steering wheel center panel. The functions excluded under this mode is smartphone interface and drive and leg pedal controls. These functions are however transferred to hand control/buttons.

[0139] Charging Stations are very critical components of this product line. All vehicles are battery driven and are rechargeable. So this station provides drive in mechanism for roadway devices to charge batteries. Users can drive their vehicles into.a slot where it gets charged. Status is shown on LED built on top of device when charging (rapid) is is complete and ready for one more round. Charging stations are located at different locations for easy charging access. These are like other devices plug and play type connecting to generic connections.

[0140] Towing trucks are parked in its station and charged also at its station for ready to go setup. These towing trucks are picked up by the driver whose car has gone out of charge and not at recharging station.

[0141] Drive through Restaurant (Reach-1A) are drive through inns for light food and drinks. Depending on the menu items shown on display screen (edited/maintained by carpet city administrator account), one can order listed eatables/drinks and manually it shall be served at SCC.

[0142] Car Dealership is another interesting device where users can experience driving big trucks laden with new cars. These cars once reaching on destination can be driven down to the car showroom. New cars can be paired and driven out onto the roads depicting new car purchase.

[0143] Hospital and Ambulance gives users access to medical emergency vehicles, usually ambulances. These ambulances are built with standard flashing light system and siren system. As part of 911, (emergency call#) a call to base carpet administration will enable ambulance, fire truck, and police car availability for immediate movement. The team has to select and move these vehicles to assist distress call. Hospitals have a private parking place where vehicles can be parked.

[0144] Construction Vehicles are available around the construction sites where users can select any type of vehicle like, tippers, bulldozers, cranes, 18 wheelers to do steel/heavy and long material movement, ready mix trucks, water tankers, etc. With bulldozers one can actually pull out dirt from designated construction site to tippers/dumpsters. This gives a feel for working on hard hat projects and feel for moving heavy vehicles. FIG. 36 is the actual Carpet City diagram drawn to scale with all the above mentioned individual modules (phase-1 & phase-2 components). This picture self explains interconnects of components on a Base carpet and depicts the flow of all movable components.

Reach-2 Component Details

Definition:

[0145] Reach-2 after Reach-1 is an advanced device functionality at additional cost, as it involves non-basic/advanced devices in terms of functionality. Reach-2 attaches to

[0146] Reach-1 seamlessly and provides a new set of features.

[0147] The components defined under phase-1 and phase-2 included under this Reach-2 carpet city are as follows:

TABLE-US-00002 1. Heliport and Choppers with ATC 2. Lake with water sports devices 3. Construction Site and Vehicles 4. Monorail Track 5. Monorails 6. Elevated Monorail Stations 7. Additional Roads 8. Additional Homes 9. Temple

[0148] Heliport and Airway Devices shall be the most exciting part of this product line as it involves vehicle/car driving to the cities heliport and take off in a helicopter parked in special spots/charged and ready to go. The chopper is selected by pointing the IR/laser pointer and paired. Once acknowledged by the device it's ready to take off. The remote control can be lifted out of SCC and carried freely in air as the chopper fly. Once airborne, all safety measures/monitoring is put in effect. The ATC will guide the chopper driver with instructions over automatic voice. The FIG. 37 shows Reach-2 Carpet city in its full form on a full sheet.

[0149] The interface firmware with helicopter, remote control device and ATC will determine the strength of battery life and thereby decide on flight minutes left to fly. Once it reaches the threshold, it warns remote steering control to return to heliport immediately. If not answered within timeout, it automatically un-pairs itself from the remote control and flies to ground for safe landing. There on its all manual to recharge and return to heliport. Choppers can be flown from one carpet city to another if an ATC exists at the new location. This way it gives real life experience of flying from city to city. The chopper controls/signaling are all controlled by chopper firmware. The movement of chopper is all controlled by the steering wheel for left and right turn while a joystick will control up and down movement. More controls for landing and takeoff etc. are handled through buttons on the steering wheel. Helicopters (choppers) are mainly available at few places namely, heliport, fire station, police station and tall structures with Helipad.

[0150] Helicopters are bought out items to begin with and the controls are replaced by our custom firmware to interface with remote and ATC/carpet city. These choppers can be battery driven or petrol driven, but generates sound similar to real choppers at less/audible decibels.

[0151] The ATC gets involved once a chopper is ready for takeoff. It communicates with remote control or SCC over the speakers providing valuable instructions deemed necessary for takeoff checklist. Once airborne the pilot can get necessary information from ATC on available display unit. An onboard camera inside cockpit shall provide aerial view on smartphone if connected or on HD TV interface. Once chopper leaves the network of ATC it shall fly into another ATC network space for help in landing or for any other information.

[0152] Water ways and Transport Devices sits on the city carpet providing an elevated platform where a sunken lake shaped water tank is fit in with a couple inches deep. The water is poured into the lake so that the marine activity could start. The boats and other marine devices are built similar in function to a roadway device as for as communication is concerned. The chassis design differs from roadway devices and so a miscellaneous chassis design will provide motion, turning, braking etc. in the onboard firmware. Wireless Remote control pairs with these devices like any other moving vehicle and controls and monitors waterway devices. Like any other device these also provide onboard camera in `advanced models` for captain's view of the lake on SCC's smartphone or HD TV interface. Users can select docked boats or drive their trailers with boats/jet skis on to the ramp and move the device into the water or release it into the water. There might be some level of manual intervention needed to make this unloading/loading happen.

[0153] This lake entity is also a plug and play device/attachment that fits on top of the carpet city Reach-2. As said in earlier paragraphs, once mounted on carpet it can be used for all marine sport activities. The generic connect to lake is like plug and play heliport and so are all interchangeable entities. Once plugged into the base, it provides certain information or accepts certain request from base carpet administrator. Construction Vehicles are available around the construction sites where users can select any type of construction vehicles.

Reach-3: Component Details

Definition:

[0154] Reach-3 is a combination of Reach-1, Reach-2 with few additional advanced features. They are monorail system, helipad and choppers. Reach-3 connects Reach-1 and Reach-2 next to each other as seen in FIG. 38 and adds monorail features, ATC and choppers to bring in advance functions. The components defined under this Reach-3 carpet city are as follows:

TABLE-US-00003 1. Monorails 2. Monorail Track 3. Helipad 4. ATC 5. Monorail 6. Choppers

[0155] The Reach-1c controller will do the complete job of controlling this carpet device and Communication with the remote/SCC to provide total functionality. This also makes Reach-2c redundant and disabled if present. The basic functions include all of Reach-1 and Reach-2 controls and puts additional helipad, ATC and monorail signaling/movement management system.

[0156] Reach-3 comes in 3H and 3M models to support Heliport and Monorail. These two offerings comes only in advance models where camera in driver position is built in. As Reach-3 is a combination of Reach-1 and Reach-2, Reach-3C is not provided as Reach-1C/2C will deliver controller job. Reach-1 and Reach-2 in standalone mode is also a correct combination but misses 3H and 3M functions. Reach-3M components like, monorail tracks are add-on parts over Reach-1 and Reach-2. There are slots provided on express way to plug-in these tracks to establish monorail connect.

Reach-4: Mountain Terrain Component Details

Definition:

[0157] Next set of new features gets added here under Reach-4, which can be an add-on carpet to Reach-1 and Reach-2 (Reach-3) or can be standalone or a new city carpet by itself. In this example, am trying to show a Reach-4 configuration as an add-on to Reach-3. Reach-4 devices are a group of residential layouts, mountain terrain and monorail system for intra-city transit system. As explained in introduction, Reach-4 can also have an inter-city expressway connect. Base carpet administrator provides basic functionality as explained before for Reach-4 devices/interface. FIG. 39 shows Reach-4 in full form.

[0158] Reach-4 can also be a standalone functionality with Reach-4c controlling the carpet, or can be attached to Reach-3 directly or through a Runner (4-3R)/(4-1R)/(4-2R). When connected to Reach-3 direct or standalone, the Reach-4C controller is redundant as Reach-1 C/2C controller could recognize Reach-4 carpet.

[0159] Reach-4R is mainly for Ropeway/Cable Car devices and mountain terrain drive. This provides built in camera for driver's view of the cable car that the user controls. The base signaling and collision control are all part of base carpet functionality.

Reach-5: Amusement Park Component Details

[0160] Next adventures in carpet city is the amusement park carpet: Reach-5. This unit can function as a standalone unit using its Reach-5C controller attachment, or can be attached to any other previously numbered carpets Reach-1, 2, 3 or 4. In this configuration when attached to the other carpet city Reach-5C is redundant as any other controller Reach-xC will sense Reach-5 presence and control this carpet as well.

[0161] Reach-5 shown in FIG. 40 comes with many roller coasters, Ferris wheel which can be selected and operated upon. The built-in camera in these rides provides HDMI quality video display on SCC or HD TV. Two towers on this carpet city provide helipad for chopper landing and takeoff. Ropeway can be optional over these two towers.

[0162] Reach-5G gives go-carting device for fast driving and racing experience. Reach-5 also has monorail connect in attached configuration. Under this configuration with other Reach-x carpet cities, the monorail track can be interconnected, so the monorail can choose track switching to reach different destinations. Runners (5-xR) is also provided to connect to any other carpet city for intercity connectivity.

Reach-6: Grand Prix Component Details

[0163] Last but certainly not the least as of now (expansion left to imagination) is the Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit Reach-6, FIG. 41. This unit can function as a standalone using its 6C attachment, or can be attached to any other previously numbered carpets Reach-1, through Reach-5. In this configuration when attached to the other carpet city Reach-6C is redundant as any other controller Reach-xC will sense Reach-6 presence and control this carpet as well.

[0164] Reach-6 comes with many formula 1 Cars and which can be selected and operated upon. The built-in camera in these fast cars provides HDMI quality video display on SCC or HD TV. This carpet city will provide helipad for chopper landing and takeoff.

[0165] Reach-6 also has monorail connect, both in stand-by and in attached configurations. Under attached configuration with other Reach-x carpet cities, the monorail track can be interconnected, so the monorail can choose track switching to reach different destinations. Runner 6-xR is also provided to connect to any other carpet city for intercity connectivity. FIG. 41 depicts to Reach-6 carpet city.

[0166] Reach-7 through Reach-9 are reserved for next set of carpet city design under this family product line. When the core design changes and new/next generation family design emerges, Reach-10 through Reach-19 can be used. Also an interconnect from one family to another family can be established to take advantage of existing devices/investments. Similarly Reach-20 through Reach-29 and so on can be drafted for next-to-next generation devices.

Phase-4: Technology Definer



[0167] DISCLAIMER: The following technology standards are used for control and operational function of this product line. The intent of mentioning these technologies here is for the completeness of the design/operational methods and NOT to seek any disclosure of the defined technologies and standards. The copyright and trademarks belongs to respective groups as mentioned on the internet for these technologies. P4.1 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0/3.0 (Derived from Wikipedia.com)

[0168] Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and communications protocols used in a bus for connection, communication, and power supply between computers and electronic devices.

[0169] This technology may be used in this product line for the purpose of serial interconnect across devices on the carpet city or across carpet cities. In addition it may be used for powering/charging certain devices on the carpet. Additional specification details may be obtained from Wikipedia.

P4.2 Inter-Integrated Circuit (I.sup.2C) (Derived from Wikipedia.com)

[0170] I.sup.2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit), pronounced I-squared-C, is a multi-master, multi-slave, single-ended, serial computer bus invented by Philips Semiconductor, known today as NXP Semiconductors, used for attaching low-speed peripherals to computer motherboards and embedded systems.

[0171] SMBus, defined by Intel in 1995, is a subset of I.sup.2C that defines the protocols more strictly. One purpose of SMBus is to promote robustness and interoperability. Accordingly, modern I.sup.2C systems incorporate policies and rules from SMBus, sometimes supporting both I.sup.2C and SMBus, requiring only minimal reconfiguration.

[0172] The I.sup.2C reference design has a 7-bit or a 10-bit (depending on the device used) address space. Common I.sup.2C bus speeds are the 100 kbit/s standard mode and the 10 kbit/slow-speed mode. Recent revisions of I.sup.2C can host more nodes and run at faster speeds (400 kbits Fast mode, 1 Mbit/s Fast mode plus or Fm+, and 3.4 Mbit/s High Speed mode).

[0173] I2C interconnect between controller and the devices shall be used inside of the carpet city PCB layout. These physical connections are made in master-slave configuration, so the Reach-1C basic controller in master setup could talk to slave devices such as street lights, signal lights, emergency public signaling, public address, recharge/towing station etc.

P4.3 Power Bus:

[0174] Power bus is the internal naming for power distribution to various control and other devices. The DC voltage level could vary from 1 volt to 12 volts as needed and derived from the initial power source of 12/48 volts. AC-DC converters provide 48 volts DC which will further be reduced to different voltages as needed by individual devices. The main power is distributed in BUS form over bus cable so that large current can be drawn wherever required. The DC sources are all regulated power sources giving steady battery type DC source to drive electronic circuitry on carpet cities.

P4.4 Blue Tooth Technology/Communication: (Derived from Wikipedia.com)

[0175] Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances (using short-wavelength UHF radio waves in the ISM band from 2.4 to 2.485 GHz) from fixed and mobile devices, and building personal area networks (PANs). Invented by telecom vendor Ericsson in 1994, it was originally conceived as a wireless alternative to RS-232 data cables. Bluetooth uses a radio technology called frequency-hopping spread spectrum. It can connect several devices, overcoming problems of synchronization. The transmitted data are divided into packets and each packet is transmitted on one of the 79 designated Bluetooth channels with a master-slave structure. Each channel has a bandwidth of 1 MHz. Bluetooth 4.0 uses 2 MHz spacing which allows for 40 channels. The first channel starts at 2402 MHz and continues up to 2480 MHz in 1 MHz steps.

[0176] This technology shall be used extensively in this product line where high speed and reliable communication between devices are required over wireless media. The RSC, SCC, Carpet city controller, Chassis controller and other intelligent devices will use this wireless mode of communication.

P4.5 Infrared Wireless Point-to-Point Communication: (Derived from Wikipedia.com)

[0177] The Infrared Data Association (IrDA) is an industry driven interest group that was founded in 1993 by around 50 companies. IrDA provides specifications for a complete set of protocols for wireless infrared communications and the name "IrDA" also refers to that set of protocols. The main reason for using IrDA had been wireless data transfer over the "last one meter" using point and shoot principles. Thus, it shall be implemented in this product line using IrLAP (Infrared Link Access Protocol) for portable devices such as RSC, SCC and Chassis Controllers for mainly `point and select` purpose.

P4.6 Base Carpet Controller Definition:

[0178] FIG. 42 shows the block diagram of the embedded controller module while FIG. 44. shows interconnects of this controller with various devices on carpet city. An embedded controller (EC) is a microcontroller that handles various system tasks such as:

[0179] 1. Admin console interface--For configuration/setup of session operation.

[0180] 2. Carpet city Reach-x version check

[0181] 3. Add-on carpet Reach-x scanning/detection

[0182] 4. Scan for all active devices on the carpet (Reach-x)

[0183] 5. Add-on Highway Runner detection

[0184] 6. If Runner exist, scan for detection and devices on attached Reach-x

[0185] 7. Detection of additional devices such as monorail, ATC, Helipad, etc.

[0186] 8. Control street lights per timings defined in admin console

[0187] 9. Control traffic signal lights at junctions--this is smart control as it dynamically changes per emergency vehicles needs and also synchronized to consecutive junctions as defined by the admin console

[0188] 10. School bell, public transport information at kiosks

[0189] 11. Drive through restaurant `menu` interface and management

[0190] 12. Recharge station management

[0191] 13. Worship area light control--operation defined in admin console

[0192] 14. ATC controlling, beacon light flashing and helipad light control

[0193] 15. Light house control at lake side

[0194] 16. Boat house lighting control

[0195] 17. Flood light at construction site on demand through construction vehicle activation

[0196] 18. Large crane operation at construction site

[0197] 19. Apartment lighting and multi-level car parking lighting and management

[0198] 20. Monorail lighting control and signaling

[0199] 21. Monorail track changing at junctions

[0200] 22. Mountain terrain Reach-4 street lighting, signaling

[0201] 23. Cable car signaling and lighting

[0202] 24. Reach-5 amusement park detection--Lighting, music & sound at rides and etc.

[0203] 25. Formula car grand prix lighting and control on Reach-6 carpet

[0204] 26. Remote Steering Control Wireless interface

[0205] 27. SCC Wireless interface

[0206] 28. Performing software-requested CPU reset through admin console

[0207] 29. Controlling the watchdog timers for periodic activity

[0208] 30. Firmware upgrade to keep up with design and development team

[0209] 31. Many more functions to be defined as the need arise

[0210] The Base carpet functions as defined in P4.6-1 through P4.6-30 above need a controller on board at power-on and available even after power-off. As more than 50% of activities are around static lighting and one time activity like school bell etc., a 16/32 bit embedded microcontroller with embedded devices such as ADC, DAC, Timers, WDT, I2C, USB, Bluetooth, Parallel I/O bits, Serial interface to terminal/human interaction etc. would suffice. The FIG. 42 shows block diagram of an embedded controller suitable for this implementation while FIG. 43 shows software stack needed for such an implementation.

[0211] FIG. 44 shows bullets P4.6-1 through P4.6-30 as defined above connected to the Base controller.

P4.7 Remote Steering Controller (RSC):

[0212] Remote Steering Controller (RSC) operates as the central user interface module/operator. It is rechargeable and so ready to operate at all times. While hooked into SCC it gets charged or through an external recharge unit. It contains a 16/32 bit micro controller as an embedded unit and provides user interface and wireless communication to talk to all the devices on the carpet. Bluetooth technology is used inside for all device-to-device communication. The user interface includes but not limited to, display buttons/LEDs, switches for all control, Rotary switch for steering etc. Braking system is controlled through Timer switch and corresponding LED bar lights on the remote console.

[0213] Remote Steering Controller can also be made in two different models, `BASIC` as explained so far and `Basic +`, wherein a smart display unit can be added to show the actual dash board of a Car, Helicopter, Motor boats, Construction Vehicles, Formula Cars, Monorail, Cable Cars etc. In addition it can be fitted with advanced functions such as `Point and Select device`, SCC interface, Helicopter control device, Construction equipment movement (large cranes), mechanical frame movement in Car-carriers, Monorail drive and junction plate switching, and many more specialized controls and movements.

[0214] When in attached mode (to SCC) it functions like Basic and performs additional work of managing/driving SCC devices like, Audio Stereo, Brake pedals, Auto/Manual gear control. This remote steering wheel control also works as Point-and-Select device as explained in section P4.11. In this case the entire wheel would act as point and select device as shown in FIG. 45.

[0215] Remote Steering Controller interacts with Chassis controller on various chassis such as Compact, Mid-Size, Family Size, Van, Truck, Trailer etc. It interacts with the Chassis controller over Bluetooth Technology to deliver (send/receive) message/commands. These commands are further processed by control unit inside of Chassis controller to route to different modules. RSC interaction with Chassis controller is defined in the FIG. 46. This figure explains how RSC-microcontroller talks to various blocks of chassis controller to perform certain module functions like, Steering, braking, light control, Audio etc.

P4.8 Specialized Control Center (SCC) Controller:

[0216] SCC controller without the Remote Steering Control (RSC) is an INVALID configuration. SCC is active only when RSC is plugged in as shown in FIG. 34. . `Point and Select` is also an integral part of SCC and interacts with remote Steering Controller through SCC setup. SCC has hooks to plug Brake/Accelerator pedals, Auto/Manual drive control, Smart or HD TV interface console, Point & Select device interconnect (Refer to FIGS. 34 & 35 for a display of all these SCC accessories). SCC is a passive device until RSC is fitted on top to get life line through RSC controller extension module.

P4.9 Rapid Re-Charge Technology:

[0217] Most NiCd and specialty types of Li-ion batteries, can be charged at a very high rate up to 70 percent state-of-charge (SoC). At a rate of 10 C or 10 times the rated current, a 1 A battery could theoretically be charged in six minutes, but there are limits. 1 C is the current rating of a battery. A 1 C charge or discharge of a battery rated at 1 Ah is 1 A. To apply an ultra-fast charge, the following conditions must be observed:

[0218] The battery must be designed to accept an ultra-fast charge. Current handing poses limitation with many pack designs

[0219] Ultra-fast charging only applies during the first charge phase. The charge current must be lowered when the 70 percent state-of-charge threshold is reached

[0220] All cells in the pack must be balanced and in good condition. Older batteries with high internal resistance will heat up; they are no longer suitable for ultra-fast charging

[0221] Ultra-fast charging can only be done under moderate temperatures. Low temperature slows the chemical reaction, and energy that cannot be absorbed causes gassing and heat buildup

[0222] The charger must include temperature compensations and other safety provisions to halt the charge rf the battery gets unduly stressed. Failure to heed to these conditions could cause rapid disintegration of the battery and fire

[0223] An ultra-fast charger can be compared to a high-speed train that is capable to travel 300 km per hour (188 mph) on a track built for it. The tracks, and not the machinery, govern the maximum speed. Adding power to a charger is relatively simple; the intelligence lies in assessing the condition of the battery and applying the right amount of maximum charge. A properly designed ultra-fast charger will lower the current when certain conditions occur. In essence, only newer batteries can be. ultra-fast charged.

[0224] FIG. 47 compares the cycle life of a lithium-ion battery when charged and discharged at 1 C, 2 C and 3 C. A 1 C charge and discharge cycle causes the capacity drop from 650 mAh to 550 mAh after 500 cycles, reflecting a decrease to 84 percent. A 2 C accelerates capacity fade to 310 mAh, representing a decrease to 47 percent, and with 3 C the battery fails after only 360 cycles with 26 percent remaining capacity. Charging and discharging Li-ion above 1 C reduces service life. This applies to most batteries.

[0225] Although the battery performs best at a gentle rate of 1 C and less, we must keep in mind that some applications require high charge and discharge rates, and we must take shorter life expectation into account. If full cycles with rapid charge and discharge are the norm, we shall consider using a larger battery. This will not only proVide more reserve capacity but it will also lower the C-rate in that a given charge and discharge current is less intrusive on the larger pack. An analogy can be made with an underpowered engine pulling a large vehicle; the stress is too large and the engine will not last.

[0226] Although the battery performs best at a gentle rate of 1 C and less, we must keep in mind that some applications require high charge and discharge rates, and we must take shorter life expectation into account. If full cycles with rapid charge and discharge are the norm, we shall consider using a larger battery. This will not only provide more reserve capacity but it will also lower the C-rate in that a given charge and discharge current is less intrusive on the larger pack. An analogy can be made with an underpowered engine pulling a large vehicle; the stress is too large and the engine will not last.

[0227] From the then above description, it is imperative that we will have to optimize the size of the battery. As this challenge is posed only by the mobile devices we will have to keep large footprint on the chassis while charging at gentle rate of <=1 C and yet make devices as compact as required. Larger vehicles can be fitted with larger flatbed batteries for fast charge and long life.

P4.10 Mechanical/Electrical Device for Interconnect (Latching/Snagging):

[0228] Electrical/Mechanical devices are many items as can be seen from FIG. 36 to FIG. 41 on carpet city. It's not possible to list all parts that are used on carpet city, however, some critical components are described in FIG. 49 through FIG. 52. Monorail tracks are designed to be structured, modular to snap on and attach to center of the highway on carpet city (Refer to FIG. 49) and build all interconnects with junction plates for track shifting.

[0229] Car carriers are built on long trailer chassis and the electromechanical framework is built for car loading and unloading as shown in FIG. 50. RSC will provide controls to this mechanical frame to adjust for car loading and unloading which is again operated through RSC.

[0230] Houses/Apartments (FIG. 51) are fine plastic bodies ready to install module with lighting inside for Base Carpet Controller to turn On/Off per admin pre-program. Similarly other mechanical/civil structures are made to install wherever possible to define a new theme within the design framework.

[0231] A chassis Car housing for mechanical and electrical connections/design is shown in FIG. 52. This shows how the car is assembled over a fixed chassis and the LED lighting connections to Printed Circuit Board (Green Color) through Light Pipes. The box above the front axle rod shows Drive and Steering Box, while on the Rear axle, it has Brake system box for decelerating the vehicle. The Chassis controller sits on this chassis PCB under the seat next to Battery box providing Bluetooth communication to RSC for commands/response and controls Brake box, Steering and Drive Motor.

P4.11 Point and Select:

[0232] This technique is designed to point at the device to see if not engaged by other users and select if available. This is one of the main technique in selecting any movable device including helicopters, monorail, roller coasters, boats besides cars, tracks, bus, ropeway trams, fire engine, police cars etc. The technology used in achieving this is through the joystick on the SCC device as in FIG. 48 or the RSC itself as in FIG. 45. This device is used to point the `Optical Cursor` on the device such as cars, helicopters, monorail, roller coasters and boats besides, tracks, bus, ropeway trams, fire engine, police cars and any moving devices. The device will acknowledge with flashing Red or Green LED indicator to indicate engaged or free status respectively. One more double click on the joy stick with cursor on the device with Green LED lit, will select the object and pair the device with the RSC over Bluetooth communication. The Optical Cursor at this time can be using IrDA technique or some other visual Optical Pointer method.

Future Prospects:

[0233] This product line is created in Basic and Basic+ (advanced) mode under core 1 design to support all future ideas and imaginations. The Basic architecture should support most of the state of the art and today's trend while advanced will open up the design to any imaginary length and breadth. Once a limitation is reached per core 1 design, next core design would begin and new design emerges when Reach-10 through Reach-19 can be used. Also an interconnect from one family to another can be established to take advantage of existing devices/investments. Similarly Reach-20 through Reach-29 and so on can be drafted for next-to-next generation devices.

[0234] As an example of future ideas, just before submission of this idea to US patent office, a new carpet city plan evolved. In this carpet city as Reach-7, we can design snow mobiles and its adventures as seen in some snow resorts. This Reach-7 idea is brand new and so is just been mentioned here under future development.

A Note:

[0235] I want to thank both my children Shreyas Kathavate aged 19 and Shashank Kathavate aged 17 for their support in drawing different ideas to formulate a concrete delivery model as discussed in earlier several sections. Shashank particularly involved almost from the beginning in understanding my ideas and transforming it into 3D pictures using his school experience with Google Sketchup. As a result we have put together a very fine 3D pictorial/graphical presentation for this new invention.

Claims

1. This product line is a group/integration of `Advanced Technology Real Life Toys` that are put together on an interesting platform to deliver as much Real Life transport devices as it can get for all age kids above 5 years to adults and including senior citizens. These toys work in very close relationship to provide complete roadways, waterways and airways transport system. This multi-faceted transport emulation in miniature form gives real thrill to every one as it depicts the real world in some real time format.

2. The innovative product recited in claim 1, wherein a base carpet platform called carpet city Reach-1 has basic functional modules of a real city like, residential houses, roads, traffic signals, flood lights, public address system, apartment complex, school, bus stand, police station, fire station, hospital, car dealership, construction site, recharge station, drive-in restaurant and temple complex. These devices are inter connected through a carpet city controller (an embedded computer system) for functional operations like, Bluetooth communication with remote device, power control, street light control, traffic light control, school bell, recharge management, and many more such public device controls.

3. The innovative product recited in claim 2, wherein the external control interface is with critical standalone device called Remote Steering Control (RSC) over Bluetooth for commands and system management. This also interfaces with Specialized Control Center (SCC) when RSC is cradled in it to provide additional/advanced features as explained in section Reach-1.

4. The innovative product recited in claim 2&3 above, wherein the movable devices like, cars, trucks, buses, emergency vehicles, helicopters, boats, skis, mono rail, cable cars, and many such miniature devices move on carpet city as shown in FIG. 36 through FIG. 41. Their movement is managed through wireless s RSC/SCC one at a time through Bluetooth pairing mechanism. Once paired RSC is locked into the moving device (cars, helicopter, boats etc.) for drive/fly experience in real time. The device can be unpaired and locked on to a different device to experience a new drive.

5. The innovative product recited in claim 4 above, wherein the carpet Runners are designed to connect to a new carpet city theme as shown in FIG. 31. This enables interconnect of multiple or all carpet cities (Reaches) controlled by the base carpet controller on Reach-1 or any other single carpet city controller.

6. The innovative product recited in claim 5 above, wherein the airway and waterway transport devices are integrated with base carpet and controlled through RSC while Base carpet controller drives Air Traffic Control (ATC).

7. The innovative product recited in claim 6 above, wherein the Monorail system built across multiple carpets on the edge providing mono rail driving experience and its view over HD TV.

8. The innovative product recited in claim 6 above, wherein the Cable Car interface across buildings/mountains provide driving virtual reality in miniature model as well as visual rendering on HD TV.

9. The innovative product recited in claim 6 above, wherein the Amusement theme park is captured in miniature format on carpet city Reach-5. This theme park provides fun rides/drives using advanced miniature roller coasters, Ferris wheel, cable cars, etc.

10. The innovative product recited in claim 6 above, wherein the formula cars in grand prix racing circuit provide high speed driving experience in miniature format. This is controlled using wireless RSC/SCC. Refer to FIG. 41.

11. A computer system comprising: a. one or more processing units b. multiple movable devices such as cars, trucks, buses, helicopters, boats, monorails, etc. c. a central management system like, RSC, SCC to provide HD visual rendering d. all component interfaces as shown in FIG. 44.