Toy vehicle with telemetrics and track system and method

Abstract

A remote control vehicle is presented that has a telemetry sensor, which detects wheel rotation, and a track sensor that reads track indicators found on a track over which the vehicle is driven. The vehicle receives commands from a mobile device to control its operation. Wheel rotation data and track sensor data are transmitted from the vehicle back to the mobile device for storage along with the commands that were transmitted to the vehicle. The commands, rotation data, and track sensor data are transmitted to a server computer over a wide area network, and thereafter shared with another user as run data. When downloaded by the other user, the run data can be used to compare the other user's ability to control their vehicle with the run data. The run data can further be used to control the other user's vehicle.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A remote control vehicle system comprising:
 a) a remote control vehicle having;
 i) a wireless vehicle communication interface for receiving commands and transmitting data, 
 ii) wheels, 
 iii) a motor to control wheels in response to the received commands 
 iv) a wheel sensor to create wheel rotation data, and 
 v) a vehicle processor to transmit wheel rotation data across the wireless vehicle communication interface 
   b) a mobile computing device having:
 i) at least one wireless mobile device communication interface for
 (1) transmitting commands to the vehicle, 
 (2) receiving wheel rotation data from the vehicle, 
 (3) communicating with a remote server computer 
 
 ii) a user interface to receive commands to be transmitted to the vehicle, 
 iii) mobile device memory to store commands and received wheel rotation data, and 
 iv) a mobile device processor to manage commands and received wheel rotation data and to direct transmission of commands and data to the remote server computer; 
   c) the remote server computer having;
 i) a server communication interface for receiving commands and wheel rotation data from the mobile computing device, 
 ii) a server memory containing a database of structured data, and 
 iii) a server processor for receiving commands and wheel rotation data over the server communication interface and for storing the input commands and wheel rotation data in the database. 
   
     
     
         2 . The vehicle system of  claim 1 , wherein the mobile device processor receives third-party commands from the remote server computer and transmits the third-party commands to the remote control vehicle. 
     
     
         3 . The vehicle system of  claim 2 , wherein the third-party commands were received by the remote server from a third-party mobile computer device that previously used the third-party commands to drive a third-party vehicle. 
     
     
         4 . The vehicle system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 d) track have track indicators,   wherein the remote control vehicle further comprises a track sensor that reads the track indicators off the track as the vehicle passes over the track.   
     
     
         5 . The vehicle system of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle processor operates in a controlled start mode when the vehicle starts from a stopped position, wherein the torque provided by the motor to the wheels is limited to a predetermined value when the vehicle begins to move. 
     
     
         6 . The vehicle system of  claim 5 , wherein the torque provided by the motor to the wheels is maximized when the vehicle is in the stopped position. 
     
     
         7 . The vehicle system of  claim 5 , wherein the wheel sensor is used to determine whether or not the vehicle is moving. 
     
     
         8 . The vehicle system of  claim 5 , wherein the mobile device controls the torque provided by the motor during the controlled start mode. 
     
     
         9 . The vehicle system of  claim 5 , wherein the vehicle controls the torque provided by the motor during the controlled start mode. 
     
     
         10 . A method for operating a remote control vehicle comprising:
 a) laying out track having track indicators;   b) locating the remote control vehicle on the track;   c) controlling the remote control vehicle by inputting commands on a user interface on a mobile device, wherein the mobile device sends commands to the remote control vehicle;   d) on the remote control vehicle, reading track data by sensing the track indicators found on the track using a track sensor on the vehicle as the vehicle passes over the track;   e) sending track data from the remote control vehicle to the mobile device;   f) sending track data and the commands from the mobile device to a remote server.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the remote control vehicle accumulates wheel rotation data and sends wheel rotation data to the mobile device. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the wheel rotation data is sent with the track data and commands from the mobile device to the remote server.