US Patent 8965620 Systems and methods for controlling movement of unmanned vehicles

Control units (10) for use with unmanned vehicles (12) include an input device (50) that moves in response to a user input, sensors (70) coupled to the input device (50), and a controller (16). The sensors (70) generate outputs related to the movement of the input device (50). The controller (16) determines a target displacement of the unmanned vehicle (12) based on the outputs of the sensors (70), and generates a control input related to the target displacement. The control input, when received by the unmanned vehicle (12), causes the unmanned vehicle (12) to substantially attain the target displacement. The position of the vehicle (12) is thus controlled by directly controlling the displacement of the vehicle (12).