US5618179A — Driver training system and method with performanc…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 181 words

A system for simulating operation of a vehicle comprising: a plurality of input devices configured to control the simulated vehicle, at least one input device generating a set of input device states indicative of input device position; a visual display configured to present a view of a simulated environment; a computer including a model process associated with said simulated input devices capable of processing said input device states and determining position information of said simulated vehicle therefrom, wherein said computer further includes a control process, responsive to said position information, capable of displaying on the visual display a present route of the simulated vehicle through the simulated environment; a memory having a plurality of buffers including a present route buffer; a clock associated with said computer capable of providing timing information to said computer, wherein said computer stores input device states in the present route buffer at a first subset of selected times during traversal of the route; and a display panel responsive to the stored input device states, said display panel providing a graphical representation of the input device states.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 181 words

A system for simulating operation of a vehicle comprising: a plurality of input devices configured to control the simulated vehicle, at least one input device generating a set of input device states indicative of input device position; a visual display configured to present a view of a simulated environment; a computer including a model process associated with said simulated input devices capable of processing said input device states and determining position information of said simulated vehicle therefrom, wherein said computer further includes a control process, responsive to said position information, capable of displaying on the visual display a present route of the simulated vehicle through the simulated environment; a memory having a plurality of buffers including a present route buffer; a clock associated with said computer capable of providing timing information to said computer, wherein said computer stores input device states in the present route buffer at a first subset of selected times during traversal of the route; and a display panel responsive to the stored input device states, said display panel providing a graphical representation of the input device states.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 16 words

The system of claim 1, wherein said display panel comprises a portion of the visual display.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 13 words

The system of claim 1, wherein said system comprises an arcade video game.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 20 words

The system of claim 1, wherein the input devices include a steering wheel, a gas pedal, and a brake pedal.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 33 words

The system of claim 4, wherein the input device states stored in the present route buffer indicate at least one of the following: steering wheel position, gas pedal position, and brake pedal position.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 35 words

The system of claim 1, wherein the present route buffer further stores position information of the simulated vehicle in the simulated environment at a second subset of selected times during traversal of the present route.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 24 words

The system defined in claim 6, wherein the first subset of the selected times and the second subset of selected times are the same.

Claim 9

Independent Claim 141 words

A system for simulating operation of a vehicle by a user in a simulated environment, said system comprising: a plurality of input devices capable of controlling the simulated vehicle, at least one input device generating a set of input device states indicative of input device position; a data processing unit connected to the input devices; a memory associated with the data processing unit, wherein the memory and the data processing unit constitute an information processing apparatus capable of executing a vehicle simulation software program which provides the user with a graphical representation of a simulated environment and a graphical representation of the input device states; a first display area capable of presenting the graphical representation of the simulated environment to the user; and a second display area capable of displaying the graphical representation of the input device states to the user.

Claim 10

Independent Claim 141 words

A system for simulating operation of a vehicle by a user in a simulated environment, said system comprising: a plurality of input devices capable of controlling the simulated vehicle, at least one input device generating a set of input device states indicative of input device position; a data processing unit connected to the input devices; a memory associated with the data processing unit, wherein the memory and the data processing unit constitute an information processing apparatus capable of executing a vehicle simulation software program which provides the user with a graphical representation of a simulated environment and a graphical representation of the input device states; a first display area capable of presenting the graphical representation of the simulated environment to the user; and a second display area capable of displaying the graphical representation of the input device states to the user.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 22 words

The system of claim 8, wherein said first display area displays a present route of the simulated vehicle through the simulated environment.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 22 words

The system of claim 8, wherein the first display area presents an ideal path of the simulated vehicle though said simulated environment.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 13 words

The system of claim 8, wherein the first and second display areas overlap.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 50 words

The system of claim 8, wherein one of the input devices comprises a steering wheel and wherein the second display area presents a steering graph showing the position of the steering wheel relative to a center position after said vehicle has been driven on a course through said simulated environment.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 40 words

The system of claim 8, wherein the input devices include a gas pedal and a brake pedal, the second display presenting a graphical representation of time periods during which the gas pedal and brake pedal were depressed by the user.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 24 words

The system defined in claim 8, wherein said memory comprises a plurality of buffers including a present route buffer and a previous route buffer.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 40 words

The system defined in claim 14, wherein the input device states indicative of the present route are stored in the present route buffer and the input device states indicative of an ideal path are stored in the previous route buffer.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 45 words

The system defined in claim 15, wherein the second display area of the input device states is responsive to a portion of the vehicle simulation software program capable of retrieving and simultaneously displaying the states from the previous route buffer and the present route buffer.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 29 words

The system defined in claim 14, wherein the present route buffer additionally includes position information of the simulated vehicle in the simulated environment during traversal of the present route.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 40 words

The system defined in claim 17, wherein the vehicle simulation software program includes a portion responsive to the position information stored in the present route buffer for displaying the position information in a two-dimensional view of the entire present route.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 31 words

The system defined in claim 17, wherein the position information of the simulated vehicle in the simulated environment of the present route is user selectably stored into the previous route buffer.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 48 words

The system defined in claim 19, wherein the vehicle simulation software program includes a portion responsive to the position information stored in the present route buffer and the previous route buffer for displaying the position information of the entire present route and previous route in a two-dimensional view.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 24 words

The system defined in claim 14, wherein the input device states of the present route are user selectably stored into the previous route buffer.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 23 words

The system defined in claim 21, wherein the information processing apparatus additionally comprises: a switch; and a menu display responsive to the switch.

Claim 25

Independent Claim 195 words

A system for operating a simulated vehicle in a simulated environment comprising: a plurality of input devices for controlling the simulated vehicle, at least one input device generating a set of input device states indicative of input device position; a plurality of output devices, wherein a selected one of the output devices presents a user with a view of a simulated environment; a computer including a model process responsive to the input devices for determining position information of the simulated vehicle in the simulated environment, said computer further including a control process responsive to the position information for displaying on the selected output device a present route of the simulated vehicle through the simulated environment; a memory having at least one buffer including a present route buffer; a clock associated with said computer for providing timing information to the computer, wherein the computer stores input device states in the present route buffer of the memory at selected times during traversal of the present route and, wherein one of the output devices is responsive to the input device states stored in the present route buffer for providing a visual view indicative of the input device states.

Claim 26

Independent Claim 195 words

A system for operating a simulated vehicle in a simulated environment comprising: a plurality of input devices for controlling the simulated vehicle, at least one input device generating a set of input device states indicative of input device position; a plurality of output devices, wherein a selected one of the output devices presents a user with a view of a simulated environment; a computer including a model process responsive to the input devices for determining position information of the simulated vehicle in the simulated environment, said computer further including a control process responsive to the position information for displaying on the selected output device a present route of the simulated vehicle through the simulated environment; a memory having at least one buffer including a present route buffer; a clock associated with said computer for providing timing information to the computer, wherein the computer stores input device states in the present route buffer of the memory at selected times during traversal of the present route and, wherein one of the output devices is responsive to the input device states stored in the present route buffer for providing a visual view indicative of the input device states.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 25 words

The system of claim 23, wherein the output device responsive to the input device states stored in the present route buffer comprises a visual display.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 31 words

The system of claim 23, wherein the computer stores in the present route buffer the position information of the simulated vehicle in the simulated environment during traversal of the present route.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 19 words

The system defined in claim 23, wherein said memory comprises a plurality of buffers including a previous route buffer.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 190 words

A user-interactive system, said system comprising: a plurality of input devices for controlling a simulated vehicle, wherein at least one input device generates a set of input devices states indicative of input device position; a computer including a first process responsive to the input devices for determining position information of the vehicle in a simulated environment and a second process responsive to the position information for displaying a present route of the vehicle through the simulated environment; a memory, associated with the computer, having at least one buffer including a present route buffer; a display for presenting a user with a view of the simulated environment; and a clock, associated with the computer, for providing timing information to the computer, wherein at each time in a first subset of selected times, the state of at least one input device is recorded and at each time in a second subset of selected times the position information of the vehicle is recorded, wherein the computer replays the present route on the display and controls movement of the at least one input device according to the states stored in the present route buffer.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 190 words

A user-interactive system, said system comprising: a plurality of input devices for controlling a simulated vehicle, wherein at least one input device generates a set of input devices states indicative of input device position; a computer including a first process responsive to the input devices for determining position information of the vehicle in a simulated environment and a second process responsive to the position information for displaying a present route of the vehicle through the simulated environment; a memory, associated with the computer, having at least one buffer including a present route buffer; a display for presenting a user with a view of the simulated environment; and a clock, associated with the computer, for providing timing information to the computer, wherein at each time in a first subset of selected times, the state of at least one input device is recorded and at each time in a second subset of selected times the position information of the vehicle is recorded, wherein the computer replays the present route on the display and controls movement of the at least one input device according to the states stored in the present route buffer.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 19 words

The system of claim 27, wherein the present route replayed on the display is presented from a user's view.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 15 words

The system of claim 28, wherein the user's view is from inside the simulated vehicle.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 25 words

The system of claim 27, wherein the present route replayed on the display is presented from a top perspective looking down on the simulated vehicle.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 13 words

The system of claim 27, wherein said system comprises an arcade video game.

Claim 36

Dependent Claim 12 words

The system of claim 31, wherein the arcade video game is coin-operated.

Claim 37

Dependent Claim 124 words

In a simulated environment, including an information processor with a visual display and a plurality of input devices, a method of simulating operation of a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of: moving the input devices to control a simulated vehicle; generating a set of input device states indicative of input device position for at least one input device; executing a vehicle simulation software program on the information processor which provides a user with a graphical representation of the simulated environment and a graphical representation of the input device states; displaying the graphical representation of the simulated environment to the user in a first display area; and displaying the graphical representation of the input device states to the user in a second display area.

Claim 38

Dependent Claim 124 words

In a simulated environment, including an information processor with a visual display and a plurality of input devices, a method of simulating operation of a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of: moving the input devices to control a simulated vehicle; generating a set of input device states indicative of input device position for at least one input device; executing a vehicle simulation software program on the information processor which provides a user with a graphical representation of the simulated environment and a graphical representation of the input device states; displaying the graphical representation of the simulated environment to the user in a first display area; and displaying the graphical representation of the input device states to the user in a second display area.

Claim 39

Dependent Claim 25 words

The method of claim 33, wherein the first display area displaying step includes displaying a present route of the simulated vehicle through the simulated environment.

Claim 40

Dependent Claim 25 words

The method of claim 33, wherein the first display area displaying step includes displaying an ideal route of the simulated vehicle through the simulated environment.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2000-04-07	2000-10-07	2001-04-08	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2004-04-07	2004-10-07	2005-04-08	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2008-04-07	2008-10-07	2009-04-08	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Driver training system and method with performance data feedback

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