Ford Patent Filed For Stair Climbing Robotic Vehicle

February 3, 2024 5:01 am

Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for a stair climbing robotic vehicle, Ford Authority has learned.

The patent was filed on July 28^th, 2022, published on February 1^st, 2024, and assigned serial number 0034117.

The Ford Authority Take

Over the past few years, Ford continues to implement robotics into its operations more and more, using them to retool plants, develop safety technology features, and help workers with mobility limitations. The automaker has also filed patents for ideas such as last mile travel routes for robots, a multi-use robot, and a fleet inspection and maintenance robot as it seeks to continue to utilize robots in new and interesting ways moving forward. Now, this newly filed Ford patent for a a stair climbing robotic vehicle keeps that trend going, albeit in a slightly different direction.

While Ford already uses robots for a wide variety of purposes, this new design aims to help that same piece of machinery tackle various obstacles – such as stairs, uneven surfaces, and various other types of obstacles. As such, this Ford patent presents us with a possible solution that could wind up being used not only in places like Blue Oval plants – but also, for last-mile deliveries and other commercial purposes.

This design for a new kind of robot has a base chassis with a controller and all of the things it would need to move around, but from there, there are all kinds of ways it could be customized to meet different needs. That means large tires capable of rolling over all kinds of surfaces, a lifting/tilting platform, and even the ability to extend its own “wheelbase” to accommodate larger loads. Given how vested Ford already is in the world of robotics, such an idea makes quite a bit of sense, and may very well wind up becoming a reality at some point in the future.

We’ll have more on this and all Ford patents soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford patent news, Ford business news, and ongoing Ford news coverage.

By Brett Foote

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.