Analysis of factors affecting steering performance of wheeled skid-steered vehicles

• Published in: Journal of engineering (Stevenage, England) Vol. 2020; no. 14; pp. 1015 - 1019
• Main Authors: Wu, Hang, Xiong, Hui, Du, Weitao, Yang, Xiaodong, Xu, Zhiliang, Yang, Qifan, Shao, Yimin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Institution of Engineering and Technology 01.11.2020; Wiley
• Subjects: 20th International Conference of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Control Engineering (ICFPMCE 2019); established kinematic model; mobile robots; poor steering performance; road vehicles; robot kinematics; skid-steered vehicles; steering radius; steering systems; tracked vehicles; vehicle dynamics; wheels; wheels; tracked vehicles; road vehicles; steering radius; established kinematic model; robot kinematics; vehicle dynamics; steering systems; poor steering performance; mobile robots; skid-steered vehicles
• ISSN: 2051-3305; 2051-3305
• DOI: 10.1049/joe.2020.0065

Wheeled skid-steered vehicles have the advantages of compact structure, small steering radius and wide application. However, poor steering performance is an important limitation restricting the development of wheeled skid-steered vehicles. A kinematic model for analysing the relationship between wheels’ rotation speed and the motion state of the vehicles’ mass centre based on Newton's second law was established, then the correctness of the kinematic model was verified by comparing the calculation results with simulation results. The key design perimeters affecting the steering performance were analysed by a control-variable method based on the established kinematic model. The results indicate that the established kinematic model can evaluate the steering performance of skid-steered vehicles correctly and can provide a reference for optimising the design of the vehicles.