Analysis and Simulation of a Wheeled-Vehicle with Auxiliary Wheels of Involute-Shape (AWIS)

摘要

This paper introduces an innovative design of Auxiliary Wheel of Involute-Shape (AWIS) as an auxiliary device for a wheeled-vehicle. The AWIS enhances the wheeled-vehicle's adaptability on rugged terrain while not imposing complexity in the control. The continuous-variable-radius of the AWIS allows for smoother motion in a sagittal plane. Moreover, the AWIS enables the wheeled-vehicle to traverse obstacles with maximum heights reaching almost five times its base radius. In this paper, the kinematics, statics, and dynamics analyses are performed on the AWIS. The wheeled-vehicle with AWIS traversing obstacles, ascending and descending a flight of staircase is simulated and the results obtained validate the functionality of the AWIS.