A Four-Track Steering Vehicle Model with Track Unit Rotation in the Pitch-Plane

摘要

Four-Track Steering Vehicles (4TS) equipped with triangular track, or crawler units in place of regular tires have been developed for off-road use. Since the crawler units swing about the axles of the drive sprockets and make large contact areas with irregular ground, 4TS is expected to improve its performance on rough and soft ground. In this research, a numerical 4TS model in the pitch-plane was constructed by using Lagrange's equations of motion. Track unit motion was considered in the numerical model to simulate the vehicle motion on several non-level ground configurations. In order to examine the numerical model, scale model experiments were also conducted. The validity of the numerical model was observed.