AN INTRODUCTION TO DROVE: DATABASE RECORDS FOR OFF-ROAD VEHICLE ENVIRONMENTS

摘要

This paper presents the results from a multi-year research program to create the Database Records for Off-road Vehicle Environments (DROVE), which is a consolidated database of test results conducted on coarse- and fine-grained soils. Published results were assembled from several technical reports for laboratory and field tests into a database (DROVE) and used to assess soil/tire interaction of off-road vehicles. The first edition of the database (DROVE 1.0) includes thousands of records from the existing archives of laboratory and field tests of wheels operating in loose sand and plastic clay, respectively. Sand and clay results were reduced from several technical reports. DROVE includes results from tests performed by wheels of different diameters, widths, heights, and inflation pressures, operating under varying loading conditions. The DROVE structure is assembled to include various traction performance parameters such as drawbar pull, torque, traction, motion resistance, sinkage, and wheel slip. DROVE is still under further development by combining test results obtained from other sources. DROVE provides the mobility community with a resource to evaluate existing soil mobility algorithms and also, to develop improved algorithms to assess performance of various wheel designs. The authors linked DROVE to the algorithms currently defined in the Vehicle Terrain Interface (VTI) for mobility modeling of wheeled vehicles. Comparison of the predicted versus measured performance parameters are presented for these varying soil types. This study provides insight into what published data exists, what are the bounds on the data, and how the data matches to the existing algorithms in models such as VTI.