Actively Articulated Wheeled Architectures for Autonomous Ground Vehicles - Opportunities and Challenges

Traditional ground vehicle architectures comprise of a chassis connected via passive, semi-active, or active suspension systems to multiple ground wheels. Current design-optimizations of vehicle architectures for on-road applications have diminished their mobility and maneuverability in off-road settings. Autonomous Ground Vehicles (AGV) traversing off-road environments face numerous challenges concerning terrain roughness, soil hardness, uneven obstacle-filled terrain, and varying traction conditions. Numerous Active Articulated-Wheeled (AAW) vehicle architectures have emerged to permit AGVs to adapt to variable terrain conditions in various off-road application arenas (off-road, construction, mining, and space robotics). However, a comprehensive framework of AAW platforms for exploring various facets of system architecture/design, analysis (kinematics/dynamics), and control (motions/forces) remains challenging. While current literature on the AAW system incorporates modeling and control from the legged and wheeled-legged robots community, it lacks a systematic process of architecture selection and motion control that should be developed around critical quantifiable performance parameters. This paper will: (i) analyze a broad body of literature; and (ii) identify modeling and control techniques that can enable the efficient development of AAW platforms. We then analyze key performance measures with respect to traversability, maneuverability, and terrainability, along with an experimental simulation of an AAW vehicle traversing over uneven terrain and how active articulation could achieve some of the critical performance measures. Against the performance parameters, gaps within the existing literature and opportunities for further research are identified to potentially enhance AAW platforms’ performance.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.4271/2023-01-0109
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/01487191
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of SAE International.
• Authors:
  • Mehta, Dhruv
  • Kosaraju, Krishna Chaitanya
  • Krovi, Venkat N
• Conference:
  • WCX SAE World Congress Experience
  • Location: Detroit Michigan, United States
  • Date: 2023-4-18 to 2023-4-20
• Publication Date: 2023-4-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: References;
• Serial:
  • SAE Technical Paper
  • Publisher: Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
  • ISSN: 0148-7191
  • EISSN: 2688-3627
  • Serial URL: http://papers.sae.org/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Active suspension systems; All terrain vehicles; Autonomous land vehicles; Autonomous vehicles; Computer architecture; Military vehicles; Terrain; Wheels
• Subject Areas: Highways; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01879568
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: SAE International
• Report/Paper Numbers: 2023-01-0109
• Files: TRIS, SAE
• Created Date: Apr 19 2023 4:34PM