Dynamics modeling and control of active track tensioning system for tracked vehicle

Abstract

Track assemblies are widely used to reduce vehicles’ ground pressure and improve their off-road performance. During off-road, the track tension has a significant effect on the performance of the crawler driving system. Previous control strategies only make use of the motions of partial road wheels. This paper develops a logical improvement to govern the motion of the track tensioner by using all road wheels. First, a dynamic model of the hydraulic-mechanism coupling system is established using the transfer matrix method for multibody systems and pressure-flow equations. Then, in order to get the angle of the idler arm, a modeling method of wheel envelope perimeter is developed, which is based on the locations of all wheels. Simulation results indicate that the control system maintains the wheel envelope perimeter almost constant while road wheels swing and decrease the possibility of peel-off and breakage of the track. It alleviates the track repeated stretch and keeps the tension in a stable range to reduce the fatigue damage. The control strategy can effectively reduce the peak value of the upper track tension during a vehicle passing through obstacles. This study suggests that the active track tensioning system can be implemented to improve the driving properties of tracked vehicles.

Vision-Based Control of a Mobile Manipulator With an Adaptable-Passive Suspension for Unstructured Environments

“…[12]. Yet, despite the many possible combinations of locomotion systems, the most common means of locomotion employ wheels [1,[13][14][15], tracked systems [16,17], or legs [18,19]. Among the best approaches for speed and versatility is to use a wheeled system in combination with some passive or active suspension mechanisms [20].…”

“…Legged systems ensure their stability in a wide range of terrains, and tracked systems are also very stable and have a good friction coefficient during motion off-road; they are also simple and robust. However, the obvious downside is that tracked systems present vibrations while traversing these environments, and the legged systems are very complex to build and control and have high costs for construction and maintenance [11,17].…”