Integrated Steering Systems to Enhance Manoeuvrability: Technical Note

Abstract

Most vehicles today employ conventional steering system where the front wheels are solely responsible for steering the vehicle, due to this the rear wheels remain dependent of the front wheels in the dynamic condition which is not allowing the vehicle to reach its maximum potential. On the other hand, in a four-wheel steering system the rear wheels along with the front wheels steer the vehicle improving its manoeuvrability. Four wheels steering also produces better acceleration as power is distributed to all the four-wheels enhancing the net traction and reducing the overall rolling resistance. Vehicles today are designed to under-steer a little with a steering ratio ranging between 14 and 22, this phenomenon fails in few scenarios where it takes longer to manoeuvre a vehicle in case of lane emergencies. Implementing in-phase and counter-phase steering mechanisms in a vehicle allow sharper turn, reduces tire wear and improves the overall manoeuvrability of the vehicle. Factors like steering torque, turning angle and velocity of the vehicle are taken into consideration for devising a proper method to shift between different steering modes. The input from steering angle and torque at a certain speed, allows the vehicle to choose between the crabs, parallel or counter steering mechanism during a turn for best performance. Thereby, integrating these mechanisms in a single vehicle would invariably stabilize and provide a better control to the driver in high as well as slow speed conditions.