Mobility of an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) is highly dependent upon the maximum lateral and longitudinal forces that can be generated at the... Show moreMobility of an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) is highly dependent upon the maximum lateral and longitudinal forces that can be generated at the tire/ground interface. These forces are a function of a number of di erent vehicle properties such as suspension geometry, actuators and the tire/terrain interaction mechanics. Typically these properties are xed imposing general limits to the vehicle's maximum achievable lateral and longitudinal accelerations. If you were instead able to modify these parameters dynamically during vehicle operation substantial improvements in robot mobility can be realized. This thesis presents the design a fabrication of the Variable Inertial Vehicle (VIV) which is capable of realizing this. It uses a shifting mass mechanism to vary the normal load distribution among the front and rear tire based upon the desired operating conditions. The shifting mass mechanism is capable of moving a substantial amount of the vehicle along it longitudinally. This provides direction control of the tire normal forces during operation. Described in this thesis is the design of this unique element and its e ects on the rest of the vehicle design. The other main elements di erentiating the VIV from common UGV's such as the electronics, suspension, chassis, and powertrain are also detailed. Finally, a number of experiments utilizing the VIV are presented. These experiments were devised and performed my Chenghui Nie but are presented here to demonstrate the functionality and capabilities of the VIV. M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, December 2011 Show less
Query
(-) mods_name_creator_namePart_mt:"Ruffatto Iii, Donald"
