Modeling and Simulation of Six Wheel Skid Steering Vehicle (6x6) for Development of Torque Control Algorithm

Abstract

The skid steered vehicles are favored for military use in off road operations because of their high maneuverability and mobility on extreme terrains and obstacles There is a trend to transform from the skid steered tracked vehicle to the skid steered wheeled vehicle for having high speed at the expense of the reduced mobility.. All the wheels in this case are non-steerable. The skid steered vehicles are tum by generating different longitudinal forces by the tires due to the application of different torques to wheels on opposite sides of the vehicle. To analyze the behavior of skid steering in the simulated environment we need to have a good mathematical model. The mathematical modeling of skid steering is complex because of the skidding phenomenon which is difficult to model. In this study we modeled the Skid Steering Six Wheeled Vehicle (6×6) mathematically with actual parameters of a 6×6 Hybrid Electric Vehicle and then it is simulated for different maneuvers by using the torque control algorithm to check the behavior of the vehicle before carrying out the actual experiments on the vehicle. The Pacejka and Sharp tire model is used in this study which can predict the longitudinal and lateral tire forces at combined slip conditions during the motion. The motion is compared with Ackermann steered vehicle of the same dimensions and parameters. A torque control algorithm is simulated using the 6×6 model.