Comparison of different bogie configurations for a vehicle operating in rough terrain

Abstract

Conventional wheeled vehicles have serious mobility limitations in rough terrain while walking vehicles have inherent drawbacks such as a high number of DOF and actuators, control complexity and low energy efficiency. Vehicles that passively fit the position of multiple wheels to maintain contact with the ground can be a good solution to this problem. The present work aims to comparatively quantify the ability of overcoming obstacles that is achieved by using different configurations of vehicles with bogies. Different configurations of vehicles facing obstacles when climbing along ramps of different longitudinal slope have been modeled. Further analyses have been done in order to investigate the influence of the position of the center of gravity and obstacle traversing speed. Different asymmetrical bogie configurations have also been proposed to further improve the obstacle surmounting capacity of the 4-axle vehicle. The results show a clear improvement in the ability to overcome obstacles when using bogies. Compromise solutions can be found for the obstacle traversing speed and position of the center of gravity. Asymmetrical bogie geometry can provide an improvement in the obstacle surmounting ability, although vehicle application has to be taken into account to find the best solution.