Crawler Vehicle Research Articles

Simulation analysis of force and fatigue life of circular wheel of crawler vehicle

During loading and driving, the wheels bear the vertical load from the body mass and the excitation load generated by uneven road surface on the one hand, and bear the driving torque on the other hand. The load-bearing methods of wheels are generally divided into bottom load-bearing and top load-bearing. This paper describes the structural characteristics of the track system of the articulated track vehicle and the interaction relationship between the main components of the track system. Finite element calculation is carried out based on ANSYS software to obtain the stress distribution of each key component under various loading methods. It can be seen from the results that all key components of the track system can meet the strength and rigidity requirements; although there are also areas with large local stress, they are all within the safe range, which is mainly caused by stress concentration. Safe life is obtained through fatigue analysis.

Crawler Vehicle Rescue Robot Based on Arduino NANO

Crawler Vehicle Rescue Robot Based on Arduino NANO

Research on inertia transfer in load simulation of tracked vehicle under complex working conditions

At present, research on the loading simulation test bench for overloaded vehicles is mostly limited to the realization of loading simulation under the condition of straight line driving of the vehicle. When simulating the whole vehicle load under straight line driving condition, only accurate road load and inertial load can be obtained to achieve accurate load simulation, and the inertial load required to be simulated by each side device is half of the whole vehicle inertial load. However, straight line driving is only the most ideal driving. The real driving conditions (including ground conditions) of the vehicle are usually composed of steering, longitudinal slope, lateral slope and different ground adhesion coefficients. Therefore, the loads borne by the two independent load simulation systems located on both sides of the vehicle may be different during the load simulation process. In addition, the frequency characteristics of the loads to be simulated by the same side load simulation device at different time sequences may also be different. This paper studies the dynamics modeling, load distribution and error compensation in the whole vehicle load simulation process in order to achieve accurate crawler vehicle load simulation from three aspects.

Development of Multi-Articulated Tracked Vehicle with a Sensorless Salvaging Bucket for Decommissioning

In this paper, we describe a prototypical crawler vehicle developed for “Hairo Sozo Robocon,” i.e., the 4th creative robot contest for decommissioning conducted in 2019. The rules of this robot contest required a high turning ability on a flat floor and high mobility through the inner space of a pipe. In addition, the robot needed to salvage objects from a floor placed 3.2 meters underneath itself. We developed a multi-articulated tracked vehicle to provide high mobility in both contexts. The vehicle was equipped with a sensorless salvaging bucket inspired by a traditional sampler sounding weight.

Influence of hull oscillations on loads in the power train of a crawler vehicle

This paper considers the experience of creating a dynamic model of the power train of a crawler vehicle taking into account the hull oscillations on an elastic suspension. A tractor with a conventional caterpillar is analyzed as an example. The research is carried out on the numerical method of modeling dynamic processes on the basis of solving the system of differential equations of motion by the Runge-Kutta method. The power train is represented in the system of differential equations as a set of concentrated masses and elastic connections between them, and the hull of the tractor is represented by five masses according to the considered degrees of freedom. In this research, we acknowledged cases of vehicle starting under different conditions of resistance to motion and under the drawbar pull of different magnitudes. According to the results of the analysis, we have estimated the influence of hull oscillations of the crawler tractor on the loads acting in the power train during the starting process.

Track snow and swamp-going vehicle with 16 t GVW

The paper handles the relevance problem of all-terrain vehicle utilization to provide for transportation in hard-to-access territories of the Russian Federation. The most advisable is the utilization of track snow and swamp-going vehicle. It has been demonstrated that, for Russian market, the most relevant is the development of vehicles with 4-6 t load capacity. Analyzed was 5901 track snow and swamp-going vehicle developed in Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University n.a. R.E. Alekseev and “Zavolzhsky Crawler Vehicle Plant” CJSC Demonstrated were better load carrying capacity, soil pressure and motor power performance values compared to the existing similar vehicles. The paper presents the basic specifications.

A Investigation of the relationship between the driving torque and the tension of the crawler vehicle

A Investigation of the relationship between the driving torque and the tension of the crawler vehicle

Development of a four-point adjustable lifting crawler chassis and experiments in a combine harvester

In agriculture, the body tilt of vehicles or platforms can be controlled by levelling technology to prevent rollover and improve efficiency when operated in rough terrain. Many researchers have carried out important study in this area based on mechanism development and optimization, but most of them are not effective to crawler vehicles. The objective of this research was to specifically develop a levelling mechanism for crawler combine harvester, since as a consequence, enhancing the operation performance and trafficability. This levelling method depends on a hydraulic four-point adjustable lifting chassis, which could adjust vehicle chassis by controlling hydraulic cylinders. Therefore, the mathematical models between chassis attitude (including ground clearance, the horizontal and longitudinal inclination angle) and each length of hydraulic cylinder were deduced. The principle of lifting mechanism of crawler vehicle chassis was analyzed by using virtual prototyping software ADAMS, as well as dynamic performance under three different attitude adjustment conditions. The maximum adjustment range of the ground clearance is 140 mm and the lateral inclination adjustment range is ±5.17°. Experiment showed that the designed levelling mechanism was feasible and with positive significance for crawler vehicles levelling.

Design of Disinfection Robot for Livestock Breeding

Abstract In order to the efficiency security of disinfection for livestock breeding, a disinfecting robot system and intelligent disinfection mode were researched. The robot comprised an automatic vehicle, a disinfectant spraying unit, a monitoring unit, and a controller unit, and supported automatic and remote operation. A crawler vehicle was adopted as the carrier for the robot, and it could move along the line marked with the magnet and RFID label on the ground. A sprayer with gas-liquid extraneous mixture structure was developed to meet the need for the high-flow and long-range spray, and finally, its performance was test. As the test result shown, when with the liquid flux of 400ml/min, 800 ml/min and 1200 mL/min, the droplets’ average diameter at the maximum distance 6.3 m, respectively were 45.27 μm, 134.90 μm and 231.09 μm, and the average deposition density respectively were 196 points/cm2, 191 points/cm2 and 186 points/cm2 which was adjudged fully satisfied with the need for disinfecting.

Research on the driving torque transition of a crawler vehicle affected by some objects

Research on the driving torque transition of a crawler vehicle affected by some objects

Simulation and Life Prediction of Gear Meshing Process of Gearbox of A Crawler Vehicle

A crawler vehicle gearbox was easy to invalidation, stress change of the gear tooth meshing process was difficult to accurately measure, and the life prediction was not accurate. this paper established a finite element model of gear meshing, the analysis of the gear teeth began to come into contact with the complete separation of highly nonlinear dynamic process, and the simulation results of test, and established the life prediction model by nCode Designife software, and estimated the gear fatigue failure position and life. Compared with the actual results verified the feasibility of dynamic analysis method of gear meshing, for gear strength check, the reference for the optimization design and fatigue life prediction.

The Torsion Bars System Reliability Analysis with Failure Mode in Crawler Vehicle

The traditional reliability analysis of mechanical systems was not considered the correlation between components, which leads to inaccurate analysis. In this paper, Copula function was applied to reliability analysis of the track vehicle torsion bar system, and a system reliability model which failure mode of a track vehicle torsion bar correlated was established. The relationship between trip and system reliability was obtained, and the superiority of Gumbel Copula system reliability model in analyzing the reliability of mechanical system was verified, which provided a new idea for reliability analysis and reliability sensitivity analysis of mechanical system.

The 3rd Science and Technology Seminar “Mobility of Transport and Technological Machines”

In September 28 of 2018 in Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University n.a. R.E. Alekseev (NNSTU) was organized the 3rd Science and Technology Seminar “Mobility of Transport and Technological Machines” (MTTM), dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the “Nizhny Novgorod scientific and practical school of transport snow science”.Participants of the seminar discussed topics related to the mobility of transport and technological machines, the design and creation of wheeled and tracked vehicles, as well as road, construction and hoisting-and-transport vehicles, peculiarities of operation of heat engines, machines’ dynamics and its durability, instruments and apparatus, mechatronics and automatic robotic control systems.Engineers and researches of leading industrial enterprises and scientific organizations of the region, as well as specialists in the field of design and development of all-terrain vehicles, participated in the discussion of the issues of creating highly efficient transport and technological facilities. The seminar was visited by representatives of such companies as: the Research Laboratory of Transport Machines and Transport and Technological Complexes (Nizhny Novgorod), the Center of Technical Equipment and Environmental Monitoring (Nizhny Novgorod), the Research Laboratory of Modeling of Natural and Anthropogenic Disasters (Nizhny Novgorod), LLC All-Terrain Vehicles Plant (Zavolzhye City), LLC TransMash (Nizhny Novgorod), CJSC Zavolzhsky Crawler Vehicle Plant (Zavolzhye City).The traditional meeting of professionals in this field of activity, which, according to participants’ opinion, has a great influence on the development of the real economy sector that produces all-terrain vehicles, was organized in regard to the Development Program of the NNSTU as a Federal Flagship University of Nizhny Novgorod Region.As a result, a draft program was adopted to increase the mobility of manufactured, modernized and newly designed transport-technological machines, produced by enterprises of the transport and special machinery industry of the Russian Federation. There was an exchange of experience and points of view and outlined some ways for further cooperation.Scientists and researchers from leading Russian universities including St. Petersburg Polytechnic University of Peter the Great, Moscow State Technical University n.a. N.E. Bauman, Moscow State Automobile and Highway Technical University (MADI), Ural State Forest Technical University and others presented their materials for publication in the proceedings of the 3rd Science and Technology Seminar “Mobility of Transport and Technological Machines” (MTTM).

Modelling of Properties of Snow for Simulating Slip of Crawler Vehicle by Means of Particle Method

Modelling of Properties of Snow for Simulating Slip of Crawler Vehicle by Means of Particle Method

Intelligent optimal control for the crawler vehicle with semi-active suspension using modified staged continuous tabu search algorithm

This paper proposes a novel intelligent optimal control strategy for crawler vehicles with semi-active suspension. The proposed control strategy aims at improving vehicle ride comfort by addressing contradictory suspension properties requirements of ride comfort and handling stability simultaneously. After establishing seven degrees of freedom dynamic model of the crawler vehicle, a comprehensive evaluation index is developed to trade off among various vehicle performances, which include ride comfort, damper thermal reliability, elastic element fatigue and handling stability. Then, using modified staged continuous tabu search (MSCTS) algorithm, the optimal control efforts of semi-active suspension, damping ratios, are determined by minimizing the cost function defined by the comprehensive evaluation index. Demonstrated by simulations with triangle convex block and random ground roughness excitations, MSCTS control strategy can successfully improve ride comfort performance and achieve the optimal comprehensive performance as well.

Crawler robot kinematics modeling by using a two-wheeled approach

The aim of this paper is to analyze the kinematics of a small crawler robot. A mathematical model of kinematics based on a two-wheeled approach is proposed. This model is experimentally verified using vision-based motion measurements of a crawler vehicle equipped with encoders and a remote control system. It is assumed that the vehicle moves along a few curves with different angular speeds of its wheels. Based on the model of motion and the values of these speeds, numerical simulations are investigated. The results obtained from numerical and experimental validation are presented and discussed. The comparison delivered some important conclusions.

砂礫地を走行するクローラ型車両の研究

There are some situations not to be able to move on gravel ground by crawler vehicle. That is caused by some sane or stones to stick between sprocket tooth and chains. At this time, surveying experiments using actual crawler vehicle have been executed to find the reason to be stuck vehicle. Experimental results have shown some clues of stuck crawler.

Development of electro-hydraulic proportion control system of track-laying machinery for high speed railway construction

This paper mainly deals with the development of electro-hydraulic(EH) proportion control system for travelling and track-laying work in the track-laying machinery (TLM) for high speed railway construction. Different from TLM used to low speed railway construction, TLM for high speed railway construction is a kind of the full-automatic continuous track-laying work machinery, and it is characterized by flowchart process and self-travelling. In order to increase the operation production rate and work quality of the track-laying machinery, a distributed electro-hydraulic proportional control system to be based on controller area network(CAN) bus type of networked control network which can realize the coordinated control among multiple hydraulic implement mechanisms is proposed. In this system, the travelling speed of the TLM is chosen as the primary connected variable of sleeper-working. Using the measured travelling speed of TLM via the triggering-wheel, the developed system can implement the control for the wheel-rail travelling speed and tractive force, the sleeper-laying and sleeper-conveying is constructed. Addressed the coordinated control of the travelling system, a compound cooperated control system is designed for coordinating between the tractive forces and the travelling speeds of the crawler vehicle and the wheel-track work vehicle. For the speeds coordination of multiple-sleeper-conveying-motor, the relative coupling control law is presented based on the threshold type of fuzzy PID. The simulation, the worksite test and the practical application show that the developed control system can meet the requirements of the sleeper-laying operation.

フナ虫を規範としてはね付クローラの開発

フナ虫を規範としてはね付クローラの開発

Development of a Blade‐type Crawler Mechanism for a Fast Deployment Task to Observe Eruptions on Mt. Mihara

Observing a crater during a volcanic eruption is a dangerous task that is still being performed by volcanologists. Because of the risks involved, it is proposed that this observation be performed by robots rather than humans. Unlike rescue robots that operate inside buildings, those that observe craters during volcanic activities are expected to demonstrate rapid movements because the environmental conditions during an eruption can change in a split second. Furthermore, the cost of the robots to be developed should be kept to a minimum, as there is a high chance that they will be damaged or lost. This study proposes a blade‐type crawler vehicle with improved performance over rough terrain. The vehicle does not compromise speed nor does it have complex controls, which keeps the cost low. The objective of the study was to observe eruptions on Mt. Mihara on Izu Oshima Island, where there have been threats of eruption in recent years. The proposed vehicle was tested, and its effectiveness was demonstrated through laboratory experiments and a field test on Mt. Mihara. This vehicle was capable of traveling on scoria desert and vulnerable, uneven, and rough terrain, including bushes, on Izu Oshima Island. In addition, the vehicle recorded a maximum velocity of about 10 km/h and climbed over steps with a height of about 135 mm, which is about 270% of the diameter of its wheel. Moreover, it is small, lightweight (2.5 kg), and it can be operated by one person. Through practical experiments, it was verified that the vehicle demonstrated superior performance and speed over rough terrain as compared with other crawler mechanisms. Therefore, it was found that the mechanism was effective for an unmanned probe device, especially in a hypothetical volcanic eruption site on Izu Oshima Island.