Determination of optimally stable posture for force actuator based articulated suspension for rough terrain mobility

Abstract

In this paper we develop a novel framework for determining the optimal posture of a rough terrain vehicle. The framework has been applied to a linear force actuator based articulated suspension vehicle. A complete 3D generic framework has been developed for the analysis of the vehicle and the criteria for the optimal posture has been derived from the developed equations of the motion of the vehicle using the zero moment criteria. Extensive simulations are done to show the stability of the vehicle with optimal posture while navigating over rough terrains. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.