Abstract
Optimizing the vehicle mobility is an important goal in the design and operation of wheeled robots intended to perform on soft, unstructured terrain. In the case of vehicles operating on soft soil, mobility is not only a kinematic concept, but it is related to the traction developed at the wheel-ground interface and cannot be separated from terramechanics. Poor mobility may result in the entrapment of the vehicle or limited manoeuvring capabilities. This paper discusses the effect of normal load distribution among the wheels of an exploration rover and proposes strategies to modify this distribution in a convenient way to enhance the vehicle ability to generate traction. The reconfiguration of the suspension and the introduction of actuation on previously passive joints were the strategies explored in this research. The effect of these actions on vehicle mobility was assessed with numerical simulation and sets of experiments, conducted on a six-wheeled rover prototype. Results confirmed that modifying the normal load distribution is a suitable technique to improve the vehicle behaviour in certain manoeuvres such as slope climbing.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Apostolopoulos, D.: Analytical configuration of wheeled robotic locomotion. Ph.D. thesis, Carnegie Mellon University (2001)
Lamon, P., Krebs, A., Lauria, M., Siegwart, R., Shooter, S.: Wheel torque control for a rough terrain rover. In: Proceedings of the 2004 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2004. New Orleans, LA, USA (2004)
Thueer, T., Krebs, A., Siegwart, R., Lamon, P.: Performance comparison of rough-terrain robots—simulation and hardware. J. Field Robot. 24(3), 251–271 (2007). doi:10.1002/rob.20185
Grand, C., BenAmar, F., Plumet, F., Bidaud, P.: Stability and traction optimization of reconfigurable vehicles. Application to a hybrid wheel-legged robot. Int. J. Robot. Res. 23(10–11), 1041–1058 (2003)
Freitas, G., Gleizer, G., Lizarralde, F., Hsu, L., dos Reis, N.R.S.: Kinematic reconfigurability control for an environmental mobile robot operating in the Amazon rain forest. J. Field Rob. 27(2), 197–216 (2010)
Michaud, S., Richter, L., Patel, N., Thüer, T., Huelsing, T., Joudrier, L., Siegwart, R., Ellery, A.: RCET: rover Chassis Evaluation Tools. In: Proceedings of the 8th ESA Workshop on Advanced Space Technology for Robotics and Automation (ASTRA), paper O-01. Noordwijk, The Netherlands (2004)
Thueer, T., Siegwart, R.: Mobility evaluation of wheeled all-terrain robots. Robot. Auton. Syst. 58(5), 508–519 (2010). doi:10.1016/j.robot.2010.01.007
Iagnemma, K., Dubowsky, S.: Traction control of wheeled robotic vehicles in rough terrain with application to planetary rovers. Int. J. Robot. Res. 23(10–11), 1029–1040 (2004). doi:10.1177/0278364904047392
Ghotbi, B., González, F., Kövecses, J., Angeles, J.: Vehicle-terrain interaction models for analysis and performance evaluation of wheeled rovers. In: Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), pp. 3138–3143. Vilamoura, Portugal (2012). doi:10.1109/IROS.2012.6386208
Ghotbi, B., González, F., Kövecses, J., Angeles, J.: A novel concept for analysis and performance evaluation of wheeled rovers. Mech. Mach. Theor. 83, 137–151 (2015). doi:10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2014.08.017
Ghotbi, B., González, F., Kövecses, J., Angeles, J.: Effect of normal force dispersion on the mobility of wheeled robots operating on soft soil. In: Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). Hong Kong, China (2014). doi:10.1109/ICRA.2014.6907835
Wong, J.Y.: Theory of Ground Vehicles, 4th edn. Wiley, New Jersey (2008)
Ghotbi, B., González, F., Azimi, A., Bird, W., Kövecses, J., Angeles, J., Mukherji, R.: Analysis, optimization, and testing of planetary exploration rovers: challenges in multibody system modelling. In: Proceedings of Multibody Dynamics 2013—ECCOMAS Thematic Conference. Zagreb, Croatia (2013)
Azimi, A., Hirschkorn, M., Ghotbi, B., Kövecses, J., Angeles, J., Radziszewski, P., Teichmann, M., Courchesne, M., Gonthier, Y.: Terrain modelling in simulation-based performance evaluation of rovers. Can. Aeronaut. Space J. 57(1), 24–33 (2011). doi:10.5589/q11-005
Bauer, R., Barfoot, T., Leung, W., Ravindran, G.: Dynamic simulation tool development for planetary rovers. Int. J. Adv. Rob. Syst. 5(3), 311–314 (2008)
Lindemann, R.A., Voorhees, C.J.: Mars exploration rover mobility assembly design, test and performance. In: Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Systems. Man and Cybernetics, pp. 450–455. Waikoloa, HI, USA (2005)
MacMahon, S.: Modelling and contact analysis of planetary exploration rovers. Master’s thesis, McGill University (2016)
Acknowledgments
The research work reported here was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and MDA Space Missions. This support is gratefully acknowledged. The second author would like to acknowledge the support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy through its post-doctoral research program Juan de la Cierva, contract No. JCI-2012-12376.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ghotbi, B., González, F., Kövecses, J., Angeles, J. (2016). Mobility Assessment of Wheeled Robots Operating on Soft Terrain. In: Wettergreen, D., Barfoot, T. (eds) Field and Service Robotics. Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics, vol 113. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27702-8_22
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27702-8_22
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-27700-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-27702-8
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)