Modeling and Simulation of Air-Boots for a Novel Soft-Terrain Walking Concept Vehicle

Abstract

It has been a difficult but hot subject to improve the vehicle trafficability in some complex soft-terrain environments in the research area for off-road vehicle dynamics and control. Based on previous study for a semi-tracked air-cushion vehicle, a novel soft-terrain concept vehicle with a walking mechanism by using six air-cushion boots is proposed. The vehicle motion is realized by driving-gears while the boots vertical motion is realized by air charging or discharging. Therefore the modeling of a single boot is the first important task for vehicle motion modeling and control. In this paper, the structure and working principle of the vehicle are described firstly. Then a parameterized steady-state model of air-boots considering the rubber elastic deformation is established, which is verified by comparing with finite element simulation results. The model can still be used while the size and material of boots changing. Finally, a numerical method to simulate boot air-charging process by using the established model is discussed, and a typical process is taken as an example. The research results provide useful references for future work on vehicle modeling and control algorithm design.