Title: The modelling and estimation of driving forces for unmanned ground vehicles in outdoor terrain

Authors: Lakmal Seneviratne, Yahya Zweiri, Suksun Hutangkabodee, Zibin Song, Xiaojing Song, Savan Chhaniyara, Said Al-Milli, Kaspar Althoefer

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK

Abstract: Ground vehicles traversing rough unknown terrain has many applications in a range of industries including agriculture, defence, mining, space exploration and construction. The interaction dynamics between the vehicle and the terrain play a crucial role in determining the mobility characteristics of the vehicle. The two critical parameters that influence the interaction dynamics are the wheel/track slip and the unknown soil parameters. An algorithm for identifying unknown soil parameters based on a dynamic model and sensor feedback is presented. A method for estimating vehicle slip parameters based on an optical flow algorithm and a sliding mode observer is also presented. The last section addresses the traversability prediction for tracked vehicles traversing in circular trajectories. The algorithms are developed for both tracked and wheeled vehicles. The algorithms are tested and evaluated using two specially designed test rigs, and the test results are presented in the paper.

Keywords: unmanned ground vehicles; soil parameters; vehicle slip parameters; identification; estimation; driving force prediction; sliding mode observers; optical flow; vision; traversability prediction; vehicle-terrain interactions; unknown terrain; unmanned vehicles; rough terrain; dynamic modelling; sensor feedback; tracked vehicles; wheeled vehicles.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMIC.2009.023529

International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control, 2009 Vol.6 No.1, pp.40 - 50

Published online: 26 Feb 2009 *

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