Robo-Rats Locomotion: Articulated Drive

Articulated drive is similar to the car-type drive except the turning mechanism is a deformation in the chassis of the vehicle, not pivoting of wheels:

 This design has the same disadvantages of the car-type drive: if multiple wheels are driven and a differential is not used, wheel slippage will occur.  This design is commonly used in construction equipment where wheel slippage is not an issue (speeds are slow and the coefficient of friction with the ground is low).

Motors:

2 - One to drive the wheels and one to change the pivot angle of the chassis.

Pros:

Simplicity - One of the simplest two-wheel drive locomotion systems to implement with one caveat:  the turning mechanism must be precisely controlled.  A small position error in the turning mechanism can cause large odometry errors.  A four-wheel drive system must use a universal joint to couple power across the pivot.

Cons:

Planning - Planning is difficult because the system is non-holonomic (see car-type drive for details).

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Last modified: 04/04/01 22:30