Articulated Steering Control for an All-Terrain Tracked Vehicle

The objective of this study is to analyse and control the cornering behaviour of an Articulated All-Terrain Tracked Vehicle (ATV). The ATV is characterized by two units connected through a mechanical multiaxial joint designed to overcome extreme longitudinal and side slopes. The hydraulic actuation of the joint enables an articulated steering feature thus avoiding any thrusts adjustment as it happens for skid-steering vehicles. A direct curvature controller is presented for analysing the steady-state ATV behaviours through a nonlinear model. Furthermore, a hitch angle controller is introduced to overcome the necessity of a curvature feedback measurement. The methodology is verified by simulating typical manoeuvres adopted for evaluating vehicle handling performance.