Automated System to Control Steering and Wheel Springing Parameters in Vehicle Locomotion Module 2015-26-0085

The modular designing principle is generally recognized in the automotive industry. However, the issue of building a wheel open-link locomotion module (OLLM) as a combination of steering (wheel turning), springing, traction drive and braking systems is not properly developed yet. An automated control system (ACS) is needed to able to unite and coordinate all the vehicle systems intended to manage the wheel.

The automated control system intended to manage the steering and wheel springing parameters is a combination of an information and power channels, through which the wheel is electro-hydraulically driven, and the steering, springing and braking systems are controlled. The number of such channels in a wheeled mover of the vehicle or mobile robot is defined by the wheel type (driving, driven, steered or non-steered wheel). The plurality of such channels forms a complex of automated control systems of the wheeled mover. This complex is responsible for: 1) Controlling the steering wheel of the vehicle (through the systems aimed to steer the wheel at curvilinear motion); 2) Regulating the rigidity and damping parameters of axle suspensions (through controlling the pressure in wheel suspensions); and 3) Vertical displacements of the right and left wheels of the axle (through the control systems of the vertical wheel displacements), which is done in response to the signals arriving to the input of the complex from the main or backup control system of the vehicle. Thus, the wheeled mover is based on OLLMs with ACSs.

Theoretically, the design of the OLLM with a complex of ACSs is based on the original complex mathematical model that makes it possible to simulate various interaction schemes of all the vehicle systems, including the effects of the contact (tribological) interaction of the wheel with the support surface. Based on the mathematical model, the operation of all the subsystems of the complex of the ACSs of the WM was studied, namely: the all-wheel steering based on various types of the electrohydraulic servo drive, a regulated wheel springing system and an onboard information and control system. Special attention is given to the interaction of these systems as a part of the vehicle's active safety. The braking system is easily built into the ACS of the OLLM. The results of the studies allowed formulating the main principles of building the complex of ACSs of the WM, technical specifications of the main components of the complex as a mechatronic module of the active safety of the vehicle or mobile robot.

The paper presents the layouts of all the components of the complex of ACSs of the WM, and of the complex as a whole. The main outcome of the studies is the idea that an automobile should be built as a complex of mechatronic systems based on modules. An ideal automobile is a multifunctional mobile robot.