Effects of Turning Radius on Skid-Steered Wheeled Robot Power Consumption on Loose Soil

EasyChair Preprint 1292, version 2

Abstract

This paper highlights the need for a new power model for skid-steered wheeled robots driving on loose terrains, and lays the groundwork to develop such a model. State-of-the-art power modeling assumes hard ground; under typical assumptions this predicts constant power consumption over a range of small turning radii where the inner wheels are rotating backwards. However, experimental results performed both in the field and in a controlled laboratory show that, in loose sandy soil, power is not in fact constant with respect to turning radius in this case. Power peaks in a newly identified range of turns where the inner wheels rotate backwards but are being dragged forward. Data shows higher motor torque and wheel sinkage in this range. A skidding wheel that is sunk into loose soil bulldozes a pile of sand; initial modeling of this phenomenon reproduces the trend in additional power with respect to turning radius. As work on a full power model for loose terrain continues, this work identifies turning radii to avoid whenever possible in practice.

Keyphrases: Energy-efficient path, Skid-steered wheeled robots, clearpath husky a200, field tests, loose soil, power modelling, sand bulldozing force, turning radius, wheel sinkage, wheeled robot power consumption

@booklet{EasyChair:1292,
  author    = {Jean-Sebastien Fiset and Meysam Effati and Krzysztof Skonieczny},
  title     = {Effects of Turning Radius on Skid-Steered Wheeled Robot Power Consumption on Loose Soil},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 1292},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2019}}