Utility Vehicle Wheel Speed Control for Tight Off-Road Turns
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Solution Overview
Problem
Utility vehicles face challenges in achieving improved turning performance when navigating off-road terrain due to insufficient space for turning around obstacles, requiring frequent back-and-forth movements of the vehicle body.
Innovation Solution
A utility vehicle equipped with a control device that individually controls the rotational speeds of its wheels, executing tight turn control by setting a higher rotational speed for the outer wheel than the inner wheel during turns, thereby reducing the turning radius.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional turning control is used, then the vehicle can turn with equal rotational speeds on both wheels, but the turning radius is large and requires sufficient space
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the rotational speed parameter of the wheels during turning. Specifically, it controls the outer wheel to rotate faster than the inner wheel, creating a speed difference that reduces the turning radius. This parameter change allows the vehicle to turn tightly in limited spaces without requiring large turning areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic control of wheel rotational speeds during turning maneuvers. The control device dynamically adjusts the rotational speed of each wheel based on whether it is the inner or outer wheel during the turn, enabling adaptive turning performance that responds to spatial constraints in real-time.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the vehicle moves back and forth to navigate obstacles, then it can avoid obstacles, but the time required to traverse the terrain increases
Solution Approach 1:
By changing the rotational speed parameter of the outer wheel to be higher than the inner wheel during turns, the vehicle can execute tighter turning radii. This allows the vehicle to navigate around obstacles in a single pass rather than requiring multiple back-and-forth movements, thereby reducing traversal time while maintaining the ability to avoid obstacles.
3Ease of operation
If tight turn control is executed by controlling wheel rotational speeds differently, then the turning radius is reduced, but the control system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control device is designed to perform multiple functions: it controls wheel rotational speeds during normal operation and automatically switches to tight turn control mode when turning is detected. This multi-functionality allows the same control system to handle both standard and tight turning scenarios without requiring separate dedicated systems, thereby managing complexity while achieving reduced turning radius.
Data Source
AI summary
A utility vehicle includes a pair of left and right wheels; a drive source that drives the wheels; and a control device capable of individually controlling rotational speeds of the wheels, wherein in a case where the control device determines that a predetermined tight turn execution condition has been satisfied, the control device executes tight turn control for controlling the wheels so that a rotational speed of an outer wheel becomes relatively higher than a rotational speed of an inner wheel in a turning direction of the utility vehicle.