Concept and Preliminary Simulations of a Driver-Aid System for Transport Tasks of Articulated Vehicles with a Hydrostatic Steering System

Abstract

Heavy-wheeled vehicles with articulated hydraulic steering systems are widely used in construction, road building, forestry, and agriculture, as transport units and tool-carriers because they have many unique advantages that are not available in car steering systems, based on the Ackermann principle, such as—high cross-country mobility, excellent maneuverability, and high payload and lift capacity, due to heavy axles components. One problem that limits their speed of operation and use efficiency is that they have poor directional stability. During straight movement, articulated tractors’ deviate from a straight line and permanent driver correction is required. This limits the vehicles’ speed and productivity. In this study, we describe a driver-aid system concept that would improve the directional stability of articulated vehicles. Designing such a system demands a comprehensive knowledge of the reasons for the snaking phenomenon and driver behaviors. The results of our articulated vehicle directional stability investigation are presented. On this basis, we developed models of articulated vehicles with hydraulic steering systems and driver interaction. We next added the stabilizing system to the model. A simulation demonstrated the possibility of directional stability improvement.