A Testbed for Predicting Maneuverability of UGV on Rough Terrain

This paper focuses on development of a testbed for traversability analysis and prediction of maximum velocity and acceleration of UGV. A testbed is developed in order to analyze traversability of UGV on rough terrains. Through the review regarding previous researches for terrain modeling, the main variables for measurement are determined. Experiments are performed on three kinds of terrains and traction curves are obtained using the data of the drawbar pull and slip ratio. Traction curves are used to predict driving performance of UGV on rough terrain. Maximum velocity and acceleration depending on steering angle of UGV are predicted by the simple kinematics and dynamics model of 4-wheel steering robot. This information of traversability on rough terrains can be utilized for UGV to predict maximum velocity and acceleration in order to maintain the fastest motion along designated path as well as to reduce energy consumption efficiently.