WEIGHT SPLIT'S EFFECT ON VEHICLE ROLLOVER PROPENSITY AND ESC EFFECTIVENESS

This paper presents the ongoing results of an investigation into the effect that changes in weight and its location have on vehicle rollover, which has commonly been overlooked when it comes to the development and testing of new automobiles and unmanned ground vehicles. This is partially due to the fact that weight transfer is not easy to measure or account for. With the longitudinal location of the vehicle center of gravity known, stability controllers can better adapt to prevent rollover during extreme maneuvers. Our testing proves that even small changes in the weight split can negatively affect the speed in which a vehicle can remain stable during certain emergency maneuvers.