Abstract:
Active degrees of freedom provide a robotic vehicle
the ability to enhance its performance in all terrain conditions.
While active suspension systems are now commonplace in on-road
vehicles, their application to off-road terrains has been little investigated.
A fundamental component of such an application is a need
to translate desired body motion commands into actuator values
through the use of proprioceptive algorithms. The diverse nature
of the terrains that might be encountered places variable demands
upon the operation of the vehicle. This entails the potential use of
a diverse set of algorithms designed to optimize mobility and performance.
This paper presents a cohesive control scheme designed
for the operation of an autonomous vehicle under all conditions.
The ideas presented have been tested in simulation, and some have
been used extensivly in the field.
