Abstract
This paper highlights the need for a new power model for skid-steered wheeled robots driving on loose soil, and lays the groundwork to develop such a model. State-of-the-art power modeling assumes hard ground; under typical assumptions, this predicts constant power consumption over a range of small turning radii where the inner wheels rotate backwards. However, experimental results performed both in the field and in a controlled laboratory show that, on sand, power is not in fact constant with respect to turning radius in this case. Power peaks in a newly identified range of turns where the inner wheels rotate backwards but are dragged forward. Data shows higher motor torque and wheel sinkage in this range. A skidding wheel that is sunk into loose soil bulldozes a pile of sand; initial modeling of this phenomenon reproduces the trend in additional power with respect to turning radius. As work on a full power model for loose soil continues, this work identifies turning radii to avoid whenever possible in practice.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge financial support from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), funding and collaboration from Mission Control Space Services Inc., and thank CSA for facilitating access to their Mars analogue terrain.
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Fiset, JS., Effati, M., Skonieczny, K. (2021). Effects of Turning Radius on Skid-Steered Wheeled Robot Power Consumption on Loose Soil. In: Ishigami, G., Yoshida, K. (eds) Field and Service Robotics. Springer Proceedings in Advanced Robotics, vol 16. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9460-1_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9460-1_9
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