In this research, a simulation program is developed in order to investigate non steady-state cornering performance of 6WD/6WS special-purpose vehicles. 6WD vehicles are believed to have good performance on off-the-road maneuvering and to have fail-safe capabilities. But the cornering performances of 6WS vehicles are not well understood in the related literature. In this study, 6WD/6WS vehicles are modeled as a 18 DOF system which includes non-linear vehicle dynamics, tire models, and kinematic effects. Then the vehicle model is constructed into a simulation program using the MATLAB/SIMULINK so that input/output and vehicle parameters can be changed easily with the modulated approach. Cornering performance of the 6WS vehicle is analyzed for brake steering and pivoting, respectively. Simulation results show that cornering performance depends on the middle-wheel steering as well as front/rear wheel steering. In addition, a new 6WS control law is proposed in order to minimize the sideslip angle. Lane change simulation results demonstrate the advantage of 6WS vehicles with the proposed control law.

• Jeong-Ick Lee | 이정익 Corresponding Author