Study of Characteristics of Off-road Driving and Driving Force Control Design for Better Operability and Traveling Performance on Off-road Drive

Abstract

In order to improve operability and traveling performance on off-road drive, off-road was categorized based on surface grain size and driver’s operations were analyzed. Drivings at Rock and Sand were chosen as a typical off-road driving in this study. Important characteristics in terms of driving force control design were identified by the analyses of wheel slip, rolling resistance, and drawbar pull. As the result, operability and traveling performance on sand drive were improved by proposed driving force control design.