Abstract
To make use of the manually controllable smart mechanism for changing locomotion modes of a 4-wheeled vehicle, we investigate brake force as a function of steer angles of four wheels. This mechanism is applicable to walkers for self-walking rehabilitation, micro cars carrying only one person for moving without human assistance, and four wheeled vehicle like scooters, in general. We fabricated a wagon which can support its load equally at each of four wheels and give brake force by biasing wheel direction from wagon's front direction. We show mathematical equation for estimating relation between the brake force and manually settled steer angles. Experimental results make it clear that the equation is good for producing a given amount of brake force. In the last, we show angular transmission mechanism assembled in outer shafts of a differential gear mechanism for locomotion satisfying Ackermann-geometry.
