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Articulated Wheeled Vehicles: Back to the Future?

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Advances in Mechanisms, Robotics and Design Education and Research

Part of the book series: Mechanisms and Machine Science ((Mechan. Machine Science,volume 14))

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Abstract

Articulated Wheeled Vehicles (AWVs) are a class of wheeled locomotion systems where the chassis is connected to a set of ground-contact wheels via actively- or passively-controlled articulations, which can regulate wheel placement with respect to chassis during locomotion. The ensuing leg-wheeled systems exploit the reconfigurability and redundancy to realize significant benefits (improved stability, obstacle surmounting capability, enhanced robustness) over both traditional wheeled-and/or legged-systems in a range of uneven-terrain locomotion applications. This article examines the history of such articulated-wheeled-vehicles leading up to the current day, while placing in context the pioneering and seminal contributions of Professor Kenneth Waldron and his students. Subsequently, we outline our own research efforts on variants of AWVs, including the creation of a systematic computational screw-theoretic framework to model, analyze, optimize and control such systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14260, USA

    Xiaobo Zhou, Aliakbar Alamdari & Venkat Krovi

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  1. Xiaobo Zhou
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  2. Aliakbar Alamdari
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  3. Venkat Krovi
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , School of Engineering and, University of Pennsylvania, 220 South 33rd Street, 107 Towne Building, Philadelphia, 19104-6391, Pennsylvania, USA

    Vijay Kumar

  2. , Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Fitzpatrick Hall 365, Notre Dame, 46556, Indiana, USA

    James Schmiedeler

  3. , Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, E. Dean Keeton St. C2100 301, Austin, 78712, Texas, USA

    S. V. Sreenivasan

  4. , Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Ohio State University, West 19th Ave. 201, Columbus, 43220, Ohio, USA

    Hai-Jun Su

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Zhou, X., Alamdari, A., Krovi, V. (2013). Articulated Wheeled Vehicles: Back to the Future?. In: Kumar, V., Schmiedeler, J., Sreenivasan, S., Su, HJ. (eds) Advances in Mechanisms, Robotics and Design Education and Research. Mechanisms and Machine Science, vol 14. Springer, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00398-6_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00398-6_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-00397-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-00398-6

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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