Slip Angles and Longitudinal Slip Measurement of the Cooperative Redundant Steering/Drive System

Wheeled vehicles (especially those working on steep slopes) have the inherent problems regarding tractability, stability, manoeuvrability and safety. The objective of this paper is to apply "X-by-wire" technology to rectify the inherent problems while at the same time minimise fuel consumption and damage to the ground traversed. The key feature of this work is that both of the two basic methods of steering a vehicle are used so that they both tend to produce the same centre of curvature for the path of the vehicle. This deliberate, cooperative redundancy means that the inevitable failure of one steering system is prevented by both steering systems acting in unison. In order to achieve this objective a measuring methodology has to be first devised for the slip angles and the longitudinal slip, which is the topic of this paper. This is an important step for the application of the required correction