Development and Performance Enhancement of an Overactuated Autonomous Ground Vehicle

To further enhance the safety, energy efficiency, and riding comfort of autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs), an overactuated AGV (OA-AGV) driven by four in-wheel motors and two steering motors is developed. Benefitted from the overactuation, three main advantages of the OA-AGV over conventional AGVs are demonstrated in this article. First, the lateral stability of the OA-AGV can be significantly enhanced with the additional rear wheel steering system. Second, the energy consumptions of the OA-AGV are reduced for lateral maneuvers compared with a conventional AGV with only front wheel steering. Third, the riding comfort of the OA-AGV, described by the lateral acceleration and jerk in lateral maneuvers, can also be improved. To evaluate and validate these three advantages of the OA-AGV, both simulation and experimental results are demonstrated and discussed. The conclusion is that the redundant actuators, together with sensor fusions and path planning strategies, can significantly enhance the capabilities and potentials of AGVs on safety, energy efficiency, and riding comfort.