Trajectory planning and generation of four wheel steering vehicles

Abstract

The problem of trajectory planning and generation of large size and heavy loaded four wheel steering (4WS) vehicles is addressed in this thesis. The thesis starts with kinematic analysis of the 4WS vehicles. The vehicle kinematics based on a simplified bicycle model is built up to describe the vehicle motion on the horizontal plane. The minimum turning radius of the vehicle caused by the limitation of the vehicle steering mechanism is investigated in detail. This limitation is critical for the study of vehicle orientation planning for the vehicle to move along a planned path.