A method of steering an articulated wheel loader including a front body portion and a rear body portion, the front body portion including a bucket and a pair of front wheels. The rear body portion is pivotally coupled to the front body portion and includes a pair of rear wheels. The method includes steps of: providing a steering command to steer the wheel loader; detecting an angle that a front longitudinal axis of the front body portion forms with a rear longitudinal axis of the rear body portion; and when the detected angle is greater than a threshold automatically implementing a steering brake function to independently brake one of the pair of front wheels or rear wheels that is on a steering side to reduce a speed of the braked wheel to zero so that the braked wheel becomes a pivot point to minimize a turning radius.

A construction-vehicle autonomous travel control device to correct a steering angle so as to direct to a target point set on a target track includes: an expected arrival point calculator to calculate an expected arrival point of a vehicle to arrive after a predetermined time based on a vehicle speed and a steering angle; and a corrected steering angle calculator to calculate a corrected steering angle so as to direct the expected arrival point to the target point.

A steering system and method can determine one or more position-related characteristics of a steering column of a machine, determine that the one or more position-related characteristics indicate that a resistive force is to be applied to the steering column, and control operation of an electric motor to apply the resistive force to the steering column, wherein a mechanical stop (e.g., a progressive mechanical stop) can be provided to restrict rotation of the steering column. One or more virtual stops may be set to limit rotation of the steering column by way of controlling the operation of the electric motor to apply the resistive force.

Systems and methods are disclosed herein for automatically controlling wheel lean in a work vehicle (e.g., a motor grader) comprising a front portion with an axle and a plurality of traction wheels configured to lean at a wheel-lean angle relative thereto. Based on output signals from one or more sensors mounted on the work vehicle, work conditions are detected comprising an actual wheel-lean angle of at least one wheel relative to the axle, an oscillation angle of the axle, and a slope of the terrain. In automatic control operations, wheel lean is automatically directed to a predetermined orientation (e.g., corresponding to a direction of gravity), based at least on detected work conditions. Wheel lean may further be automatically directed based on detected steering inputs for positioning of the traction wheels and a detected articulation angle for positioning of the front portion of the work vehicle relative to the rear portion.

A device for lateral guidance assistance for a vehicle includes a programmable electronic control unit and a plurality of distance sensors configured to capture obstacles to a side of and/or behind the vehicle within one or more defined warning regions. The device also includes an optical sensor device configured to capture a lane width of a current lane and/or a lane width of a neighboring lane. The programmable electronic control unit is configured such that at least one of the defined warning regions is defined in a temporally and/or spatially variable manner based on the lane width of the current lane and/or the neighboring lane.

A work vehicle includes a vehicle body, a plurality of traveling devices disposed on the right and left sides on the front and rear sides of the vehicle body respectively, a plurality of bending link mechanisms configured to liftably support each one of the traveling devices to the vehicle body and a plurality of drive operating devices capable of changing the posture of each one of the plurality of bending link mechanisms. The vehicle body is split into a front side body section and a rear side body section. The front side body section and the rear side body section are configured to be bendably pivotable relative to each other via a pivot interlocking mechanism.

An articulated vehicle assembly comprising a master vehicle having a master steering system and an onboard sensor arrangement configured to monitor at least said master steering system; a slave vehicle having a slave steering system and an onboard actuator arrangement configured to manipulate at least said slave steering system; an articulation system for articulating in a queue the master and the slave vehicles along a common longitudinal axis; and a processing unit configured to receive input signals from the onboard sensor arrangement and produce corresponding output signals to the onboard actuator arrangement to manipulate said slave steering system so as to maintain the master vehicle and the slave vehicle aligned along the common longitudinal axis, at least when the master vehicle performs a turn on a horizontal plane.

An articulated vehicle assembly comprising a master vehicle having a master steering system and an onboard sensor arrangement configured to monitor at least said master steering system; a slave vehicle having a slave steering system and an onboard actuator arrangement configured to manipulate at least said slave steering system; an articulation system for articulating in a queue the master and the slave vehicles along a common longitudinal axis; and a processing unit configured to receive input signals from the onboard sensor arrangement and produce corresponding output signals to the onboard actuator arrangement to manipulate said slave steering system so as to maintain the master vehicle and the slave vehicle aligned along the common longitudinal axis, at least when the master vehicle performs a turn on a horizontal plane.

A method of steering an articulated wheel loader including a front body portion and a rear body portion, the front body portion including a bucket and a pair of front wheels. The rear body portion is pivotally coupled to the front body portion and includes a pair of rear wheels. The method includes steps of: providing a steering command to steer the wheel loader; detecting an angle that a front longitudinal axis of the front body portion forms with a rear longitudinal axis of the rear body portion; and when the detected angle is greater than a threshold automatically implementing a steering brake function to independently brake one of the pair of front wheels or rear wheels that is on a steering side to reduce a speed of the braked wheel to zero so that the braked wheel becomes a pivot point to minimize a turning radius.

The present disclosure relates to an articulated, self-propelled robotic tool, having a first platform 3 with a first wheel assembly 5 and a second platform 7 with a second wheel assembly 9. A link arrangement 15, 17, 19, 21 connects the first and second platforms at a turning axis 11. A goniometer arrangement senses the angle between the first and second platforms, and comprises a magnet 29 attached to a first part 17 connected to the first platform, and a Hall sensor arrangement 31 attached to the second platform 7.