An automatic steering system and method for an articulated work vehicle having a front wheel steering system supported by front wheels at a front frame and a rear frame supported by rear wheels rotatably coupled to the front frame at an articulator. A controller operatively connected to the front wheel steering system and to the articulator adjusts wheels of the front wheel steering system along a path and moves the articulator to direct the rear frame in response to a steering signal. The steering signal directs the vehicle in a minimum turn radius mode or a controlled traffic control mode. In the minimum turn radius mode, the rear wheels do not follow the tracks of the front wheels when making a turn. In the controlled traffic mode the rear wheels follow in same tracks as the front wheels.

A four-wheeled articulated steering vehicle for terrain exploration. The four-wheeled articulated steering vehicle has a pair of robotic tethered two-wheel vehicles that dock, lock, and drive long distances as the four-wheeled, articulated steering vehicle. Two actuated docking mechanisms attached on opposite ends of a central module of the four-wheeled vehicle enable sit/stand functionality. The sit configuration is achieved by aligning each dock mechanism parallel or nearly parallel to the surface, allowing two-wheel vehicle to detach and explore while the other remains docked and serves as a backup. While sitting, the central module rests on the ground and is outfitted with shovel-style wedges for passive anchoring. In order to stand, the exploring two-wheel vehicle reattaches, locks, and both dock mechanisms are rotated until each two-wheel vehicle's caster arm is upright and the central module is lifted off the ground. Once upright, each two-wheel vehicle rotates about a pivot point for articulated, all-wheel steering, which is accomplished by applying differential wheel torques.

A steering assembly for a vehicle having a front end and a rear end, the steering assembly comprising: a steering beam configured to pivot relative to the vehicle frame about a beam pivot axis; left and right wheels rotatably connected to the steering beam; left and right wheel motors for rotating the left and right wheels respectively; a controller for controlling a rotation speed of the wheels, the controller being configured to allow the rotation speed of the left wheel to be adjusted to a first rotation speed and the rotation speed of the right wheel to be simultaneously adjusted to a second rotation speed different from the first rotation speed to cause the steering beam to pivot relative to the frame about the beam pivot axis when the left and right wheels contact a ground surface.

A steering system (10) for a vehicle wheel (12) has a wheel carrier (14) for mounting a steered wheel (12), the wheel carrier (14) being rotatably mounted with respect to the vehicle about a steering axis to allow the wheel (12) to be steered. A hydraulic cylinder (20) has a piston therein and a rigid connecting rod assembly (22) extending from the piston out of the cylinder (20). The rigid connecting rod assembly (22) comprises a first section (22) adapted to reciprocate into and out of the cylinder (20) and a second section (26) rigidly extending from the first section (22) to a pivot point connection (50) where it is pivotally connected to the wheel carrier (14) at an offset from the steering axis. The hydraulic cylinder (20) is pivotally mounted on the vehicle such that it is prevented from translational movement relative to the vehicle but capable of changing its orientation with respect to the vehicle. Due to the rigid connecting rod assembly (22) and the pivot connection to the wheel carrier (14), as well as the pivotal mounting of the cylinder (20) on the vehicle, lateral strains on the seals of the hydraulic cylinder (20) are avoided.

The mobile work station with versatile tool handler arm is a mobile work station that carries a tool handler arm that can manipulate a tool in multiple global degrees of freedom. The work station has a base housing mounted on a plurality of wheels. A vertical post is mounted on top of the base housing, the vertical post having relative rotation to the base housing. An elongate tool handler arm is pivotally mounted medially at the top of the vertical post, the tool handler arm being defined by a 4-bar linkage including an upper link, a lower link, and front and rear crank blocks pin-jointed together. An elongate handlebar connected to the rear end of the tool provides control of the tool handler, and a tool carrier attached to the front end allows selective attachment of any one of a variety of tools.

A work vehicle includes a hydraulic actuator, a control valve, a pressure sensing unit, a force imparting component, and a controller. The hydraulic actuator varies a steering angle. The control valve controls flow of fluid supplied to the hydraulic actuator. The operation member is configured to be operated by an operator and to control the control valve when varying the steering angle. The pressure sensing unit senses a pressure produced by the hydraulic actuator. The force imparting component imparts an assisting force or a counterforce to operation of the operation member. The controller controls the force imparting component so as to generate resistance to operation of the operation member based on a pressure value sensed by the pressure sensing unit.

The present disclosure relates to a method for steering a vehicle. A corresponding vehicle includes two steerable axles VA1 and HA1 each with an angle sensor, wherein a rear axle HA1 in an all-wheel mode is synchronously steered with the front axle VA1 in the opposite direction, this being designated as a 44 steering system. The vehicle further includes a control device for setting the steering angle of the axles based on the data provided by angle sensors.

A synchronous steering vehicle body includes wheels, a cab and a steering mechanism for driving the wheels and the cab to synchronously steer, steering center axes of the wheels are vertical to rotation center axes of the wheels, and the wheels are vertical to the center of the horizontal ground to be concentric to the steering center axes of the wheels, and the steering motions of the wheels and the cab are kept synchronous. The disclosure provides a synchronous steering vehicle body capable of directly achieving the synchronous steering of the wheels and the cab.

There is provided a drive assembly comprising: a reconfigurable differential drive comprising a first wheel and a second wheel, wherein the first and second wheels are moveable with different angular velocities around respective first and second rotation axes; a steering actuator configured to rotate the first wheel around a first pivot axis and/or the second wheel around a second pivot axis; wherein the first and second wheels are coupled such that a rotation of the first wheel around the first pivot axis by a first adjustment angle results in a rotation of the second wheel around the second pivot axis by a second adjustment angle, the second adjustment angle being dependent on the first adjustment angle.

This disclosure is an auxiliary system to provide additional power for vehicles which can be applied to land wheel type vehicles without depending on rails, to convert most of the front-wheels drive and rear-wheel drive vehicles to multi-power all-wheel drive vehicles with low cost. Modification can be completed by merely three steps: 1. Arranging this disclosure on a non-driving wheel shaft. 2. Connecting the control box (1) with the brakes (7), a gas pedal (8) and the dashboard. 3. Placing the rechargeable battery packs (6) to the spare position of the vehicle. Adding one to a plurality of motors (5) which are additionally arranged on a non-drive shaft and controlled by the controlled box (1) according to the single-chip microcomputer (2) in the control box to decide whether to apply the auxiliary power according to preset commands, the status and speed of the vehicle, and signals transmitted by the brakes (7) and a gas pedal (8) of the vehicle. The advantages of this disclosure are of being capable to widely install on existing gas vehicles to provide auxiliary power without changing the current vehicles' systems and the modification cost is low.