Complex Obstacle Traversing Suspension System for Wheeled Ground Vehicles

The goal of this Phase II project is to develop and fabricate propulsion and suspension components for the Army Mongrel Test Vehicle. The suspension system will be built around a swing arm design that is common to all four corners of the vehicle. Each corner will have electric in-wheel motors with planetary gear hubs (for torque applification) for propulsion and hydraulic brakes for quick stopping (the electric motors will provide for regenerative braking capability). The swing arm design will also be fabricated to accept two different semi-active suspension systems. The first utilizes a magneto-rehological (MR) damper with coil-over spring made by Carrera. The second uses a compressible fluid damper system made by Liquid Spring Technologies. This compressible fluid system will be used in parallel with a wheel lift mechanism to allow for greatly improved obstacle traversing capablility by allowing for the independent lifting or lowering of each wheel corner.