Road and Terrain Characterization for Vehicle Dynamics and Mobility Analysis

The proposed work will address the development of terrain models for use in ground vehicle design analyses and simulations. Particular emphasis will be given to ground vehicle durability, biodynamically limited mobility, rough terrain vehicle dynamics andreal time simulation. Developments will be based on earth science and geomorphology to insure that spatial statistics will be properly characterized without ad hoc assumption of Gaussian distributions, stationarity or linearity. Statistical andanalytical methods from earth science, geostatistics, geographic information systems and system theory will be adapted to best address fundamental characteristics such as fractal self-similarity in terrain. Specialized tire-terrain interface models willbe developed for conventional vehicles and adapted to example battlefield robots with unconventional locomotion. These will be used to conduct Monte Carlo simulation experiments to define resolution requirements and to optimize the terrain models. Vehiclesimulations will be coupled with structural analysis methods to assess the requirements of terrain models for durability analysis. Real time simulation experiments will address biodynamics and coordination of terrain visual scene generation withtire-terrain forces. The models and tools will be packaged in a Road and Terrain Characterization Toolbox (RTCT) that will support the effective use of the terrain models in engineering design and simulation.The RTCT software product will provide terrainmodels for a variety of geomorphic categories. The most direct application of these models will be design analysis and real-time vehicle simulations for the US military. A larger market is anticipated in commercial vehicle engineering design related todurability, ride and handling qualities, and rough terrain vehicle dynamics and safety. The RTCT can also be applied to commercial driving simulators such as currently produced by STI.