Abstract

This paper proposes an impulse control technology for the steering mechanism to improve forest tracked vehicles' control. The steering control system for the tracked vehicle employs a "diagonal" steering control scheme in combination with the principle of low-frequency (5-15 Hz) pulse-width modulation of pressure in the hydraulic system. The study offers several modulator and control system designs. The main parameters of the steering control system were selected. Based on the results, an experimental control system was manufactured. The results of the experiment showed that the use of the proposed methodology allows creating conditions suitable for applying the impulse steering technology with minimal changes in the transmission design. Furthermore, the use of low-frequency modulation allowed direct control of disc slipping. This advantage may be useful in designing steering control systems for tracked vehicles. The future study can focus on developing and testing the control system for a modernized skidder chassis.

Key words: tracked vehicles, steering mechanism, closed-loop control systems, pulse-width modulation.