Tracked Vehicle Design
Tracked Vehicle Design
(OP)
Hello everyone,
I along with a group of colleagues have been given the challenge of building a tracked vehicle which must be highly manoeuvrable cross country over various types of terrain; but limited to a maximum speed of 10mph.
The intention is to create a vehicle similar to the Hagglund BV206 using parts of an old bulldozer for the articulated hydrostatic steering mechanism and I am in the process of obtaining a couple of sets used rubber tracks off 1 or 2 tonne JCB type excavators.
We are currently considering how to design the suspension system but have not had much experience in this field and are therefore looking for a few pointers in the right direction; whether it be advice or references to look at.
One of the main limitations we have is that we either have to manufacture the parts ourselves or cannibalise bits off existing scrap vehicles. I therefore see problems arising with finding / manufacturing suitable sprockets, idlers etc. and so would be particularly interested if anyone can suggest any novel approches to overcome this hurdle.
Cheers,
Andy
I along with a group of colleagues have been given the challenge of building a tracked vehicle which must be highly manoeuvrable cross country over various types of terrain; but limited to a maximum speed of 10mph.
The intention is to create a vehicle similar to the Hagglund BV206 using parts of an old bulldozer for the articulated hydrostatic steering mechanism and I am in the process of obtaining a couple of sets used rubber tracks off 1 or 2 tonne JCB type excavators.
We are currently considering how to design the suspension system but have not had much experience in this field and are therefore looking for a few pointers in the right direction; whether it be advice or references to look at.
One of the main limitations we have is that we either have to manufacture the parts ourselves or cannibalise bits off existing scrap vehicles. I therefore see problems arising with finding / manufacturing suitable sprockets, idlers etc. and so would be particularly interested if anyone can suggest any novel approches to overcome this hurdle.
Cheers,
Andy





RE: Tracked Vehicle Design
I would buy the drive sprocket with the tracks, and then use an untoothed version of that profile as the road wheels and idlers.
What sort of durability are you looking for? Is this a serious project, or a design and build for a course?
Cheers
Greg Locock
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: Tracked Vehicle Design
Thanks for replying with the advice.
The vehicle only really has to survive a weekend of challenges based mainly on manoeuvrability and control and so in theory doesn’t need to be that durable. We won’t actually know any further information about the challenge until the day, but the vehicle will have to be able to traverse varying cross country terrain probably with a hill climb involved at some stage or other.
It only has to go at a slow speed for the competition, but I’m sure once that’s over (and if it survives!) we’d want to try the vehicle again in the future, probably at a slightly faster speed. Therefore, we would like to design it with some form of durability, but not to the extent required for daily use.
Cheers,
Andy
RE: Tracked Vehicle Design
Regards
Dave
RE: Tracked Vehicle Design
Cheers
Greg Locock
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: Tracked Vehicle Design
Rubber torsion bars are inexpensive and if you mount the dual road wheel structure to the torsion bars then you have a suspension which can also address low frequency bumps. These torsion bars are fairly common on trailers.
Pneumatic tires at low pressure could be a relatively effective suspension also.