An unmanned tracked hybrid vehicle

The authors describe the application of a pair of brushless motors as the drive system for a small multi-purpose hybrid tracked vehicle developed for defence purposes. Experimentally obtained results are used to define certain of the vehicle characteristics, and to increase confidence in the accuracy of predictions obtained from a mathematical model of the system. The encouraging performance of a prototype vehicle has led to an investigation, based on the system model, of the advantages of a hybrid drive system for large reconnaissance and weapons platforms. This requires the model to be extended to include the forces involved during motion of the vehicle when cornering using skid steering