Abstract
The tracked SUGVs(Small Unmanned Ground Vehicles) are frequently operated in the narrow slope such as stairs and trails. But due to the nature of the tracked vehicle which is steered using friction between the track and the ground and the limited field of view of driving cameras mounted on the lower position, it is not easy for SUGVs to trace narrow slopes. To properly trace inclined narrows, it is very important for SUGVs to keep it's heading direction to the slope. As a matter of factor, no roll value control of a SUGV can makes it's heading being located in the direction of the slope in general terrains. But, the problem is that we cannot directly control roll motion for SUGV. Instead we can control yaw motion. In this paper, a new slope driving method that enables the vehicle trace the narrow slopes with IMU sensor usually mounted in the SUGV is suggested which including an estimation technique of the desired yaw angle corresponding to zero roll angle. In addition, a fuzzy steering controller robust to changes in driving speed and the stair geometry is designed to simulate narrow slope driving with the suggested method. It is shown that the suggested method is quite effective through the simulation.