HANOVER, N.H. and VICKSBURG, Miss. - ERDC Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) and the Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory (GSL) recently hosted a visit by Vehicle Mobility Researchers Professor Schalk Els and Carl Becker from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Pretoria in South Africa, to view facilities and technical capabilities, hold discussions with staff in areas of mutual interest, and jointly define technical areas that could form the basis for future cooperation.
In 2011, CRREL funded Els to develop a wheel force transducer, new technology that can measure the forces and moments between a tire and a road on a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) driven under off-road conditions. This concept development research is part of a larger University of Pretoria project aimed at developing, validating and calibrating cost-effective field test equipment for measuring tire characteristics on vehicles while driving off-road. During the visit, Els reviewed vehicle dynamics research at the University of Pretoria and received briefings on vehicle issues for Polar Regions, polar robotics, and terrain roughness evaluation.
While at CRREL, Becker had a chance to drive the Simulation-bAsed Vehicle Control Training soriosimulator, which has a force feedback steering wheel driven by realistic responses to terrain; will perform 360 degrees continuous rotation; and can simulate a family car, military HMMWV or M-ATV. Becker felt the simulator provided realistic feedback to the driver through both the steering response and simulator movement. He immediately noticed the inherent sluggish and top-heavy feel of the up-armored HMMWV configuration that he was driving.
GSL provided a Mobility Branch overview, and briefed current ERDC terramechanics modeling, current soil strength testing, the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (Military Vehicles) rollover study, and satellite-based environmental soil moisture monitoring.