Modeling and simulation for small-tracked mobile robots

The small-tracked mobile robots (STMRs) are small, portable and concealed, and they are widely used in scouting, investigation, rescue and assistance. In this paper, a mechanical model is established based on the multi-body dynamic software RecurDyn, and a control system is simulated through Simulink, including its kinematics model, speed controller, motors' model. Associating the mechanical and control model, the co-simulation model is established for STMRs. The co-simulation approach is applied to optimize the motor parameters. A series of experiments are conducted to examine the accuracy of the virtual prototype, and the results demonstrate that the STMR virtual prototype can exactly illustrate the dynamic performance of the physical one. The co-simulation of mechanical model and control model is applied in forecasting and debugging critical parameters, also it provides guidance in defining motor's peak current.