| 摘要 |
An automatic control system for articulated vehicles including leading and trailing wheeled supports each having steerable wheels and each pivotally connected to, and supporting, a center frame, and where the leading support may be manually controlled; wherein: (i) a parameter indicative of distance traveled by the vehicle is continuously measured; (ii) the leading angle alpha 1 between the longitudinal centerlines of the lead support and the frame is continuously measured and averaged over time and as a function of distance traveled to produce a delayed first signal representative of the time average of the leading angle alpha 1; (iii) the trailing angle alpha 2 between the longitudinal centerlines of the trailing support and the frame is measured to produce a signal representative of the trailing angle alpha 2; (iv) the delayed first signal is compared with the second signal to produce a third signal representative of the angular difference between the trailing angle alpha 2 and the time average of the leading angle alpha 1; and (v) the third signal is input to an automatic control system for steering the trailing support through a steering angle beta sufficient to maintain the trailing angle alpha 2 substantialy equal to the time average of the leading angle alpha 1, thus permitting the trailing support to move along substantially the same path as the leading support. |
