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Unread 02-04-2012, 00:59
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Re: Curve Driving Generator


Food for thought

See attached graph.

There's a Segway with a 2-foot wheelbase sitting at the origin.

Its heading is aligned with the +X axis.

I drive the Segway so that the center of its axle follows the black Bezier curve.

At the end of the path, the Segway's heading is parallel to the X axis and its coordinates are x=10 y=3.

The red curve shows the track of its left wheel, and the green curve shows the track of its right wheel.

The red, black, and green curves all have the SAME LENGTH (~10.6807 feet), but they are three DIFFERENT SHAPES.

If I were to command the left and right sides of a skid-steer vehicle to each travel exactly 10.6807 feet, the chances that the vehicle would follow the black curve are pretty slim. In fact, if the left and right sides were controlled identically and perfectly, it would travel in a straight line and end up on the X axis with coordinates x=10 y=0.


Attached Thumbnails
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Attached Files
File Type: pdf tracks equations.pdf (16.1 KB, 53 views)