Four-wheel drive

Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case providing an additional output drive shaft and, in many instances, additional gear ranges. A four-wheel drive vehicle with torque supplied to both axles is described as "all-wheel drive" (AWD). However, "four-wheel drive" typically refers to a set of specific components and functions, and intended off-road application, which generally complies with modern use of the terminology. Definitions Four-wheel-drive systems were developed in many different markets and used in many different vehicle platforms. There is no universally accepted set of terminology that describes the various architectures and functions. The terms used by various manufacturers often reflect marketing rather than engineering considerations or significant technical di

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Torque control on electric vehicles with separate wheel drives

Beat Arnet, Marcel Jufer

1997

Comprehensive Locomotion Performance Evaluation of All-Terrain Robots

Roland Siegwart

Information about the locomotion performance of known rovers is sparse. A comprehensive evaluation of wheeled passive systems is presented in this work. It is based on a static 2D approach that includes optimization of the wheel torques in order to minimize the required friction which is an important performance metric. The evaluation comprises well known rover concepts and new suspension systems. The performance of the systems is compared and interesting effects of some concepts are discussed in more detail including torques and load distribution. The rovers MER (NASA) and CRAB (EPFL) show good performance which is topped only by the eight wheeled DoubleSpring system.

2006

SUV

A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive.

Hybrid electric vehicle

A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is a type of hybrid vehicle that combines a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) system with an electric propulsion system (hybrid vehicle drivetrain). The p

Electronic stability control

Electronic stability control (ESC), also referred to as electronic stability program (ESP) or dynamic stability control (DSC), is a computerized technology that improves a vehicle's stability by det

CS-411: Digital education

This course addresses the relationship between specific technological features and the learners' cognitive processes. It also covers the methods and results of empirical studies on this topic: do student actually learn due to technologies?

MICRO-452: Basics of mobile robotics

The course teaches the basics of autonomous mobile robots. Both hardware (energy, locomotion, sensors) and software (signal processing, control, localization, trajectory planning, high-level control) will be tackled. The students will apply the knowledge to program and control a real mobile robot.