College - Author 1

College of Engineering

Department - Author 1

Mechanical Engineering Department

Degree Name - Author 1

BS in Mechanical Engineering

Date

12-2018

Primary Advisor

Brian Self

Abstract/Summary

Active driver assistance systems are becoming increasingly wide-spread throughout the automotive industry due to their potential for safer roads and decreased costs of transportation, but testing these systems on real trucks can be time consuming, dangerous, and costly. Testing these systems on a small-scale tractor-trailer combination will lead to faster and more efficient development of driver assistance systems and can be used by both engineers and students, leading to a larger field of experienced developers to improve these systems.

Our goal will be to design, manufacture, and build a scale 6x2 model of the tractor portion of a Daimler semi-truck as well as a generic trailer. Both of these components must have adequate similitude to the original tractor-trailer in order to model the vehicle dynamics of a semi-truck so new driver assistance systems can be accurately tested. To do this, the chassis, suspension geometry, center of gravity, inertial properties, steering radius, tires, acceleration/braking curves, and other aspects need to be analyzed. This truck must be able to withstand minor rolls, jackknifes, and low speed collisions as well as be able to be run for long periods of time with minimal mechanical maintenance.

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