Review of the Reconfigurable Wheel-Tracked System

Reconfigurable wheel-tracked system, which enables a vehicle to have the high speed of wheels and the increased mobility of tracks, is one of the key technologies on improving the off-road performance of vehicles in extreme environment. A series of such systems has already been developed and equipped on robots and medium or heavy ground vehicles. The paper reviews the research work, prototype and application of reconfigurable wheel-tracked systems. To start with, different systems are classified according to their mechanical structures. Development and current research interests are then reviewed. Triangle track configuration is the most prevalent layout of the wheel-tracked system, so this paper highlights its structure characteristics, research contents and applications. Following the review, key technologies such as design of power transmission system, mobility validation and elastic track design are analyzed. Finally, prospective of the reconfigurable wheel-tracked locomotion system is discussed in terms of transformation principle innovation, depth of research and width of application.