Steady-state steering of a tilting three-wheeled vehicle

The design of a narrow-track enclosed vehicle for urban transport was the subject of the CLEVER project. Due to its narrow track and requirement for car-like controls, an actively controlled tilting system was integrated into the chassis to allow for high lateral accelerations without rolling over. The cornering behaviour of this unique vehicle concept is investigated and compared with the ideal Ackermann response. The steer kinematics of this 1F1T (one front wheel, one wheel tilting) configuration are assessed through the use of a steady-state steering model, with attention focused on how steer parameters such as tilt axis height and inclination can be tuned to provide the required response. A prototype vehicle was designed and built and the results of experimental testing are presented to illustrate the real balancing performance of the combined steering and tilting approach used for the CLEVER vehicle. The experimental results follow the trends demonstrated in the model.