Robust control of hydraulic tracked vehicle drive system based on quantitative feedback theory

To improve the control precision of the drive system of hydraulic tracked vehicles, we established a mathematical model of the drive system based on the analysis of structural characteristics of the high-clearance hydraulic tracked vehicles and the dual-pump dual-motor drive system and developed a control strategy based on the quantitative feedback theory. First, the mutual independence of the two motor channels was achieved through channel decoupling. Then, the loop-shaping controller and the pre-filter were designed for the two channels. The result of a simulation experiment indicates that the proposed control method is very effective in suppressing external uncertainties and smoothening the speed-switching process of the hydraulic motor. Finally, an hydraulic tracked vehicle steering experimental test was carried out. The results show that under two different steering modes, the maximum standard deviation of the output speeds of the inner and outer motors of the hydraulic tracked vehicle is only 0.42, which meets the performance requirement on the hydraulic motor speed. The average steering track radii of the geometric centers of the inner and outer tracks are 1.828 and 0.033 m, respectively, and the relative errors are 1.56% and 3.19%, respectively. This demonstrates that the proposed control method achieves satisfactory results in the robust control of the hydraulic tracked vehicle drive system. It provides some references for the future control research of the hydraulic servo drive system of the high-clearance hydraulic tracked vehicles.