F2008-05-106
Hybrid Electrical Air-Cushion Tracked Vehicle for Swamp Peat in Malaysia
The objective of this study is to design and develop a hybrid full segmented rubber tracked air-cushion electrical vehicle for the collection-transportation operation of palm oil fresh fruit bunches on low bearing capacity (7 kN/m2) peat terrain. The proposed vehicle is comprised mainly with the full tracked and air-cushion system, AC motors, propellers, a battery pack, and an IC engine. The full segmented rubber track mechanism is used to overcome the traveling resistance, and the flexible skirt air-cushion system is used to support the vehicle partial weight. The automatic recharging system of the battery is incorporated by introducing a Hall Effect Sensor. The vehicle ground contact pressure is made 5kN/m2 by using the air-cushion system. Furthermore, an magnetic-inductive-sensor is connected the starting system of the compressor with the alternator of the engine. The propulsion system is added with the vehicle to provide the additional thrust to the vehicle to overcome the motion resistance of the air-cushion system. The tractive effort increased to 3.709kN, yielding to a higher value of tractive efficiency of 73.01% and a drawbar power of 8.86kW when the air-cushion system is taken into account. Keywords: Peat terrain; Tracked system; Air-cushion system; Hall effect sensor; Magnetic-inductive-sensor.
Poster presentation: Electronics