Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: Turning radius



At 04:48 PM 12/9/01, you wrote:
Some students at my school are building a car for a mileage competition.

They came to me to ask how they could calculate a turning radius and itseems
to me that the relevant variables are the wheelbase and the angle that the
front wheels can be turned from straight ahead. However, I was not able to
justify a numeric answer or come up with a formula.

I suspect such things exist.
Any help out there?

Jim Braunsdorf


Visualizing the front and back wheels as tangential to a turning circle
leads to
optimistically small turning radius estimates using
WB/(2*TR) = sin (wheel angle/2)
so TR = WB/[2*sin(wheel angle/2)]

for WB is wheelbase, TR is turning radius.

Is this the issue?
They will want the outboard steered wheel to turn a different amount than
the inner one. How much different is a matter of discussion.
Cars do not in fact follow the direction in which the steered wheels point.
There is a 'slip' so called which provides the turning acceleration.




Brian Whatcott
Altus OK Eureka!