From what I can see from his diagram, it doesn't articulate except vertically a bit.
30 degrees plus or minus on the vertical - that is more than a bit, that is plenty.
There is an orange circle where the centre wheels are and its er - going to spin on that.
Yes the orange circle is notional. You don't get a tin of orange paint with the HUMPBAC. You have to imagine it is there.
Anyway, I don't why you bothered ViolentPanda with the orange circle. He is too full of himself thinking it needs to bend like a bendy bus or I am Noddy.
I am not saying this is easy but if lawnmowers can rotate then I am sure engineering can find a way to get APCs to rotate too.
For the rear "centre" wheels, they need to be driven in opposite directions, left forward, right reverse (or vice-versa). Same for the front and trailer wheels with the added complexity that they also need to be rotated to lie on the appropriate tangent to a circle with the orange dot as its centre.
Now I don't necessarily say this
has to be the way to turn the steering wheels but at least it is a suggestion.
Here is an idea. If you need to, please review
this diagram of a steering mechanism from
Wikipedia on Steering.
OK my idea is you replace parts of the steering rod with pneumatic pistons, either side of the connection to the steering column as follows.
There is an air tank topped up by an air pump which when its valve is turned on inflates the pneumatic pistons now integral to the steering rod. (This should only ever be done while the vehicle is at rest and the driver has selected clockwise or anti-clockwise gear - some kind of safety cut out.)
The air pressure quickly rises (that is why you use air, not hydraulics, it is so much faster if you supply from an air pressure reservoir - there is not a need for huge force, just speed, so pneumatics is the driver of choice I think) and when the air pressure exceeds a critical amount, retaining catches, which normally hold the pistons firmly closed against all manner of road bumps, suddenly break open and the pressurised air forces the pistons open against a spring and the steering rod lengthens to a maximum and the wheels are turned inwards to their respective stops - hard right hand turn for the left hand wheel and hard left hand turn for the right hand wheel, ready for rotation.
It is clear to me that the 45-50 degrees or so maximum turning angle normally is limited by the steering rod at full stretch - not by the wheel bumping into the axle - so 75 degrees in this diagram looks easy.
When you want to revert to normal steering, the system simply releases the air pressure in the pistons and the pistons close with the spring and the pistons snap shut into their retaining catches ready for normal steering.
As you can see this is for rotation about a point mid-way between the rear axle. It is only when I add on my trailer to my armoured personnel carrier that the vehicle does zero turning radius, strictly speaking.
Hence I have always called it "rotation on the spot".
It seems to me to be more like a Lazy Susan on a large scale than a Bendy Bus.
No it actually drives forward, backwards and goes to war, not just serve tea.
A fairly small IED would take out all of the prop shafts and blow off the tiny wheels though.
Do you mean the telescopic rear axle? Well that needs to be braced and the bracing mechanism needs to be complex to cope with the variable telescoping geometry - not drawn, nor even designed as yet.
This is a concept design, showing the features I intend, not detailed design drawings of how each feature is implemented. There is too much which is new to come with a complete solution all worked out. There is only so much a APC designer of 2-weeks experience can achieve.
The rear wheels sticking out, look like a weak point but if appropriately strengthen and protected, they should be as strong as any axle and wheels can be. I did mention I am open to bigger wheels.
but they'll see one day, oh yeah. They'll be sorry when Uber Robotron crushes their puny armies and makes me leader of Tommersonia.
