Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2020-2021).

Physical contact interactions with unstructured environment is the core element in the functioning of mechanical systems representing off-road vehicles, various types of construction machinery, and other platforms. This project deals with methods for interactive real-time simulation of vehicles and machinery operating on unstructured terrain with particular attention to the contact with the soil. We will focus on two main types of contact interaction: vehicle terrain interaction due to wheel-soil contact, and more generally shaped objects contacting soil such as various tools in construction machinery and long cables or beam like objects. We will develop a general, dynamics modelling framework that will rely on different possibilities to characterize the interaction with the terrain. The project will have two main, parallel, interrelated parts. The first will address the different modelling possibilities of the direct contact for wheel-soil and object-soil contact pairs, and will include novel developments to make such models suitable for use in dynamics modelling and interactive simulation. The second part will address the overall dynamics formulation and the related solution algorithms. This will include several novel contributions, both in the formulation of the problem and the model, and in the solution algorithms.
HQP training will form a central point in the execution of the project. The planned group of trainees
will include two Master's student positions, one Ph.D. student, two postdoctoral fellows, and a research associate. We expect that the results of the work will produce important research findings that will strongly contribute to the Canadian economy. There is an increased interest in various sectors in the simulation of
off-road, construction, mining, and extraterrestrial operations that involve soil contact. The simulations and virtual environments industry also has strong roots in Quebec. The expected results will further strengthen this industrial sector, and will generate the basis for new business opportunities for our industrial partner, CMLabs Simulations Inc., and contribute to the creation of new jobs.