Track Design for Heavy Equipment with Simscape

Simscape helps you design heavy equipment. In this video, we are going to look at modeling tracked vehicles. This includes metal chains and rubber belts. A track model consists of the sprocket, rollers, idler, and the chain or belt. The chain or belt is assembled from segments. This includes the shoe or belt tread, which can be imported from CAD.

The simulation must capture contact between the segments and the sprocket, rollers, idler, and the terrain. Efficient options for modeling contact between these components reduce computation significantly. Simulations run even faster if abstract models are used. Replacing the segmented track model with cylindrical rollers or even spheres enables very fast simulations on uneven terrain. You can download the model we have provided and adjust the parameters so that the model matches your design.